Books for Christmas?

     It’s almost a rule: Writers are readers first and last. We love books. We love words. So it will come as no surprise that some authors (like me) love books as gifts.  Love, love, love! This Christmas my girls blessed me with several to add to my TBR (to be read) stack. I have a few more on my iPad. Well, maybe more than a few. 😉 While e-books are wonderfully convenient and I read lots of books that way, I have to confess I’m still a hard copy girl who loves the feel and smell of a printed book.

     What’s your preferred way to read? Print or ebook? Did you get any books for Christmas? What were they?

    

Christmas Wish Lists by Christine Johnson

Did you make wish lists for Christmas when you were a child? I remember carefully going through the toy catalogs and circling the items I wanted for Christmas. I’d then mark a big “C” so my mom would know I was the one who hoped to find this cherished item under the tree on Christmas morning.

We lived far from shopping, so catalogs were a great way for us to browse the season’s offerings. As an adult, I also realized the advantage of having children “shop” by catalog rather than in the store. Impulse buying was out. Mom couldn’t be influenced by plucking an item off the shelf and waving it in front of her face.

Perhaps that’s why I love the movie, A Christmas Story. Ralphie works so hard to “hint” to his parents what he wants. Knowing his mother disapproves only makes him try harder. Thinking back to some of my oddball requests as a child, the one that must have perplexed my parents was my deep desire for walkie-talkies. These little gems would allow me to stay in contact with my brother while we, ace child detectives, were on the hunt for evidence. (Can you tell I read all the Nancy Drew books?) They were also pretty expensive, and I didn’t think I stood a chance of receiving them.

Then came Christmas morning. At the appropriate time, after dad turned on the lights and we wished mom Merry Christmas, my brother and sister and I raced into the living room. To my utter joy, there sat my walkie-talkie set. My delight was so great that I remember it to this day, many decades later.

Imagine asking for something even more audacious than a pricey gift from the catalog. In Mail Order Mommy, little Sadie wants a new mother for Christmas. She writes about this for her school paper, even suggesting exactly who that new mommy should be. Once her teacher reads this, the adults get involved. Unfortunately, Sadie’s father doesn’t want to get married to anyone but especially not to the woman Sadie named. She resembles his late wife far too much. How will Sadie ever get her Christmas wish?

Did you make Christmas wish lists when you were a child? What gift did you most want—and most fear you wouldn’t get?

Christine Johnson

Mail Order Mommy (LIH, Nov 2016)

http://christineelizabethjohnson.com

The Greatest Romance

I recently received a request from a reader for story recommendations that would inspire hope in a Christian friend who’d given up hope of ever finding a life’s partner and was really depressed about that.

I know lots of great stories that I could’ve shared, yet, the first thought—the line of a song, actually—that popped into my head was that “sometimes blessings come through raindrops, healing comes through tears, and sometimes a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know He’s near.” (Blessings by Laura Story)

Romance novels tend to portray finding the perfect partner as the ultimate goal and blessing, something that will give us that elusive happiness we crave. What I appreciate about Christian romance is that we can show that our relationship with God should bring us our greatest fulfillment.

In my upcoming LIS, Perilous Waters (April 2014), I use the heroine’s unbelieving sister to remind the heroine that “there isn’t a man alive who can bring you happiness if you don’t know how to be happy on your own.”

My prayer for my fellow writers and our readers in 2014 is that the greatest desire of each one of us will be for a closer walk with the author and perfector of our faith that the world may see His love shine through us and know true joy in Him.

Sandra Orchard is an award-winning author of inspirational romantic suspense with Harlequin’s Love Inspired Suspense imprint, and Revell Publishing. A mother of three grown children, she lives in Niagara, Canada with her real-life-hero husband and writes full time…when not doting on her young grandchildren.  You can learn more about Sandra’s books and bonus features at www.SandraOrchard.com or connect at www.Facebook.com/SandraOrchard

Woman with umbrella photo courtesy of of stockimages / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Grandkids

Patricia Davids, here. My daughter and my granddaughter stopped in today. It's always a treat to see them. Fortunately they don't live far away and I see fairly often. As my granddaughter was showing me her "best Christmas gift ever!" I thought, little girl, you don't know the half of it. Grandkids are truly the best gift ever.

Those of you who have them know exactly what I mean. Those of you who are young parents have an inkling, but you can't appreciate the power of the word, grandchild. Not yet. Hopefully, you will one day.

I've got two grandchildren. They are seven years apart in age and while they don't always agree with each other, they do love each other. I pray they stay the best of friends.

I love my daughter but it wasn't until I held my grandson that I discovered this very special, sweet bond could exist. What an eyeopening experience. What a wonderful reward for not strangling my own kid when she was a mouthy teenager bent on making my life...well, difficult. I wasn't the best wife or the best mother. I'm not ashamed to admit it. I gave it everything I had. I'm still married to the same guy and my daughter speaks to me so I must not have done too badly, but let me tell you being a grandmother has been my best job.

Do you know how I can tell? Well, for one, my seventeen-year-old grandson cooked a log roll cake for Christmas dinner. By himself. When I said I was surprised by his cooking skill, he looked at me with a big smile and said, "I learned it from you. From all the times you pulled a stool up beside the stove and let me help you cook when I was little."

Ha! I thought I was the one having fun. Yup, grandkids are the greatest gift. Tell me about your grandkids if you have them. What are they like? If you don't have grandchildren, what are some of your happy memories with your grandmother?

What Does a Gift Card Say?

Missy Tippens, here. Now that Thanksgiving is over, and the turkey has digested and the gravy gone straight to our hips , the Christmas season is upon us. If you haven't already started shopping, I imagine you will soon. I've done a good bit online already. But I'm in the midst of making shopping lists and would love to hear your opinion. What do you think when someone gets you a gift card? What does it say to you?

I usually buy them when I know someone likes a particular store but have no idea what to get them. I also buy them when I need to mail a gift because they're so easy! But I have to admit, there have been numerous times I've run to the grocery store or drugstore to look at the rack of gift cards and purchased one last minute for a birthday or even Christmas.

If someone gives you a gift card, do you feel like you've been a last minute thought? Do you think I should add those gift cards to my shopping list this year?

By the way, as our gift to you, we'll be offering a Christmas story with daily chapters starting in mid-December!

Nice Surprises

Missy Tippens, here. Valentine's Day has passed, but I'm still celebrating because I got a gorgeous bouquet of flowers from my husband that are still going pretty strong. Though some pedals are falling off and a couple of flowers are drying, I'm still admiring the gift. And another reason I'm enjoying them so much is because they were a nice surprise.

You see, my hubby used to buy me flowers all the time. And I usually felt a little guilty, like it was a waste of money. So finally, I told him I thought I'd like something different next time he wanted to buy something romantic--maybe something more practical.

So the next year, I got a heavenly box of Godiva chocolates. Yes, edible and very practical! Needless to say, I was thrilled and raved about it. So the next few years, I got more chocolates. But the last box he got me lasted quite a while (and I'm afraid he noticed!).

Then this year, just when I was geared up for chocolate, he surprised me. He ordered flowers. When the delivery girl arrived (on a day when we had that huge snow on the ground here in Georgia!), I was floored. Flowers?

And you know what? I was once again thrilled and have enjoyed them so much.

I think the element of surprise is what makes a gift extra special. That going out of the way to do something new or unusual. And what's nice about that is that it doesn't have to be something expensive. Spending some time on a gift--making it more personal--makes it that much more appreciated.

Oh, and can you guess what I got for my hubby for V-day?

Godiva chocolates. :) And he loved the nice surprise!

What gifts have been the best surprises you've gotten?

Oh, and don't forget to check out our new Facebook page! We're going to be having a contest!

One of those Ahh.., moments

Pat Davids, here.

I recently had one of those, Ahh...moments. You know what I mean. One of those tiny treats in life that brightens your day and makes you smile. A small blessing.

My treat came via e-mail. A woman wrote to tell me that her daughter was the cover model on my book, A Family for Thanksgiving. It was Gianna's first modeling job. I'm sure there will be many more. She's really cute, isn't she? The proud mom asked if they could get a copy autographed if they sent me one.

Well sure. Then I thought, wait a minute, I get advance copies. I'll sign them an mail them to her. She objected, wanted to pay for them.

Ha! Suck it up, honey, and take the free ones, I replied. I wasn't about to get paid for this treat. That would spoil it somehow. I asked for a list of name so I could personalize each. I wrote little notes to grandparent, aunt and uncles, and preschool teachers in the front of the books.

It was so cool. Just had to share. What was you latest Ahh.. moment?