Category: holiday

12 Blogs of Christmas: Gordon Long

Leave a comment

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

Welcome back! Today’s blogger is Gordon Long. Brought up in a logging camp with no electricity, Gordon Long learned his storytelling in the traditional way: at his father’s knee. He spends his time editing, publishing, travelling, sailboat racing and writing fantasy and social commentary, although sometimes the boundaries blur.

Gordon lives in Tsawwassen, British Columbia, with his wife, Linda, and their Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, Josh. When he isn’t publishing, he works on projects with the Surrey Seniors’ Planning Table.

———-

A Cold Canadian Christmas

My transportation for the Christmas of 1967 was Dad’s 1958 Mercury pickup. It was one of the first “full box” pickups, instead of the old “step sides,” and I thought it was pretty classy. Think of the picture above with a front bumper and a two-tone paint job: white above, teal below. I was home from university, and Dad was out of the bush because it was too cold to work, so I was pretty well free to drive it around. Loggers can’t work below about -30 because metal gets so brittle that equipment breaks. It’s rather hard on people, too.

Yes, the Christmas of 1967 was rather cold. I came home from visiting friends on Boxing Day, and the weather report said it was going to be -60F that night (That’s -51 for you Celsius types). I plugged in the block heater of the pickup and waited for that reassuring gurgle that told me it was working.

No gurgle. [Read more…]

Gordon has published two books this Christmas:

“Mountains of Mischief” Book 3 in the World of Change series

“Storm over Savournon” a novel of the French Revolution

Tomorrow’s blogger: RJ Crayton

Miss one of the days? Here are the blogs posted so far:

Dec. 13   Ellen Chauvet

Dec. 14   Sarah Lane

Dec. 15   Keith Baker

Dec. 16   Virginia Gray

 

12 Blogs of Christmas: Virginia Gray

Leave a comment

IMG_9021_4044 WEB copyHappy Wednesday! Virginia Gray is a bestselling women’s fiction novelist. A former university professor, she stepped away from academics to pursue a writing career. She is a great lover of humor, music, and all things food, and is best known for The Susan Wade Saga. You can read more about Virginia on her website.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

I wasn’t always so sure. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to believe—very badly, in fact. I also wanted to believe in the stories I read. I wanted to know for sure that there had been a Middle Earth, where hobbits and wizards and dragons ran amuck. I prayed that Narnia existed, and that I might be lucky enough to discover one of its secret passages—they’re everywhere, you know. I truly hoped there were wrinkles in time, and that I might be called upon to save our very universe. I wanted to believe in magic! Read more…

See you tomorrow with Gordon Long.

Miss one of the days? Here are the blogs posted so far:

Dec. 13   Ellen Chauvet

Dec. 14   Sarah Lane

Dec. 15   Keith Baker

 

12 Blogs of Christmas: Keith R. Baker

Leave a comment

Keith R. BakerWelcome back! Today’s blogger is Keith R. Baker. In addition to being an avid history and genealogy buff, Keith has been an avid outdoorsman his entire life. He has a variety of hats in the business world after completing two periods of duty with the US Navy.  His hobbies apart from reading and research include shooting, teaching others the basics of gun safety and handling. Until recently he took an active role in local and regional politics as a public speaker and campaign consultant.

Keith and his wife Leni have enjoyed living several places in the US, including Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri and Montana. They have two adult children, two adult foster children and nine grandchildren scattered around the country. www.keithrbaker.com

Fire in the Snow

The big man’s boot carefully kicked aside a remaining hunk of what appeared to be a roof rafter. Burnt nearly to ash, it had almost no weight to it. Still, it was best to be careful. Any of the smoldering pile of debris that had been their family home could yet be white-hot. He didn’t need a burnt foot; he had enough trouble already.

Rob Finn’s young family had few enough possessions before the fire. Now, it seemed, they had none. Farming their tiny acreage had barely provided enough food in the good times. Along with everything else they’d lost, even their supply of necessary food stuffs were gone. What would they do? Read more…

Links

Amazon Author Page
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Current Promotion:

Read about Rob Finn and his family in the Longshot series, beginning with Longshot In Missouri, price reduced through Christmas, here.

Hope to see you tomorrow when Virginia Gray will be our featured blogger.

Miss one of the days? Here are the blogs posted so far:

Dec. 13   Ellen Chauvet

Dec. 14   Sarah Lane

 

 

The 12 Blogs of Christmas: Sarah Lane

Leave a comment

Sarah Lane photoWelcome back! Today’s blogger is Sarah Lane.

Sarah Lane is the author of The God of My Art, the story of a young woman’s journey to become an artist, and a quarter finalist for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Lane’s short fiction and poetry have also featured in a number of literary magazines, including The Antigonish Review, Roar Magazine, and Quills: Canadian Poetry Magazine.

Lane’s upcoming young adult novel is a psychological read about a cerebral seventeen-year-old who struggles to learn salsa dancing only to be shown up by her doppelgänger. (You can sign up on her website to be notified when it comes out).

Sarah Lane hopes you will enjoy listening to this reading from her young adult crossover novel The God of My Art. This chapter is taken from near the end of the book, when Helene visits her mother over the winter holidays. Watch the video here. Or view on her website.

(Next up: Keith Baker)

Miss one of the days? Here are the blogs posted so far:

Dec. 13   Ellen Chauvet

 

The 12 Blogs of Christmas: Ellen Chauvet

Leave a comment

EllenChauvet_2015-2049-Edit-Edit-5Happy Sunday! We’re kicking off our 12 Blogs of Christmas Tour with author Ellen Chauvet. Ellen lives in Vancouver, Canada, where long months of rain are particularly conducive to writing dark stories. You can learn more about her at her website.

Here is what she wrote:

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

Composed by Clement C. Moore

____________________________________________________

When Martin Crosbie invited me to participate in the 12 blogs of Christmas I immediately said yes. I’ve always treasured Christmas and the opportunity to share my love of Clement Moore’s “A Visit from St. Nick” poem appealed to me. After several hours of research, the following is what I gleaned.

(Up next: Sarah Lane)

 

The 12 Blogs of Christmas

Leave a comment

12 Blogs of Christmas (2)Hi, everyone!

I’m so excited to be part of the 12 Blogs of Christmas, and thank you to my friend Martin Crosbie for setting up this blog-hop party for the second year. Twelve days, twelve blogs, twelve authors. We start on December 13. Nothing to sign up for, no fancy randomizer rafflecopter gizmos. Just great writing. I hope you enjoy our stories and memories.

Here’s the lineup. Each day I’ll post a bit about each author, an excerpt from his or her post, and a link where you can read the rest. Happy holidays!

Dec. 13   Ellen Chauvet

Dec. 14   Sarah Lane

Dec. 15   Keith Baker

Dec. 16   Virginia Gray

Dec. 17   Gordon Long

Dec. 18   RJ Crayton

Dec. 19   Jennifer Ellis

Dec. 20   Laurie Boris

Dec. 21   Heather Haley

Dec. 22   Jordan Buchanan

Dec. 23   Cate Pedersen

Dec. 24   Martin Crosbie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holiday Giveaway News

13 Comments

GobbleOne of my favorite parts of being an author is sharing my books with readers. As an independent author, I get to give them away whenever I want to. And that makes me smile.

It’s even more fun around the holidays, especially when I’m getting together with other authors who are doing the same. I’ve probably told you about a few of these things in various places, but I wanted to gather them up here for you:

You still have time to enter the E-Novelists At Work/Choosy Bookworm Giveaway for a chance to win books and swag from thirty different authors, as well as one of two gift cards that could stretch your holiday budget.

173f7-25-272bnovember2bbanner

Over the US Thanksgiving weekend (November 27-30) I’ll be just one of many authors participating in a Facebook party thrown by Master Koda Select Publishing. They’re a great crew, and they’ve generously let me be part of the family during their events over the last couple of years. If you want to take a break and have a little fun, we’ll have games, prizes, and a drawing for a bunch of free books and other goodies. They’ve foolishly allowed me to take their stage for an hour on Friday, November 27 at 7 p.m. EST. Mwa ha ha… You can join the party here. 

If you pop over to Goodreads, you can enter the giveaway for one of two signed copies of A Sudden Gust of Gravity. Drawing ends December 9.

For those of you who celebrate, I hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving. I know I have a lot to be thankful for.

 

Thirty Days, Thirty Authors

Leave a comment

Thirty days. Thirty authors. You can win…big.

This month, I’m taking part in a month-long holiday book-a-palooza with eNovel Authors at Work, The Choosy Bookworm, and Book Partners in Crime Promotions. You can enter a variety of drawings to win books, gift cards, and even $250 in PayPal cash.

I’ll be giving away a few copies of Drawing Breath and Don’t Tell Anyone. Because I love giving away books. And I might have special deals going on a few titles, including A Sudden Gust of Gravity, which I expect will be live on Amazon around the time my turn comes up during Thanksgiving weekend, which I’ll be sharing with the lovely Bronwyn Elsmore and RP Dahlke. (See fancy banner graphic below.)

But until then:

  1. You can enter the drawing to win one of two $250 PayPal gift cards.
  2. You can enter ten different drawings to win books and other cool swag from our lineup of authors. Start here and scroll below the main drawing; new Rafflecopters will go up every three days for each new group of authors.

Thank you for your time, happy November, and have fun!

Halloween Anthology: Boo! Volume Three

Leave a comment

Screen shot 2015-10-11 at 6.28.13 PMHappy Sunday! Halloween is almost upon us in North America-land, and with it comes the release of the newest Boo! anthology. Boo! Volume Three contains thirteen Halloween-inspired tales by an eclectic mix of authors, including Ann Cathey, Jen Daniele, Erin McGowan, LB Clark, Mala Rheston, Kristina Jackson, Rich Meyer, David Antrobus, and JD Mader.

Where else can you get that much talent and spooky fun for just 99 cents? Proceeds go to charity, and this year, the DB Collective has chosen The Turtle Island Restoration Project, an organization dedicated to protecting oceans and marine wildlife.

Thank you for your time. I hope you enjoy our stories.

 

 

 

12 Blogs of Christmas – Martin Crosbie

1 Comment

web pic with christmas tree 2Our 12th Blog of Christmas is written by bestselling author, Martin Crosbie.

Martin lives on the west coast of Canada and has written five books including Amazon bestseller My Temporary Life. His popular Christmas novel Believing Again: A Tale Of Two Christmases is available in e-book format in the US and UK as a Kindle Countdown Deal from Dec. 24-27 for only 99 cents.

——————

Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge’s name was good upon ‘Change for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a doornail.

A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

Those delicious words open the Dickens classic. Previous to the publication of A Christmas Carol, Christmas was barely recognized. Although it was a holiday it didn’t have the romantic vibe that it has today. Mr. Dickens and his novel changed all that. And, if he’d waited for his publisher to release the book it may never have happened.

Charles Dickens wrote his masterpiece in six weeks. Somehow he was able to channel the story and get the words on paper (or parchment probably) in less than two months. At that time he was suffering financially. His wife was pregnant with their fifth child and the wolves were closing in on their door. His previous novel had not sold well and when he submitted his new manuscript (after having it beta-read surely), to his publishers they were slow to warm to it. I’m not sure how rejection letters were sent out in 1853 but his publishers indicated that they were not interested in publishing the story of Ebenezer Scrooge’s epiphany. Anxious to have the book released by Christmas Dickens went the print-on-demand route and self-published. He hired his own illustrator and contracted his publisher to print the books. And, he did the legwork himself. Then, in those very, pre-Konrath days he decided to lower the price to five shillings – a price that most folks would be able to afford. He wanted his book to be read and perhaps he even thought that readers might enjoy his other works if they liked his Christmas tale.

Read More…

Thank you for reading our 12 Blogs of Christmas. A joyous and peaceful season to you!