Finding the Perfect Christmas by Tracey J Lyons

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been watching a lot of Christmas movies. It seems like they’ve been running since before Thanksgiving. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Christmas movies. The thing is they all have that happy Christmas ending. The cookies get baked, the tree gets decorated, the town gets saved, the couple has their happy ending…we all know that real life isn’t like this. And yet, if you’re like me at this time of the year you want your life to be exactly like that Christmas movie.

For the most part my “Christmas” life is pretty darned good. I have not one but five Christmas trees, decorated by theme, in my house. I have my lights strung up around my front porch and wreaths hanging from all the windows on the front of the house, spotlighted just so.  I’ve been keeping on schedule with most of my holiday things, like shopping and baking. That is, up until last week when I got hit with a bad cough and not one, but two days of migraine headaches. While I was standing at my kitchen counter whipping up a batch of cookies, and multi-tasking making appetizers for a cocktail party I was hosting that same evening, and making my dish to share for the family party, it occurred to me that as much as I wanted it to be, my life is not a Christmas movie.

I had to take a step back and give myself permission to not bake the second batch of cookies for the family party the very next day. I only put out one freshly made appetizer and not the two I’d been planning on baking for the cocktail party.  And I had to dump out half of the 7-layer chopped salad (my dish to share-yes I overfilled the bowl) to make room for the fifth, sixth and seventh layers! This is the time of year when we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to make everything perfect. When really perfection isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. By nature, we humans are flawed. And it takes a lot of work to be “Perfect.”

You know what? I realize I don’t want to be perfect, especially not at this time of the year. I want my kids to be happy, and they are. I want everyone near me to be healthy and I’m so very blessed that they are. I’m looking forward to having my kids and their kids here to celebrate our family Christmas together. And they don’t care if I don’t get all the sheets on the beds or if the silverware doesn’t match or even if the dinner I wanted to make suddenly gets changed because I forgot an ingredient at the grocery store.

Because finding the perfect Christmas isn’t about what we put on our tables or how we decorate our trees, it’s about what is in our hearts. Kindness. Caring. Love. Compassion.  Remembering why we celebrate the day to begin with.

I’m wishing you all the best, non-perfect, Christmas ever!!

Christmas Blessings,

Tracey

PS I'd love to hear some of  things that make your Christmas "not" perfect. Feel free to drop a note in the comments section. 

Featured Book: The Deputy's Duty

Fitzgerald Family Secret

As the eldest of six siblings and deputy chief of the Fitzgerald Bay police department, Ryan Fitzgerald is a protecter.  Of his family.  Of his community.  But staying in control means keeping his distance...until Meghan Henry comes to town.  Seeking justice for her murdered cousin, and safety for an orphaned--and missing--child, the daring journalist is not afraid to face danger head-on.  And when she uncovers a dark Fitzgerald secret, Ryan's left with a devastating choice. Which will he protect--his family, or the woman he's started to love?

Fitzgerald Bay:

Law Enforcement siblings fight for justice and family.

An added bonus in honor Love Inspired Suspense's 15th Anniversary a bonus novella by Jilllian Hart!

What the Crafties are Reading

Vicki Bylin: I'm reading Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. A friend recommended it. Awesome book about deepening one's faith. I'm about halfway and savoring every word, every concept.

Patty Smith Hall just finished 'The Temporary Wife' by Mary Balough. It's one of her earlier novels and while it was good, I can see the progression Balough has made with her storytelling and writing. It serves as encouragement for a newbie author like me!

Lenora Worth: I'm reading "Shattered Silence" (an ARC) by Margaret Daley. Very suspenseful and intense so far!!! :)

Pamela Tracy: I'm reading The Lost Girls of Johnson's Bayou by Jana DeLeon. It's an Harlequin Intrigue,and quite honestly the cover sold me. I'm about a third of the way through the book.

Lacy Williams: I'm reading "The Witness" by Grace Livingston Hill. I got is as a Kindle freebie and the first chapter sucked me in.

Sandra Orchard: I'm reading Saving Hope by Margaret Daley, because I love Margaret's books. :)

Merrillee Whren: I’m reading When Sparrows Fall by Margaret Mosely. She was a Golden Heart finalist with me in 2003.

Carrie Turansky: I am reading To Marry An English Lord, by Gail MacColl and Carol McD. Wallace, for research….and The Maid of Fairbourne Hall, by Julie Klassen, for fun.

Missy Tippens: I'm reading a non-fiction book at the moment, Hidden in the Rubble: A Haitian Pilgrimage to Compassion and Resurrection by Gerard Thomas Straub. A friend loaned it to me recently while my son was on a mission trip to Haiti.

Winnie Griggs: I'm currently reading The Baby Who Saved Dr. Cynical - the first Mills & Boon Medical Romance by my good friend Connie Cox. I'm about 1/2 way through and finding it's a great emotional read.

Christine Johnson: I'm reading A Hope Undaunted by Julie Lessman because it's set in the 1920s. Since I write books set in the early 20s, I generally avoid fiction depicting that time period. Weird, I know, but it's me. At the moment I'm working in another era, so I can enjoy Julie's take on the 1920s. Also, this is the first novel I'm attempting to read on an ereader. I still love the feel of paper, the smell of a new book, and the gorgeous cover art, which I get to enjoy every time I glance at a print book. The ereader does have the advantage of larger font size. Sigh...I guess that's a sign of age.

Karen Kirst: I'm reading Linda Goodnight's Harlequin Romance The Least Likely Groom. Loving the hero Jett! (Awesome name, right?)

Jean C. Gordon: I'm reading Smitten, Love is on the way. I'm having a hectic week and the short, cute, heartwarming novellas are just right for the few minutes a day I can catch to read.

Naomi Rawlings: I'm reading Engaging the Earl by Mandy Goff. It's one of this month's Love Inspired Historical releases. And I'm loving the combination of society wit and serious expectations.

Linda Goodnight: I'm re-reading Forgiving, an old historical romance by Lavyrle Spencer, my all-time favorite author. I'm re-reading it because I love her word choices, metaphors, and her powerful characterizations and emotion -- and because her stories are just so beautifully woven.

Louise M. Gouge: P. D. James's Death Comes to Pemberly because my husband gave it to me for Christmas. Regarding style, it is totally "told." We're all over the place in POVs, and there is an assumption that the reader knows the characters from Pride and Prejudice. All that being said, it's a lot of fun to read. I'm about halfway through.

Debby Giusti: I'm reading Brandilyn Collins' OVER THE EDGE, about the Lyme Disease war. A fascinating suspense! I did an in-depth article on Lyme in my freelance days and actually interviewed the PhD who endorsed her book. Love reading Brandilyn's fiction tale of what is actually happening to so many folks. I can't put it down. As you probably now, Brandilyn has Lyme so she has lived this story. An excellent read that I highly recommend.

Sherri Shackelford: My 12 1/2 year old daughter has asked to read The Hunger Games, so I just downloaded the book to my kindle. I'm only on page one...but that's what I'm reading.

Margaret Daley: I'm reading Love Finds You in Sunflower, Kansas, by Pamela Tracy because it is by one of my favorite people.

Terri Reed: I'm reading Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. This is the third book in the Hunger Games trilogy. I started the series because my kids were reading them and I wanted to see what it was that had them so enthralled. I expected to not like the books for several reasons. The books are written in 1st person POV. I'm not a fan of 1st person POV. And not only that but the author alternates between present tense and past tense, which felt very clunky at first. It took me several chapters to become used to this style of writing. I also expect the subject matter to be a turn off. It is violent and gut wrenching. However, the author does a super job at making the reader care about the characters, despite their flaws. The pace of the stories are breath stealing, the tension high, and there are so many twists and cliff hanger endings that the reader can't help, but want to know what's going to happen next. I'm also reading FOR YOUNG MEN ONLY by Jeff Feldhahn and Eric Rice. This is a book that helps young men understand the mind of young women. You're probably wondering why I'm reading this...my son will be fifteen soon. Since I plan to give him this book as when I'm done, I wanted to know what the book said so I could follow up with discussions. When my daughter was this ageI gave her the book FOR YOUNG WOMEN ONLY by Shaunti Feldhahn and Lisa Rice. I read it first so we could talk about the information inside. I wish there had been books like these out when I was a teenager trying to navigate my way through relationships.

So, now you know what the Crafties are reading... how about you? What are you reading and what do you thinking about it and why.

Child of Grace Interview

How exciting to have Captain Luke Turner, the hero from Child of Grace, by Irene Hannon, a February 2011 release from Love Inspired Romance .

1. Captain Turner, tell me the most interesting thing about you. Or should we address you as doctor, now that you’ve left the service?
First of all, make it Luke. After years of salutes and protocol and field medicine, I’m ready to chill and regroup. I don’t know that I’m all that interesting. But if you’re asking about quirks—even though I was born in the South, I hate grits…much to my mother’s dismay.

2. What do you do for fun?
There’s not much time for fun on the battlefield. But my medic, Carlos Fernandez, could always make me smile. He’s also the reason I found my way back to God. That’s why my first priority now that I’m out of the service is to make sure his dream didn’t die with him.

3. What do you put off doing because you dread it?
Not much. The army—and the life-and-death nature of field medicine—taught me to do what needs to be done as soon as possible, no matter how difficult it might be.

4. What are you afraid of most in life?
At the moment, Kelsey Anderson, my temporary neighbor here on the shores of Lake Michigan. I’m starting to fall for her. But it’s obvious she has issues, and the last thing I need after caring for wounded soldiers is one more person to worry about. I’m here to heal. Keep a promise. And move on.

5. What do you want out of life?
A calm, normal, settled existence and a family to go home to at night.

6. What is the most important thing to you?
Keeping promises.

7. Do you read books? If so, what is your favorite type of book?
I read a lot of medical journals. Now that I’ve returned to civilian life, though, I’m hoping to dive into suspense novels again.

8. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I wish I’d gotten to know my kid sister, Hannah, better. She was in diapers when I went away to college, and I only came home after that for short visits. She’s coming to stay with me for a couple of weeks in Michigan, however. It’s unexpected, but hopefully we’ll reconnect. Though I have to admit I’m worried. What do I know about relating to a seventeen-year-old girl.

9. Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?
No pets. They don’t belong in a war zone.

10. If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?
Interesting question. Maybe the late 1800s. I’ve always thought it would be gratifying to practice medicine in a small town, back when life was simpler and doctors made house calls. They didn’t have the technology we have today, but I think there was a lot more heart. Then again, that could simply be looking at things through rose-colored glasses. To be honest, I’m happy where I am in life right now—if I could just figure out what to do about Kelsey.


Bio
Irene Hannon, who writes both romance and romantic suspense, is the author of more than thirty-five novels, including the bestselling Heroes of Quantico suspense series. A four-time RITA award finalist (the “Oscar” of romantic fiction), she took home the golden statuette in 2003. Her books have also been honored with two Reviewers’ Choice awards from RT BOOKreviews magazine, a Daphne du Maurier award and a HOLT medallion. A former corporate communications executive with a Fortune 500 company, Irene now writes full time. She and her husband make their home in Missouri. For more information, visit www.irenehannon.com.