Merry Ho-Ho-Ho or whatever you celebrate

 

Kick back, relax, and enjoy the time with family and friends

See you next year ☺

J L

 

Twenty-Four Years Is a Long Time To Wait

By Paisley Kirkpatrick

When you have to wait longer than you think you should, a dream finally coming true can have a much more dramatic impact. This past week brought a conclusion to my wait. I held my first print book in my hands. Was it worth the wait? Yes, absolutely yes. I had to work a little bit to get the box of books because we had snow on the ground and the delivery truck wouldn't come down our driveway. I was hearbroken the box didn't arrive on the day it was scheduled because the truck driver didn't want to get stuck even though our road was dry with no snow. The next day we happen to see the truck parked alongside the road. My husband dropped me off at the post office and continued up the road to check on my box. Much to my delight, by the time I got to where they were parked, he was signing for my box. To add even more excitement to the day, he'd parked on some black ice and the pickup started rolling backwards. It only went a foot or so by the time he jumped inside and got it stopped.

When I opened the box of 30 gorgeous books, I was in awe. I didn't jump up and down, but I did smile a lot. They are beautiful books with wide margins and a good-sized print. So many friends wanted signed copies. I didn't expect to be nervous about writing something inside the books. Maybe it was a life-long practice of not writing inside books that made me nervous. I don't know, but I am starting to get used to it now.

Now that I finally have accomplished this dream, I wonder what I should work toward now? Decisions, decisions.

Happy Holidays

Wishing our readers a joyous holiday season!

From:  Dawn Marie
            Patrick and Laurie
            Finn and Elspeth

All I want for Christmas is--- honest critiques

My current WIP is a rewrite of my first completed romance. The original rambled, had way too many scenes that didn't advance the plot, and was overly autobiographical.  It also had a surprisingly potent story arc, vivid secondary characters,and a hero I still dream about at night. I submitted it six years ago and received slammed door rejections. They hurt, but they taught me that I had much to learn about the craft of writing.

The spectre of self-doubt is my constant companion, but like Scrooge on Christmas morning, I believe in second chances. I am determined to gestate this rewrite and give it birth. I will let this story go and start on the next one.

That's where critiques come in. The true spirit of the Christmas season is giving, and I am grateful beyond measure for every critique I give and receive.

The critiques I do for others teach me to be a better writer. The critiques I receive are the best gifts I could ever receive.

Christmas all year round.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Main Street Evening Christmas Bash

The Authors on Main Street would like to invite you to their Main Street Evening Christmas Bash that will take place on Thursday, December 19, 2013, from 3pmEST to midnight at

 https://www.facebook.com/AuthorsofMainStreet

We are excited about spending fun time with you. We have planned activities, songs , games and prizes, even two Amazon cards of $25 and $50. We hope to have you visit with us to all get in the holiday spirit — feeling excited.

Presenting the 11 authors of CHRISTMAS ON MAIN STREET.

Have you read any of their books?

The Christmas Wish by Tori Scott. Page-turning stories from the Heart of Texas.

Her Christmas Cruise by Mona Risk. Around the world through Stories that Simmer with Emotion and Sizzle with Passion.

A Snowy Christmas in Wyoming by E. Ayers, Writing the Romantic Slices of Life.

The Christmas Con by Jill James. A little Sweet. A little Sexy. A lot Happily-Ever-After.

Small Town Glamour Girl Christmas by Stephanie Queen. Zing of Excitement; Zap of Wit; Long-lasting Zip of Feel Good.

The Christmas Gift by Pepper Phillips. Southern stories with a Touch of Heart.

A Potters Wood Christmas by Leigh Morgan. Strong Women, Strong Hearts

A Baby for Christmas by Susan R. Hughes. Sweet with a Touch of Heat.

A Light in the Christmas Cafe by Kristy Tate. Romantic stories laced with Humor, Mystery and a hint of Magic.

What if...this Christmas by Kelly Rae. Love really is all there is!

A Smoky Mountain Christmas by Carol DeVaney. It’s Love and the Little Things that matter.

Again, see you on  https://www.facebook.com/AuthorsofMainStreet  at 3pm EST

Happy Holiday Books!

Hi all,

Well it is that time of year when book sales temporarily slump as people are too busy to read, only to be followed by a surge in sales once everyone gets a chance to unwrap their new ereader and get to work loading it with new material.

In particular people love to buy books that are holiday-themed, which is one reason I've written so many holiday books myself. For example there is this book: Christmas With Sarah.

I wrote this book a long time ago, one of my few contemporary romance novels, set in Northern California. My heroine is an artist living in Big Sur who falls in love with a wealthy man in the software business and his young daughter, Sarah. Molly misses her family holiday traditions and wants nothing more than to spend Christmas with Sarah... hence the title of the book. I totally enjoyed sticking every tradition I could think of into the book, including making cookies, bread dough ornaments, and heading to see a local production of The Nutcracker.


Another story I wrote where holiday traditions come in is my fantasy short story, Perfect Hero. I wrote the first version of this as a free story, then expanded it when Ellora's Cave did a holiday collection. In this story my hero has been freed from the computer game the heroine was working on and he creates a magical Christmas to convince her he is just what she needs in her life. It is a fun happy story that I very much enjoyed writing.

My next title, Ghosts Of Christmas Past, is a little more serious as both my characters are battling the depression the holidays can bring. In the case of my hero, he's a vampire who always had happy memories of family Christmases but now that the last of his mortal family has died, he takes a seasonal companion to ward off the loneliness he feels. This year he's found a young woman who is also battling depression and it turns out that the pair of them have a lot in common. This was one of my most popular short Hollywood After Dark stories.

Finally I have one title that is a futuristic story about the first Christmas celebration on Mars, a story I titled Reflecting The Future. In this novella length story I have a perky young woman who is the "morale officer" of a Martian mining colony who wants to liven up the station by reinventing holiday traditions. This was another fun title for me as I tried to come up with what a group of miners and their families would use to decorate for Christmas... for example, just what would you substitute for a "tree"?

In all of these stories I injected as many holiday traditions as I could, and they all reflect in one way or another my love of the season. Many of these stories are very cheap: for example, Christmas With Sarah is only $1.49 at Amazon, and even though it has Cricket Starr's name on it, it is a Janet Miller level sensuality book.

I hope that everyone has a great holiday and happy New Year.

Cheers,
Janet Miller/Cricket Starr

ANY HO, HO, HO IN A DECEMBER 27 RELEASE DATE? By ROLYNN ANDERSON

My suspense/romance, LIE CATCHERS makes its KDP debut on December 27, with its free days February 11-15.  Now, the free days sound well-placed (around Valentine’s Day), but how in the world will I bring attention to a book that says ‘look at me!’ at such a busy time in everyone’s lives?

Add more challenges: this is my first KDP/free days experience.  One of the reasons I took the responsibility of collating all that information about KDP and free days (for Wild Rose Press) was to make use of it myself.  Holy cow, the pressure’s on to follow my own directions!

So what would you do in my situation regarding my date of release?  Wait to do the happy dance after New Years Day or go ahead and build some buzz before December 27 (which is what we usually do before a release)? 

Your advice, my friends?

Two unsolved murders will tear apart an Alaska fishing town unless a writer and a government agent reveal their secret obsessions.

Treasury agent Parker Browne is working undercover in Petersburg, Alaska to investigate a money scam and a murder. His prime suspect, Liv Hanson, is a freelance writer struggling to save her family’s business. Free spirited, full of life, and with a talent for catching liars, she fascinates Parker.

Trying to prove she’s a legitimate writer who cares about Petersburg’s issues, Liv pens a series of newspaper articles about an old, unsolved murder. When her cold case ties in with Parker’s investigation, bullets start to fly.

Parker understands money trails, and Liv knows the town residents. But he gave up on love two years ago, and she trusts no one, especially with her carefully guarded secret. If they mesh their skills to find the killers, will they survive the fallout?

Why doe some chapters write themselves....

... while others are like pulling teeth?

I am 5 chapters away from finishing the 3rd book on my 3-book volume of my 3 volume set (yes, 9 books total). I set an arbitrary deadline of Dec. 31 to finish this 3rd book, and I have 5 chapters to go, but it is like sloughing through mud to get them written.

When I do write, it's going great. I'm pleased with each chapter as I finish it, but it's so hard to get the words out. It may be because I've been working, nose to grindstone, for several months on this and the end is now in sight. That's the "reluctant to finish" syndrome every writer knows.

I think it's because I'm not as close to this set of characters as I was with the others. The books follow two couples through a major journey and I'm working on the "secondary" couple right now.

Or I may just be brain weary. I'm not sure.

But I WILL finish this book by Dec. 31. I promise.

I'll report back later and let you know how close I am.

Now What? After Thanksgiving It's Time to...

Rest up! Are you kidding? Now it's time for decorating and party going and buying gifts and...

Wait! Is all that really necessary?

Sometimes we want to do everything to get in the holiday spirit, and some of it can be great fun. But sometimes, it's way too much and cutting back a little will make the time so much more memorable.

I was excited to write my first ever Christmas book, and now I'm just finishing up my 2nd: A Highland Wolf Christmas. But I've had deadline after deadline after deadline. Need to get edits back on another book, and have this one to turn in by Dec 15. Add the chaos of Christmas on top of that???

I keep telling myself now that I'm not writing full time AND writing full time, I will have more time to do things like---Christmas shop. Not happening. But that's okay because I LOVE to create stories, so it's like Christmas every day just being able to do that.

But even so, I do end up ordering a lot of stuff online, no hassle with shopping in the stores, though it isn't the same as seeing all the Christmas decorations in person, or smelling the cinnamon spices for Christmas, or hearing the Christmas jingles, or... well, okay, so sometimes I just like to drop into a store to immerse myself in the feel of Christmas. Like this! This was a store in Salado and it's so much fun to me to just see this in person and enjoy.

 

In Bjornolf and Anna's story, they're not into Christmas--and they are involved in much grander things--saving a family in a kidnapping situation in the Amazon jungle, and then serving as a "couple" enjoying the Christmas holidays while investigating a Christmas tree farm double homicide. But during that time, they learn about themselves, about their partners, and the importance of giving and sharing and finding love. It's a little different story though--as they are werewolves.

So for this special time of year, make sure to take a break and really enjoy the time, sharing the love and not doing so much that the holidays become a trial and you can't wait for them to be over with so you can rest. :) 

 

A SEAL Wolf Christmas

Can an Alpha Wolf Who’s Met His Match…
Navy SEAL Bjornolf Jorgenson has had tough missions before, but going undercover with feisty gray wolf Anna Johnson could top the list. She drives him crazy—in more ways than one. Now he has to investigate a murder, supervise a wild teenage wolf—and handle Christmas with Anna.

Survive the Holidays with Her?
 For Anna, the only thing worse than staging the perfect family Christmas is having to do it with Bjornolf posing as her husband. Anna is a serious undercover operative who isn’t afraid of a fight, even with a hunky SEAL shifter. With a killer on the loose, Anna just wants to focus on their mission, but the one thing she can’t fight is her sizzling chemistry with Bjornolf.

Buy links:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Indie Bound
Powell’s Books
Books-A-Million 

So now, are you ready for Christmas??? I just got home from Nebraska way late at night, so I'll have to start decorating tomorrow! :)

Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy IS reality.”
www.terryspear.com