Milly Johnson on new Christmas novel, imposter syndrome and her own happy ending

There are few people who sit at home in South Yorkshire and have the power to spread smiles to millions worldwide. But that is exactly what author extraordinaire Milly Johnson does all year round.

The best-selling author is one of those northern women who lifts you up no matter what your mood and, when we met at The Star's office, she was on cloud nine. Recently married, just returned from a cruise more romantic than most can imagine, and with her new book rushing straight to the top of the charts - Milly is in a special place.

New read Let The Bells Right Out is Milly’s 23rd book and she has sold millions of copies across the globe, but there is still tangible joy in the air.

"I'm always excited. It's like the birth of a new child when a book comes out. I'm always very, very excited," Milly said. "I've still got imposter syndrome. I'm still waiting for somebody to tap me on the shoulder and say, it's all a dream. Get back to the desk job , do the accounts. But I think that keeps you grounded. The day that I disappear up my own backside and think, well, I'm doing marvellous, aren't I, I think that's the day I change. My writing will change, everything will change. I never trust that this is forever.”

That is far from what her adoring readers say. Milly talks me through one example from a recent Literary Festival questions and answer session. “One lady said, it's not a question, she said, it's just a comment. And then started blubbing and said, I grew up in Barnsley and your first book, me and my mum read it together, but she's passed now. When I want to be close to my mum, I read that.

“She said, I'm sorry, I'm making a fool of myself. And I thought, you know, that's why I write those sorts of books. You either write these sorts of books, or you write the books that are going to get you the Booker Prize. And I wouldn't swap. It'd be nice to have both though," she jokes.

There is no better time to make people feel good than the festive season. Milly’s new read has everything that will be on her readers’ gift lists - friendships, food, mystery, warmth and relationships that you feel part of as they develop over the pages.

“The whole point is magic for Christmas,” she explains. “This old-fashioned steam train with seven people who are all going places for Christmas that they don't really want to go. There's a couple of a last-ditch attempt to save their marriage and they're supposed to go into this cosy cottage. There's a young lady who's been dumped by her fiance who's actually getting married this Christmas to her best mate. There's a very grumpy Santa Claus who is off to do a gig in Newcastle and he's got all this family stuff going on. He doesn't feel cheerful at all. There's an old lady who is recently widowed. The love of her life's gone and she's spending Christmas with her stepson. She just doesn't want to go there because they treat her like someone who should be just tied to a rocking chair.

“And there's a young lady who is going up to her fiance's pile up in Durham. She's getting engaged, but she's pushed into it. And the taxi driver who takes her up there ... they all get stuck in this snowstorm and they have to take refuge in this train station. It almost feels like there's a bit of a supernatural or a bit of magic thrown in. But life's like that, isn't it, sometimes?”

Milly says some books write themselves - as if anybody could do it. In her stories, people who deserve a happy ending get it and the baddies get their comeuppance. This is one woman who is most definitely living her own happy ending.

"After 14 years, my partner made an honest woman of me, shall we say. Second time round for both of us. But, oh, my goodness, considering the pair of us are knocking on a bit, it was so romantic. We just did it on a cruise and the pair of us felt like royalty. It was a brilliant way to do it,” she says with a huge smile.

"My husband Pete was stressed to hell because he thought it was going to be a show pony, parading around the ship. I was there in my frock being a total show pony. And we had a two and a half week honeymoon built in. It was perfect. In fact, we've decided we're going to have our ashes chucked over the side as well, one day. So we got that covered.”

Milly loves nothing more than the stories of people’s lives. Her mum was from Glasgow, her dad a Barnsley boy and had they both not gone for a holiday job in Filey in Butlins, there would be no romance and no Milly.

So, if you're one of the few who hasn't indulged in one of these most comfiest of books, what exactly is a Milly Johnson novel?

"The whole point is people can relate,” Milly says. “I reflect, because I'm an ordinary South Yorkshire bird. I write about women like me, and I say ordinary in very nice terms. Also men going out and doing a job and going home. The extraordinary things that sometimes happen within the parameters of ordinary life.

“Life is very up and down. I don't shy away from the dark issues that can happen. But I would not take a reader through 400 and odd pages and not give them a happy ending. You know, people do get the happy endings. I'm living in a bit of a happy ending myself at the moment."

There it is in a nutshell. Milly's job is done if you read a book, recognise just a little bit of yourself somewhere and know that things work out in the end. What a tear-jerkingly powerful message being spread by the most wonderfully unassuming woman weaving the happiest of magic.

- Watch Nancy’s full interview with Milly on The Star’s YouTube channel.

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