Happy Reading to All, and to All a Good Year! ‘Twas the night after Christmas, when all through the house Not a human was stirring, not even my spouse— The peppermint tea at my elbow did sit; The cat on my lap was too fat to fit. The children were nestled all snug in their […]
A Front Porch Promises Merry Christmas by Merrillee Whren
The photo above was taken in the Public Garden in Boston. The duck is a statue of the mother duck from the book, Make Way for Ducklings. The mother duck is dressed for Christmas. Here is a photo of the entire string of ducklings and the mother duck. Notice the kids riding the ducks. For […]
Sharing local holiday traditions in fiction + giveaway
Culture is fascinating, isn’t it? I think a big part of what I love about reading is how we can travel anywhere in the world just by picking up a book. And at each stop in our travels, we learn something new and interesting about the culture, the people, or traditions of a place. I […]
Putting Christmas in a Book # Giveaway
Hey y’all. As I mentioned in my last post, I’m all about Christmas. But what happens when your editor asks if you can move your story from Spring to Christmas when you’re doing her editorial revisions in Sept? You do it. But I’ll be honest, it was hard to get in the Christmas mood when […]
Favorite Christmas Themes (Plus #Giveaway)
Wow. It’s December. Can you imagine? Just over a week ago we were having Thanksgiving dinner in good old November. Suddenly, we’re less than one month away from the year 2020. How is your December coming along? Busy? Will you be traveling for Christmas or staying where you are? Have you decorated your home for Christmas […]
Nancy Naigle: Delicious Snickerdoodle Recipe
From Julie Arduini: Merry Christmas from Julie Arduini! As I type this we are 85% decorated and our shopping is well underway. We’re excited because our entire Wisconsin family (we’re a blended family so we have two adult children there, their spouses, and our three grandchildren) driving before Christmas to kick off the week. I’ll […]
Christmas Tree: Past, Present & Future
Hola! Jolene Navarro checking in from the Texas Hill Country. Saturday after Thanksgiving is another day to carry out a tradition of gratitude for my family. Each year memories are treasured and hopes are added. As a kid, I anticipated the holidays with nothing but joy and excitement. From baking cookies with my family to […]
New Release! When Snowflakes Never Cease
I’m very excited to have been part of the latest Crossroads Collection. If you’ve never heard of the Crossroads before, they’re the brainchild of Christian romance and suspense author Amanda Tru, where all of the books in a collection all have some common theme, and the final book ties them all together. They’re quite brilliant. […]
Christmas Movies Based on Books # Giveaway
I’m all about Christmas. Yes, I know Thanksgiving is first and I love that day as well. But Christmas forces the entire world to think of Jesus. Whether they want to or not. I have three trees in my house, and yes, they’re already up. One in the living room with lots of Christian ornaments […]
Retelling the (Fairy) Tale
Ah, fairy tales. Like so much classic literature, fairy tales form the basis for many contemporary stories. In recent years, retellings have even become so popular they’ve become their own subgenre in fiction. And it makes sense. The originals are clean and usually end happily. Good triumphs over evil. The impossible becomes possible. Romance. Magic. […]