The 12 Autors of Christmas, Terri Blackstock!

Today we're hearing from my friend and award winning author, Terri Blackstock. And, as a bonus, today is Terri's birthday. Be sure to send her birthday greetings.

The picture to the left is Terri as Celebrity Grand Marshall of the Clinton, Mississippi Christmas Parade in 2006.

"I was riding with the Grand Marshall and his granddaughter. Notice how excited the people are as we drive by! I was upstaged by Santa who rode on a fire truck behind us. The comments from people we passed were something like this: "Who is that lady and why isn't she throwing candy?"
"I don’t know, but look, there’s Santa!"

(rh: Funny, Terri. We're all legends in our minds, anyway, I say.)

Tell us about your first Christmas memory?

I think my first Christmas memory was when I was about six years old and we lived in the Netherlands. My father was in the Air Force, and we lived there from the time I was five until I was nine.

My best friends were Dutch because we lived in a Dutch neighborhood. In Holland, they have two Christmas celebrations - the commercial one where presents are given on December 5th, and the religious one on December 25-26.

Because Sinterklaas (the Dutch version of Santa) came to the Dutch children on the 5th, my parents let us play along. They didn't give us gifts on that day, but they allowed us to put out wooden shoes, which Sinterklaas allegedly filled with candy.

I'll never forget going to the parade a few days before and seeing Sinterklaas dressed differently than the American version of Santa. He wore bishops' robes and was skinny, but he still had a white beard. How confusing!

(rh: Terri, how interesting. And funny too how our Santa Claus is round and chubby, and people say America is the biggest nation in the world.)

Growing up, did your family have Christmas traditions? Tell us how you incorporated them into your family life. Or, how you created new ones.

My family always exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve, making that a very special time for the family to be together. Then on Christmas morning, we had our surprise Santa gifts.

I continued to do this until I married Ken. The blending of our families - my two girls and his son - created a lot of clashing traditions. So we decided to create some important traditions of our own.

We don't exchange gifts until Christmas morning, but on Christmas Eve, we make a “Happy Birthday Jesus” video. Like the little drummer boy, we each try to bring a talent to the Lord to place on the video.

My son usually plays guitar as the girls sing, or my daughter Marie plays piano, or the whole family tries to sing a Christmas song in harmony - which usually winds up with our collapsing in laughter.

At some point in the video, one of the children reads the Christmas story from scripture. We end by saying, "Happy Birthday, Jesus!" It's a way of focusing on Christ and having fun with the family. We have a blast watching previous years.

After the video, we usually play some kind of board game with the kids. It's a great time together, without the distraction of gifts.

(rh: Terri, what a great idea. I can remember playing games with my brothers and sister, laughing so hard my sides hurt and I couldn't breath.)

When do you put up your tree? At my house, it goes up right after Thanksgiving. My husband works assembly and outside lights. I do the rest. Describe the decorating at your house.

We try to put up our tree the first week of December. The decorations I do in our house are exhausting, and outside is more exhausting.

We live in a subdivisions known for its decorations. We don't want to be the weak link in the neighborhood, so we try to be among the first to get ours up.

One of the highlights of our decoration is that we put a cross and a manger in our front yard, with a sign that says, "For this purpose I came..." from John 12:27.

(rh: I love that...)

We light up the front of our house with wreaths in every window, and white lights all over our trees and bushes. I focus on the front door, framing it with thick garland and lights.

What is your favorite Christmas song or album? I grew up with a Johnny Mathis Christmas CD and it's still one of my favorites. My other is a copy of Mel Torme singing his "Christmas Song."

I don't have a favorite, but this year I've downloaded Josh Groban's new Christmas CD, which has all the traditional Christmas songs. One of the highlights of our Christmas season each year is my church's "Carols by Candlelight."

It's a huge production that takes months of preparation. Once we go to see that, we feel that we've really started the Christmas season.

Christmas morning, my parents didn't want us in the living room until the tree was plugged in. So, we'd wake up early, five a.m. or so, and bang on the floor to stir my parents awake. Relive your childhood Christmas mornings for us.

We would go wake our parents up at the crack of dawn. I was the oldest, so I remember enjoying my little sister's and brother's faces as they saw what Santa brought.

After my parents were divorced, I remember that my mother had a budget of something like $26 for each of us for Santa. Somehow she made that stretch far enough to get us the desires of our heart each year.

(rh: Mom's are amazing that way.)

Seems to me snow and Christmas go together, but I've been a Florida girl for 33 years! Tell us about your Christmas setting?

I wish snow was a part of our Christmas in Mississippi, but it rarely is. One year it snowed a few days after Christmas, and decorations were still up. That was so beautiful.

But mostly it's in the 50's or 60's (sometimes the 70's), and sunny. It's great weather for children to try out their new bicycles.

It’s Christmas Eve, describe your day and evening.

I do not go shopping on Christmas Eve. That's against everything I believe in. It would ruin my day to stand in lines on that day. That day is usually spent in a mad rush to finish wrapping gifts and get them under the tree.

Around five p.m., we go to church for our Christmas Eve service. It's a wonderful candlelight service that focuses our hearts on Christ.

Then we come home and have a light dinner together, then begin making our video. My children are grown now, so it’s growing more difficult to get everyone home at the same time.

We're trying to be flexible with the making of the video these days, but I know that when we have grandchildren that tradition will take on new life.

(rh: Oh, yes, and how fun to watch them join the tradition. Little ones are so funny!)

Confession time. Shop on line or at the mall?

Mostly online. Shopping is not one of my favorite things. I no longer mail anything out. I buy out-of-towners' gifts online and let them ship. Isn't the internet great?

Christmas grows more and more commercial every year. Setting the hustle and bustle aside, what does Christmas really mean to you?

To me, Christmas is a time of remembering the amazing gift that God gave us when He sent His Son to earth. It's a time of celebrating our blessings as our family members all return home and honor each other with gifts.

I love Christmas, even though it’s easy to get caught up in the madness.

It's Christmas day, what's for dinner? Do you make cookies or other traditional foods?

Last year my girls and I made gingerbread houses. For Christmas dinner, we usually go to my mother's for turkey and the works.

Tell us about your favorite Christmas memory.

I think my favorite Christmas memories were when each of my girls were preschoolers, experiencing the joy of Christmas for the first time.

I remember when my younger daughter was in her first preschool Christmas program. The teacher had told them all to sing really loudly, so they bent at the waists and yelled their song out. I've never laughed so hard.

The children were completely distracted by Santa who sat on the front row. I would kill for a video of that, but unfortunately, my battery in my camcorder died before they started. That memory is still in my mind, though.

(rh: I can imagine that image being hard to forget. How funny and sweet.)

What are you plans for this season?

I'm going to try something new this year. My family is going to set aside some money, and we're going to go to a grocery store parking lot in a poorer area of our town.

We're giving each family member a hundred dollars. We're going to have them pick out one person that they'd like to bless with that gift, and we'll all watch from the car as they give them the money.

I think this will be fun and will bless everyone involved. I can't wait to do it.

(rh: What a great idea. I pray the Lord leads you all to the one who really needs that touch and attention.)

Any final thoughts on Christmas?

I would just encourage families of young children to try harder to make their children learn the blessing of giving.

Too often we moms try to make it easy on everyone by buying all the gifts ourselves. I would buy the gifts I was giving, the gifts the children were giving to each other, the gifts my husband was giving, and sometimes even the gifts that they were giving me! If I had it to do over, I would do a lot of things differently.

(rh: Great point, Terri. One year my dear husband took my list and bought everything on it. While I was blessed and grateful, we talked coming up with gift ideas of his own and I stopped being so particular.)

The official word on Terri Blackstock

Terri Blackstock has written over thirty Christian titles, many of which have been number one best-sellers. Her latest book, "True Light," reached number one on the Top 50 of all Christian books the first full month it was in stores.

"Night Light" was the winner of the 2007 Retailer's Choice Award for General Fiction.

Both books are part of her popular Restoration Series which began with "Last Light."

Other reader favorites include her "Cape Refuge" Series, her "Newpointe 911" Series, her SunCoast Chronicles Series and her "Seasons" books written with co-author Beverly LaHaye.

(Terri, thank you so much for stopping by! You're a blessing. Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas!)

The 6th Author on a 12ish Author Tour - Kristen Heitzmann!

Welcome author and friend Kristen Heitzmann, and share her Christmas Memories.

Kristen, thanks for stopping by!

Tell us about your first Christmas memory?

I remember walking to church in the dark, wearing scratchy tights and mittens, and the way the whole sanctuary glowed when we stepped inside.

(rh: Ooo, I had a pair of those same tights!)

Growing up, did your family have Christmas traditions? Tell us how you incorporated them into your family life. Or, how you created new ones.

The advent wreath was a major focus, lighting the candles for each week of advent, singing "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" and "Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel."

Living in the fields outside of town, our Christmas trees came with a root ball to be planted when the ground thawed. Some were round, fat pinon pines, others blue spruce. Ever decorated a real blue spruce? Talk about needles.

(rh: Oh, I know. Though my fake tree tore my arm up pretty good this year as I straighted the branches!)

We usually opened presents Christmas eve night. My parents said it was so that Christmas day could be just about Jesus. But I think it was because none of us could wait. That's a tradition we’ve continued.

On Christmas eve we also hung our socks and there was always an orange and a lifesavers storybook inside. Now, my family all take turns sneaking something into everyone's stocking.

(rh: Sounds like a fun tradition! Can you, um, hanging a stocking with "Rachel" on it?" ;)

When do you put up your tree? At my house, it goes up right after Thanksgiving. My husband works assembly and outside lights. I do the rest. Describe the decorating at your house.

Okay, so imagine the holiday photos in House Beautiful and that's pretty much the look I go for. (Wow!)

Having hit the department stores' after Christmas sales for years, there aren't many spots in the house that don't receive a touch of Christmas magic.

I have the elegant 9' tree in the living room, the Victorian 4' tree in the foyer, the 7' country tree in the family room, and the happy tree in the dining room with so many mini multi-colored lights that the only ornaments it receives are the advent story books we read each evening and hang.

The mantle is decked, the garlands are hung, the candles are lit. The whole house is jubilant.

(rh: That sounds amazing! I'm inspired, Kristen.)

What is your favorite Christmas song or album? I grew up with a Johnny Mathis Christmas CD and it's still one of my favorites. My other is a copy of Mel Torme singing his "Christmas Song."

Sarah McGlaughlin, Lori Lite, Hammered dulcimer, acoustic, and bluegrass
Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

Seems to me snow and Christmas go together, but I’ve been a Florida girl for 33 years! Tell us about your Christmas setting?

Last year was the perfect Christmas. It dumped nearly three feet of snow a few days before Christmas and kept snowing a little each day - so incredibly beautiful, frosting the mountains, coating the trees, covering every brown wisp of grass.

The produce section in the grocery stores were literally bare because delivery trucks couldn't get through, but my newly married daughter and I pooled what we'd purchased in advance and made a great dinner.

My youngest son sledded and snowboarded for hours each day and the snow actually lasted. There is something inherently soul nourishing about great, fluffy flakes drifting down amidst the christmas lights and evergreens.

(rh: I agree. I do love the snow, I'm just not used to it anymore.)

Christmas grows more and more commercial every year. Setting the hustle and bustle aside, what does Christmas really mean to you?

Christmas is about rejoicing with the people I love, laughing and living and giving. It's about the wonder of the incarnation, God becoming man, a fragile infant dependent on tenderness and care. It is wonder and anticipation and joy.

It's Christmas day, what's for dinner? Do you make cookies or other traditional foods?

We make baklava and English toffee.

The official word on Kristen Heitzmann.

I spent my first six years in South Bend, Indiana in a house with a tornado cellar that gave me a love of damp, musty, mysterious places. To this day, I breathe in a cool cellar like incense.

Transplanted at six, Colorado seemed dry and desolate, the towering mountains a view that could not replace green grass and lightning bugs.

But I learned to watch for barrel cactus in the straw filled fields in which my brother and I played cowboys and Indians. (I always played the Indian because the bow really shot the arrows and all he had were caps.)

We tramped the pasture land of cattle herds, waded into the holding ponds teeming with tadpoles, and toted them home in coffee cans to hatch into hundreds of speckled, penny frogs. At night, with the neighbor kids, I played kick the can on the gravel roads and acreage around our far flung houses.

Between classical violin lessons, I rode my symphony instructor's purebred Arabians up and down the scrub oak covered slopes of Cheyenne Mountain. My sister, brother and I played Mozart at church on Christmas, and I subsequently taught myself piano, recorder, tambourine and guitar.

From a very young age my passions were reading, drawing, and writing stories. Ours was a cultured family, my dad a professor of philosophy and Dean of Arts and Letters, my mother an oil painter and antique refinisher. That sophistication I absorbed, but I also had a wild streak that called me outside to dissect grasshoppers and catch rock lizards and salamanders.

From the time my dad taught me to read at sit-on-the-floor school when I was four - launching me past kindergarten into 1st grade - I have loved learning and expressing what I know through art, music, and especially writing.

Education came easily and I grew accustomed to having my work read and displayed. But breaking out of the family mold, I left college to marry my husband Jim (celebrating our 27th this year.)

Since then, life and all kinds of research have provided the grist for my stories. We have three awesome adult kids, and one incredible teenager. (You might think I'm biased, but ask anyone who knows them.)

While home schooling my four kids, I wrote my first novel. I pitched it for publication, and it became the first of a five book historical series.

Since then, I have written three more historical novels and eight contemporaries with a ninth coming in June 08. "The Still of Night" was nominated for the Colorado Book Award. The "Tender Vine" was a Christy Award finalist and "Secrets" won a Christy in 2005.

People often ask why I started writing and I say to get the stories out of my head. Some say they'd like to write a book, but I say if you're not wracked with labor pains, there are easier ways to express yourself. Being a writer is a solitary, eccentric, and often compulsive path. But I wouldn't trade it for anything.

(rh: Well said, I feel the same way. Thanks for coming by Kristen, it was great to get to know you more and hang out. Merry Christmas!)

Kristen's books

The Diamond of the Rockies series:
THE ROSE LEGACY
SWEET BOUNDLESS
THE TENDER VINE

TWILIGHT

A RUSH OF WINGS
THE STILL OF NIGHT

HALOS

SECRETS
UNFORGOTTEN
ECHOES

FREEFALL

THE EDGE OF RECALL (June 08)

The Rocky Mountain Legacy series:
HONOR'S PLEDGE
HONOR'S PRICE
HONOR'S QUEST
HONOR'S DISGUISE
HONOR'S REWARD

The 12 Authors of Christmas Tour Welcomes Gayle Roper

Welome author and friend, Gayle Roper.

I can't remember the first time I met Gayle, but I knew of her reputation and had looked forward to meeting her one day. She's warm and loving, devoted to the Lord, and fabulous writer with a kind smile. Gayle is a great mentor to new writers and support to those who've been around awhile.

Let's read about her Christmas memories.

Tell us about your first Christmas memory?

I remember going to the front window and looking out to see if my grandparents were in sight since we weren't allowed to open gifts until they came. And there was a new blue two wheel bike! Big stuff!

Growing up, did your family have Christmas traditions? Tell us how you incorporated them into your family life. Or, how you created new ones.

My grandparents always came to us since both my parents were only children. Grandmom and Grandpop Gordinier always came a day early since they drove from Harrisburg to our house in NJ. Grandpop always gave us a silver dollar and Grandmom always brought red and white sweet popcorn.

Today with our children and their families we take turns hosting. This year will be our turn. We usually have our Christmas before the 25th so that the kids can enjoy the big morning in their own homes with no pressure to have to be anywhere. Celebrating on a different date also saves everyone the tension of balancing competing families.

(rh: You're so right. In my late twenties, I was single, lived away from the family, and traveled a lot for my job. For Christmas I'd go to my parents, but on Christmas day, we'd all drive to Grandparents or relatives. Those years were fun but in my mind, also exhausting.)

When do you put up your tree? At my house, it goes up right after Thanksgiving. Describe the decorating at your house.

Our tree goes up sometime in the first couple of weeks of December and stays up until well into January. Once it's up, it's too pretty to take down. (:

We finally caved a couple of years ago and bought an artificial tree. Prior to that we usually went to a tree farm and cut our tree. Chuck helps set it up, but I do the lights and the decorating.

I find myself moving things for about a week after I hang them to get the right balance.

(rh: Oh, me too!)

I always buy several poinsettias because they are the fastest way to decorate the rest of the house. Among my prized possessions is a lovely ceramic creche scene that my mom painted.

What is your favorite Christmas song or album? I grew up with a Johnny Mathis Christmas CD and it’s still one of my favorites. My other is a copy of Mel Torme singing his "Christmas Song."

When I was in college, I participated for the first time in a presentation of Handel's Messiah. The college engaged professional soloists and musicians from the Philadelphia Orchestra and Curtis Institute of Music. Top notch all the way. I still remember the goosebumps I got when I heard "The Trumpet Shall Sound" for the first time.

(rh: It had to be wonderful.)

As an adult I sang with a local choral group led by a Westminster Choir College grad, and we did the Messiah every year.

Christmas morning, my parents didn't want us in the living room until the tree was plugged in. So, we'd wake up early, five a.m. or so, and bang on the floor to stir my parents awake. Relive your childhood Christmas mornings for us.

My brothers and I had permission to take our stockings down and open them whenever we woke up, but we weren't allowed to touch anything else. I still remember the deflated feeling the first year I didn't believe in Santa Claus. Not nearly as much fun.

(rh: Even though Santa is not real, it's the magic of someone like him that engages us, don't you think? That's why we hate to find out he's not real.)

Seems to me snow and Christmas go together, but I've been a Florida girl for 33 years! Tell us about your Christmas setting?

Living in southeastern PA now and NJ growing up, I've experienced the same Christmas weather all my life: unpredictable.

There have been times it was in the fifties and you stare at your new sled or ice skates and wonder if you'll ever get to use them. Then there have been years when the snow made traveling difficult or impossible. You just never know.

It's Christmas Eve. Describe your day and evening.

For years Christmas Eve day was rushing around doing last minute get ready things. Christmas Eve was the service at church. Then our older son became a pastor. Now Christmas Eve is going to his church.

One special Eve we got to take communion with his in-laws, just our little group, served by Chip, our son. Very special. Last year for the first time we shared Christmas Eve with Chip's birth mother and step-brother.

(rh: Gayle, how wonderful! Christmas is a time for unique family interaction.)

Confession time. Shop on line or at the mall?

I have a strong antipathy for malls. Too crowded and they make me greedy.

(rh: LOL, me too.)

Seeing all that stuff I "need" and I didn't even realize it! So I do as much as possible on line. When I do have to go to the stores, I go during the day when the crowds are much slighter.

Christmas grows more and more commercial every year. Setting the hustle and bustle aside, what does Christmas really mean to you?

Christmas is, of course, the Incarnation, but I am thankful for that all year. And Jesus probably wasn't born on Dec. 25th anyway.

So while I appreciate the spiritual significance of the day and would never want to forget it, I find family is very high on my list, too. We happen to enjoy our families and that makes the holidays fun and enjoyable.

(rh: I feel very much the same way.)

It's Christmas day, what's for dinner? Do you make cookies or other traditional foods?

I used to bake cookies and enjoyed it. Then it became a chore, so I do not bake anything for the holidays. I'd just eat it anyway.

We do have special dishes we serve with the turkey. I make onions au gratin and my daughter-in-law makes a carrot dish with just enough horse radish to give it a kick. (yum)

At the big Roper get together (25-28 people) I serve filet roasts since by then everyone's already turkeyed out. My one sister-in-law brings her scalloped tomatoes, a niece brings creamed mushrooms (which my husband loves but I can't stand the smell of) and we have home made pies.

Any final thoughts on Christmas?

Divest yourself of any expectations. That way whatever happens is enjoyable. If your family is nice to you, you're ahead, and if they aren't, you didn't expect it. If you get what you want, you're delighted. If you don't, you can roll with it. No expectations.

And remember Jesus, not just the Babe, but the crucified Savior.

The official word on Gayle Roper.

GAYLE ROPER is the award winning author of more than forty-five books. She has been a Christy finalist three times for her novels Spring Rain, Summer Shadows and Winter Winds.

Her novel Autumn Dreams won the 2004 Romance Writers of America's RITA Award for Best Inspirational Romance of the year. Summer Shadows was selected as the Inspirational Readers Choice Contest Book of the Year (tied with Brandilyn Collins).

Gayle has won the Holt Medallion three times for The Decision, Caught in a Bind, and Autumn Dreams. The Decision won the Reviewers Choice Award, and Gayle has also won the Award of Excellence for Spring Rain and the Golden Quill for Summer Shadows and Winter Winds. Romantic Times Book Report gave Gayle the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Her Amhearst mystery series, Caught in the Middle, Caught in the Act, and Caught in a Bind , originally published by Zondervan, has been reprinted in 2007 by Love Inspired Suspense with a fourth original title added, Caught Redhanded.

Another original single title, See No Evil, is also being released. Caught in the Middle has been optioned for film.

A Woman and her Emotions, an updated and expanded version of her title Balancing Your Emotions, is also seeing release in 2007. Another nonfiction title, Riding the Waves, has been called a "thinking woman’s book on contentment."

For her work in training Christian writers Gayle has won special recognition from Mount Hermon CWC, St. Davids CWC, Florida CWC, and Greater Philadelphia CWC. She directed St. Davids for five years and Sandy Cove CWC for six. She has taught with Christian Leaders, Authors and Speakers Services (CLASS), serving for several years as their writer in residence.

Gayle enjoys speaking at women's events across the nation and loves sharing the powerful truths of Scripture with humor and practicality. "It is always a delight to talk about the issues of life in the light of the Word of God."

She lives with her husband Chuck in southeastern Pennsylvania where they enjoy their family of two great sons, two lovely daughters-in-law, and the world's five most wonderful grandkids. Gayle enjoys reading, gardening, and eating out every time she can talk Chuck into it.

The 12 Authors of Christmas welcomes Deborah Raney

Please welcome friend and author, Deborah Raney. I met Deb almost seven years ago on an email loop for writers, then in person at a conference. She's always kind and beautiful, and a great source of encouragement to all writers.

Welcome, Deb!

Tell us about your first Christmas memory?

I remember the Christmas Eve service at the little country church I grew up in. The wall behind the pulpit would always be covered with a huge mural depicting the nativity and I loved getting lost in that scene, imagining that I was there at that very first Christmas.

At the end of the service, every single person in the church got to bring home a brown paper bag filled with candy. Candy wasn't something we had around the house so this was a real treat and we made it last as long as we could - at least into the new year.

(rh: Funny how little things like candy can be such a blessing.)

Growing up, did your family have Christmas traditions? Tell us how you incorporated them into your family life. Or, how you created new ones.

I grew up with a brother and three sisters and we five kids took turns reading the Christmas story every year before we opened our gifts.

After that, we would present a little program for our parents, reading poetry or devotions or singing. Most memorable was the year my brother played Christmas carols on pop bottles. He worked for hours, filling the bottles with varying amounts of water so just the right tone would sound when he blew across the top of the bottle.

(rh: How cool.)

We've carried on the tradition of reading the Christmas story, only now it's my parents' twelve grandchildren who take turns reading. Two years ago my sister's foreign exchange student "son" read the Christmas story in Spanish, and soon there will be great-grandchildren old enough to take a turn reading.

When do you put up your tree? At my house, it goes up right after Thanksgiving. My husband works assembly and outside lights. I do the rest. Describe the decorating at your house.

We've always been pretty low-key when it comes to decorating. We put the tree up on Thanksgiving weekend, and we try not to be late because it comes down on December 26 without fail. I have a real aversion to Christmas decorations after the holidays are over!

(rh: I keep the tree up until the first week of January, but I'm ready for it to come down.)

Other decor includes a beribboned wreath on the front door, quilted stockings (hand-sewn by my cousins twenty-five years ago) hanging on the stair rail, and a sprig of mistletoe over the kitchen door my husband comes through every night after work. (He gets a kiss year round, but it's extra fun to kiss beneath the mistletoe.)

And I always set out a red ceramic reindeer that a darling little girl named Amy gave me years ago when I was her story hour teacher. Amy got married last Christmas and I helped serve the punch at her wedding reception.

What is your favorite Christmas song or album? I grew up with a Johnny Mathis Christmas CD and it's still one of my favorites. My other is a copy of Mel Torme singing his "Christmas Song."

My dad is a big country western fan, so I remember listening to Charlie Pride's Christmas album a lot. Also, Doris Day, Patti Page and Pat Boone Christmas records playing on my folks' Hi-Fi.

But I think the Christmas music that is most nostalgic for me is simply the traditional carols that our church would sing from the hymnal beginning the Sunday after Thanksgiving. To this day, I can sing multiple verses of the old carols from memory.

(rh: O Holy Night is one of my all time favorite songs.)

Christmas morning, my parents didn't want us in the living room until the tree was plugged in. So, we'd wake up early, five a.m. or so, and bang on the floor to stir my parents awake. Relive your childhood Christmas mornings for us.

We always had our family Christmas at home after the church service on Christmas Eve. That's what we considered the "real' Christmas. But Christmas morning was special too because we always had one more present under the tree that was signed from "Santa."

As the oldest, I found out the secret about Santa (that he was my Dad) when I was eight years old, but at first I thought that meant my dad was Santa for ALL the boys and girls in the world. That didn't surprise me a bit since Daddy was the best at EVERYTHING!

(rh: Too funny, Deb. But what a great statement about your father and good dads everywhere.)

After I discovered the truth, I don't think my parents really tried to keep Santa a secret to the other kids. And even though the tags on those Christmas morning packages always said "Love, Santa," we always knew they were from Mommy and Daddy.

Seems to me snow and Christmas go together, but I've been a Florida girl for 33 years! Tell us about your Christmas setting?

Oh, growing up in Kansas, it was a BIG disappointment if we didn't get snow! But not so much that we couldn't make it to church or to my grandmother's house for Christmas with the cousins.

I can remember many years tramping through the snow on Christmas Eve to stand out in the yard and look up at the stars. It always seemed like that one star (the Bethlehem star, of course!) shined just a little brighter over our farm on Christmas Eve night!

Confession time. Shop on line or at the mall?

NOT the mall! But we have a little different tradition in our family. Once our kids became teenagers and were really hard to shop for (not to mention money was scarce back then!) we decided that except for the trinkets we put in the kids stockings on Christmas morning, we wouldn't give gifts. Instead, we gave them cash, and then we choose a day during the week between Christmas and New Years and we all go shopping together to spend our Christmas money.

(rh: Sounds good. Great time to hit the sales and extend the holiday cheer.)

This way, they can pool the cash they get from grandparents with ours and get what they really want, plus everything is on sale after the holidays.

We always begin our shopping trip by going out to eat as a family and this is the one time that nothing on the menu is off-limits. If they want prime rib, fine. Coke and a milkshake?

No problem. Dessert? You bet! Everybody's favorite part of the meal is when we leave our server a special Christmas tip (a $100 bill) and sneak away before we can see his/her reaction.

We always pray that the Lord will send us a server who really needs that little extra at this time of year. Our tradition became the inspiration for my novella "Circle of Blessings" in A Currier & Ives Christmas from Barbour Books.

Christmas grows more and more commercial every year. Setting the hustle and bustle aside, what does Christmas really mean to you?

Now that three of our kids are grown and living out of state, one of the biggest things the holidays mean is being together with those we love most in the world. It's wonderful to see our daughter and her husband establishing a Christian home and raising their two little boys to love and serve the Lord.

And it's special to still have my husband's grandparents (now 98 and 97!) to celebrate with. The love of our family through the generations is a great reminder of the ultimate gift God gave the world when He sent His son as a baby.

(rh: My grandmother is still living strong at 93!)

It's Christmas day, what's for dinner? Do you make cookies or other traditional foods?

Usually Christmas day is spent traveling to one of our parents' homes to celebrate with extended family.

At my parents' house, we still carry on a tradition of having my mom's wonderful, milky potato soup for supper with lots of saltine crackers and a vegetable plate. With the addition of lots of sons-in-law and a daughter-in-law - and growing teenage grandchildren, my mom has added a thick vegetable soup and breads to the menu, but it's still that potato soup that says "Christmas" to me!

(rh: I love potato soup.)

Tell us about your favorite Christmas memory.

When I was growing up, we lived just down the road from a wonderful couple who adopted us as their "honorary" grandchildren. Every Christmas, Don and Jewel would have the five of us, plus assorted other neighbor children to their home to decorate and bake Christmas cookies.

Jewel had a collection of dozens of cookie cutters, and a recipe for "painting" the cookies with an edible egg paint. When the cookies were done, we'd have a tea party with Jewel's special singing teapot filled with hot chocolate. One of my sister's lived in Don and Jewel's house after they moved into town and she inherited the teapot, and each of us got some of Jewel's cookie cutters. We still use them to make cookies from her recipe almost every year.

My husband and kids prefer a thick powdered sugar frosting to the egg paint, but the cookie base is always Jewel's. I dedicated "A Nest of Sparrows" to Jewel and named characters in the book after her and Don. She was a faithful reader even after failing eyesight forced her to listen to books on tape. Jewel passed away a couple of years ago at a very spry ninety-something.

What are your plans for this season?

We'll all be together at our daughter's house. Our sons will travel from Washington and Iowa and it'll be the first time my husband and our sons have met our second little grandson. We spent Christmas at our daughter's two years ago because our first grandson was just two weeks old then. I really like this new tradition of a new grandbaby every other year!

Any final thoughts on Christmas?

I just want to wish all my readers the most blessed Christmas ever!

(rh: Deb, what lovely stories and memories. Thank you!)

The official word on Deb Raney.

Deborah Raney is at work on her seventeenth novel. Her books have won the RITA Award, the HOLT Medallion, the National Readers' Choice Award and the Silver Angel from Excellence in Media, as well as being a finalist for the Christy Award. Deborah's first novel, "A Vow to Cherish," inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title.

Her newest series is the Clayburn novels with Howard/Simon & Schuster. She's had three books release this year: "Remember to Forget" from Howard/Simon & Schuster; "Within This Circle" (sequel to A Vow to Cherish from Steeple Hill) and "Missouri Memories," which contains Deb's novella "Finally Home."

She also serves on the advisory board of American Christian Fiction Writers. She and her husband, Ken Raney, have four children and enjoy small-town life in Kansas.

FREE BOOK ALERT!! Deb is giving away a copy of "A Vow to Cherish" and its brand new sequel, "Within This Circle." Leave a comment to be entered in a drawing.

The 12 Authors of Christmas Tour Continues with Janelle Schneider

Please greet and meet author and friend, Janelle Scheinder. While some of you may not be familiar with Janelle's name, she's been in the biz many years, first publishing in '93!

Welcome, Janelle.

My first Christmas memory is of the Christmas when I was 14. It was the first time we celebrated Christmas as a family, and I remember how much I wanted a plush animal. Mom and Dad gave me a plush beaver (not quite sure why they chose that one) who was a treasured companion for the next 20 years until I gave him to my son, who also loves plush animals.

As I was growing up, we didn't celebrate Christmas. We belonged to a very conservative Christian splinter-group which believed that Christmas was a pagan holiday and that we should "remember" Christ's birth all year long.

Unfortunately, what happened for me as a child in that environment was that I never really thought much about His birth. I loved Jesus from a very young age, but focussed mostly on His adult life and death. The wonder of His birth didn't capture me until later.

Now that I have a family of my own, the celebration of Christmas begins with Advent. We mark the passing of each week with lighting the appropriate candle on the Advent wreath. I talk with our children about what Jesus' birth means, and about the wonder of God becoming a helpless infant.

The first Christmas my husband and I were married, we were expecting our first child. As with many newlyweds, our finances were beyond tight. We had agreed that our Christmas present to one another would be the rocking chair we purchased in anticipation of our baby's arrival.

However, my husband surprised me on Christmas morning with a ceramic Nativity set he'd purchased from a friend who did lots of ceramic work. After Christmas was over, he built a custom box for the set, complete with foam insets, so that the Nativity set would survive our many moves. Now 13 years later, it's one of the main items in my decorating for the season. I set it out, minus the Baby in the manger.

Before I go to bed, Christmas Eve, I put the manger where it belongs. The children always notice it at some point in the flurry of Christmas morning.

When my daughter was about 3, she was explaining to Grandma about Santa Claus. "He comes in the night before Cwismus," she explained with her little toddler mis-pronunciation, "and brings Baby Jesus." We've since corrected her theology!

Because Christmas was so special to my sisters and me once our family started celebrating it again, we wanted to drag out the delight of opening gifts. Thus, each gift under the tree was opened one at a time, and each of us took turns opening a present. I've continued this tradition with my husband and children, giving us time to appreciate one another's gifts, as well as our own.

I remember one Christmas we spent with my husband's parents. They use the "divide and conquer" system of present opening, which meant that the children put the presents into piles, one of each person, and then everyone opened all at once. My husband and I, without any prior consultation, opened ours in turns, quietly off to one side. It was fun to continue our own tradition in spite of the flurry of the rest of the family.

My tree goes up the last week of November or the first week of December. Being Canadian, we celebrate Thanksgiving the second Monday in October, so we don't have the "holiday marker" for setting up the tree.

I do try to have at least the tree in place by the first Sunday of Advent. This year, setting up the Christmas tree was particularly enjoyable as our two children helped me. While "even distribution" of decorations is a foreign concept to them, they've learned that many of the ornaments have sentimental value. There are "baby's first Christmas" ornaments for each of them, as well as a family picture ornament for each year we've been a family.

We have an ornament in memory of our dog who died 3 years ago, and ornaments representing each place we've lived over the years. My mother passed away four years ago, and some of the ornaments are ones I inherited from her. It was so much fun discussing the important events with my children.

When we're living in a larger setting, I make a point of attending a performance of Handel's Messiah, if possible. That won't be possible for me this year, so I listen to my growing collection of Christmas music by a variety of artists ranging from the Irish Tenors to Reba McIntyre to Harry Connick Jr to Focus on the Family choir.

Christmas setting:

My husband is an engineer with the Canadian military, so we've lived a variety of places. Some years, we've had a brown Christmas, where the weather is too chilly for anything green to still be growing, but no snow has fallen yet. Other years, like this year, there are piles of snow everywhere. At the moment, we're living far enough north that it's dark outside by supper time, and not light again until around 9am. The coloured lights of Christmas are a welcome break from the darkness and starkness of winter.

Christmas Eve ... it's a day I love.

I often end up wrapping a ton of presents that night, having been too busy to get to it any earlier. When the children were very small, we saved the job until that evening, so that we wouldn't have to try to keep them out of the brightly-wrapped packages until the right time. Last year we had a puppy in the family, so we postponed presents under the tree until Christmas Eve, again to prevent premature opening. I also often bustle around on Christmas Eve doing various cleaning chores, so that the house is as clean as I can make it for the special day.

I shop in whatever means creates the least stress for me. Right now, we're living in a community that's very remote (four hours from any "real" shopping) so the Sears catalogue has been by best friend. I also tend to start buying Christmas gifts in Sept or Oct, as I see things that various family members will enjoy. Thus, most of my shopping is usually complete by December 1, enabling me to avoid the craziness of stores at this time of year.

Because I spent so many childhood years without Christmas, it never loses its meaning for me. I'm always aware that the presents are merely symbols of the Gift God gave us in Jesus, and I work very hard to keep that meaning alive for our children. This year we're working our way through an Advent booklet which provides a meditation and prayer for each day of Advent.

My decorating at the moment has a purple theme, and not just because purple is my favourite colour. In the liturgical church tradition, purple is the colour of preparation.

One thing that has bothered me about Christmas celebrations in the past has been that Christmas seems to be "over" when Christmas dinner is finished.

My reaction to that has been that Christmas afternoon, or perhaps the day after Christmas (known as Boxing Day in Canada) I change out many of the purple decorations for red and green. I keep the (artificial) Christmas tree up until Epiphany (usually the second week in January) which is the celebration of baptism of Jesus.

I know you're wondering about Boxing Day. This is a tradition we inherited from the British in which the wealthy families "boxed up" their Christmas leftovers to take to the poor. Mostly here in Canada, it just means lots of stuff goes on sale at the stores, but since I'm not a shopper by nature, I'm not about to brave the crowds on that day.

I prefer to stay at home with my family and enjoy a quiet day of basking in our togetherness, as well as the the joy of God's gift to us.

(rh: Janelle, thanks for taking the time to share! I loved your memories and testimony! Thanks, friend.)

The official word on Janelle Clare Schneider.

Janelle Clare Schneider's first novel was published in December 1993 (under her maiden name, Janelle Burnham), which made that Christmas memorable all on its own. She published five more novels and four novellas over the next nine years. Since then, the demands of parenthood and her husband's military career sidelined her writing for awhile, but she's once again at the keyboard, working on three different novels.

The 12 Authors of Christmas - Kathryn Mackel

Please welcome author and friend, Kathryn Mackel. She's written us a very honest and heart felt interview with a desire to comfort and touch those who may have grown up without the ideal Christmas.

Thank you, Kathy!

When Rachel offered the opportunity to revisit our Christmas memories, I jumped at the chance. Who doesn't love Christmas? I put my tree up early, consider November 1 the kick-off for Christmas music, can't wait for the snow to blanket the woods.

But in answering Rachel's questions, I have to admit that there is a deliberate gap in my memories, a stone I have placed across a tomb of emotion. I grew up in an alcoholic home. About the time I realized that Santa didn't come down my chimney, I also understood my father had a drinking problem. This problem caused Christmas and other occasions to be a time of anxiety and dread, rather than joy. I don't need to go into details because if you have also experienced this, you know the drill.

I hesitated to share this - not because that tomb is filled with decay - but because I did not want to dishonor my father. Rachel and I emailed and prayed and it seems fitting to share this because so many others share this pain.

And what is so important is this. Despite the drinking and the horrific holidays, my father loved me and my sisters deeply. When I was in my mid-twenties, he stopped drinking. I don’t know why - I still consider it something of a miracle. And so the memories pick up from there, with my own children to love. With all the wounded Christmases, my sisters have been marvelous in offering new memories. Golden, blessed memories of family and warmth and love.

This is God's redemption, not just for my life but also for my parents.

This is the true gift of Christmas, the gift of God: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." (Ez. 36:26)

(rh: Said so well, Kathy.)


Tell us about your first Christmas memory?

We had an awesome advent tradition. On the first day of December, my parents put 24 pennies on the window sill. Every night we'd remove one. I remember being barely tall enough to see over the sill, and watching those pennies disappear. When we got to the very last penny, I was nearly out of my mind with excitement.

(rh: What a great tradition!)

Growing up, did your family have Christmas traditions? Tell us how you incorporated them into your family life. Or, how you created new ones.

The best presents under our tree were from Uncle Henry. He was generous and also very artistic so they would be amazingly wrapped. When we got home from church on Christmas Eve, my parents allowed my sisters and I to open one of Uncle Henry's presents.

My husband's birthday is Christmas Eve so it's always a challenge to celebrate with him and still make it out of the house in time to do church. We have a birthday lunch and then enjoy friends stopping by.

Around 4, we'll open all our presents. This allows my adult kids to sleep in the next day while Steve and I visit a couple of our friends and see what Santa has brought them!

I'm trying to initiate a new tradition with my grandson (almost 4). I bought him a Nativity set and we play with it, going through the Christmas story. He loves saying the line "do not be afraid!"

(rh: A great line to love. )

I help direct youth choir so I have to be at our early Christmas Eve service. It is quite raucous and wonderful. My grandson comes with me and sits in the front pew, pretending to sing as I direct the choir. I hope someday he will actually sing in his own choir.

When do you put up your tree? At my house, it goes up right after Thanksgiving. My husband works assembly and outside lights. I do the rest. Describe the decorating at your house.

We always had real trees and would put them up a couple weekends before Christmas. A few years ago, I put up the tree and had a three-day migraine until I dragged it out to the front porch. Since then, we've had an artificial tree which allows me to put the Sunday before Thanksgiving. This year, my grandson (visiting from Ohio) put it up with me. It takes a long, long time - maybe 8 hours - but he hung in with the process.

We have many beautiful blue spruces around our property but I haven't yet talked my husband into outside lights.

What is your favorite Christmas song or album? I grew up with a Johnny Mathis Christmas CD and it's still one of my favorites. My other is a copy of Mel Torme singing his "Christmas Song."

My favorite Christmas song is "Welcome to Our World" by Michael W. Smith. I love the line "Word now breaking heaven's silence." Even typing it gives me chills.

Growing up, I loved Bing Crosby's White Christmas album.

Christmas morning, my parents didn't want us in the living room until the tree was plugged in. So, we'd wake up early, five a.m. or so, and bang on the floor to stir my parents awake. Relive your childhood Christmas mornings for us.

I waited until I smelled coffee brewing. Then I knew I could get up. The problem was getting my sisters up, they're 4 and 7 years older, so they were past Santa around the time I was really digging him.

Seems to me snow and Christmas go together, but I've been a Florida girl for 33 years! Tell us about your Christmas setting?

Living next to the New Hampshire woods, we're Currier and Ives. We can look out at our ancient stone wall that borders the white woods, and just breathe in beauty. No matter how deep the snow, I hike those woods every day.

(rh: If I was there, I'd hike with you, Kathy! Sounds beautiful.)

It's Christmas Eve, describe your day and evening.

See my Christmas tradition for the day, but evening-wise, I do early family service because I help with youth choir. Steve and I sing in the sanctuary choir so we do the late service together.

I know my kids are getting old (28 and 30) because they now come to the early service so they can get to bed. Then again, rumor is that a couple years ago, they went home and watched the Simpsons all night.

Confession time. Shop on line or at the mall?

I hate shopping. (I do love spending money, however.) It's all online. We're big into watching television shows on DVD so this year we should be getting Lost, Season 3, and Heroes, Season 1.

(rh: Online does make shopping easy, doesn't it?)

Christmas grows more and more commercial every year. Setting the hustle and bustle aside, what does Christmas really mean to you?

We are so blessed to miss the hustle and bustle. We have the online shopping, the woods, the music.

In the quiet of my heart, apart from all the family activities, Christmas comes down to this - and I'll quote Michael W. Smith's song again.

Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born.

Both my son and grandson were born right before Christmas. When I held them in my arms and understood their utter helplessness and innocence, I got the smallest glimpse of what God had done to allow His son to be born as man. I love this season but I remind myself what His coming cost both Father and Son, and why.

It's Christmas day, what's for dinner? Do you make cookies or other traditional foods?

I'm part Slovak so our traditional Christmas meal is stuffed cabbage. My kids won't eat it but my husband and I love it. And it's so healthy! I don't make cookies because I'll eat them but I do put out the foil-wrapped peanut butter cups and Hershey kisses. (And eat them instead.)

(rh: Okay, Kathy, I'm all for traditions, but stuffed cabbage? I'm with your kids. LOL.)

I also make Christmas breads, in the form of a wreath, tree, or sometimes snow man!

(rh: That sounds fun!)

Tell us about your favorite Christmas memory.

Probably my son's first Christmas. He was a couple weeks old, a big baby already in size 6 month clothes so he filled out his red outfit. He made his debut with Steve’s family on Christmas and a week later with my family.

Not to leave my daughter out, she played John the Baptist when she was 3 months old. Kind of pretty to be a locust-eating prophet but she filled the role beautifully.

What are you plans for this season?

Very, very quiet because both our kids and their families will probably be out of state. We'll do the two church services, visit our friends, relax. Go to a movie, visit Steve's family.

We see my family in Connecticut at the end of January. It's a wonderful way to celebrate because the hustle and bustle is long over, everything's on sale, and the kids love having a second Christmas.

(rh: I love celebrating after Christmas either with family or shopping!)

Any final thoughts on Christmas?

It's the little things that count. Playing with the Nativity set. Making cookies together. Watching the Simpsons with your adult kids and enjoying them double over with laughter will last long beyond any gift under the tree.

(rh: You are so right, Kathy. I love to laugh, especially with family and friends.)


The official word on Kathryn Mackel:

Kathryn Mackel is an accomplished screenwriter and novelist who has worked extensively in both mainstream and Christian-themed entertainment.

Kathryn has written for Disney, Fox, and Showtime. She was the credited screenwriter on her own novel, Can of Worms, and for Frank Peretti's Hangman's Curse (with Stan Foster).

Her novels include the Christy-finalist The Hidden, as well as the fantasy series The Birthright Project. Writing as Kathy Mackel, she is the acclaimed author of Can of Worms and other novels for middle readers published by Putnam, Avon, HarperCollins, and Dial Books. Her latest release is the thriller Vanished, from Realms.

FREE BOOK ALERT!

Leave a comment to enter to win a free book! Kathy is giving away three copies of her latest release, "Vanished." Woo hoo.

Visit Kathryn's web site and blog at www.kathrynmackel.com
www.godanddogwalking.blogspot.com

The 12 Authors of Christmas. Meet Colleen Coble

Author, friend and mentor, Colleen Coble, leads off "The 12 Authors of Christmas Tour."

I'm very pleased to have her stop by!

Hey, Colleen, tell us about your first Christmas memory?

CC: I wish I could remember how old I was, but I remember my brother Randy getting a cowboy outfit. With boots. I don't remember my outfit as well.

I coveted those cowboy boots! I mostly remember laughter and food. And my mom's fabulous candy confections she made every year.

Growing up, did your family have Christmas traditions? Tell us how you incorporated them into your family life. Or, how you created new ones.

My dad was a guard at Fisher Body and he worked swing shift. Most years opening gifts on Christmas Eve worked out best. We kids would be spastic waiting for evening. I always missed those Christmas Eve nights when we opened gifts with our own kids on Christmas morning - Dave's tradition. But recently it's been more convenient to go to Christmas Eve with our family and I'm loving it.

Another tradition for years has been making candy in the weeks before Christmas with my mom. I've been so busy writing, I haven't had time to do it, but when I turn this book in on Dec 15, I'm making candy with her!

When do you put up your tree? At my house, it goes up right after Thanksgiving. My husband works assembly and outside lights. I do the rest. Describe the decorating at your house.

Right after Thanksgiving! And we usually had a live tree. But sadly, since the writing life began, the tree is sometimes left until the week before Christmas. Wouldn't you think the deadlines could be better managed?

(rh: No, I've learned deadlines seem to manage us, at times!)

What is your favorite Christmas song or album? I grew up with a Johnny Mathis Christmas CD and it's still one of my favorites. My other is a copy of Mel Torme singing his "Christmas Song."

I loved Tennesse Ernie Ford! Still love that deep gravelly voice of his. My favorite song is "O Holy Night." It perfectly embodies the feeling of Christmas for me. But I don't start listening to Christmas music until two weeks out. Otherwise it loses its special savor to me. Weird, I know.

On the other hand, my buddy Diann Hunt will often start in September! Strange girl but I love her.

(rh: I've brought out the Christmas CDs in September before, but I tend to agree with you, C. If I listen too much, too long, I'm weary of the music by Christmas and I don't want to be!)

Christmas morning, my parents didn't want us in the living room until the tree was plugged in. So, we'd wake up early, five a.m. or so, and bang on the floor to stir my parents awake. Relive your childhood Christmas mornings for us.

Christmas Eve was our Christmas and we'd be dying waiting for my dad to say it was time. The tree would have to be plugged in, music would be playing. Utter pandemonium would break out when my dad started handing out the presents. And in five minutes it would all be over with paper littered everywhere. LOL

With my kids, the sad story is that now I'm usually the first up. And I go wake them up because I can't stand it a minute longer!


Seems to me snow and Christmas go together, but I’ve been a Florida girl for 33 years! Tell us about your Christmas setting?

Snow of course! And if we don't have snow for Christmas it's a sad year. We kids would often go out sledding. Or make a snowman. Or a snow angel. My mother would have hot chocolate for us. And cocoa fudge. Yum! Can you tell I love candy? LOL

It's Christmas Eve, describe your day and evening.

We generally have Christmas with my parents and siblings earlier in the day, say around one. We'll eat and leave out the candy for nibbling on later. We'll open gifts - mostly for the little ones though we adults often draw names and bring a girl or boy gift. Then we open each one and the next person can take that gift away or go to the unopened pile. We've had some battles!

At six we go to the Christmas Eve service at church. It's such a special time, and we look forward to it every year! After the service, we've come home the last few years and opened gifts with our children and two new grandsons. Year before last, our son popped the question to our darling daughter in law. This year, our daughter is engaged and we'll have her new fiance around the tree. It's such fun when the family keeps growing!

(rh: Sounds wonderful!)

Confession time. Shop on line or at the mall?

On line! I've shopped online for about four years now. It's sooo much easier!

Christmas grows more and more commercial every year. Setting the hustle and bustle aside, what does Christmas really mean to you?

It's a special time to come away and remember all the good things God has brought into my life. To ponder all He's done for me and to rejoice with the family He's given me. It's more than gifts and food - or even chocolate - it's taking time from our hectic schedule to dwell on the Christ child, but even more on the Savior.

It's Christmas day. . . what's for dinner? Do you make cookies or other traditional foods?

Turkey! Cranberry salad with lots of pecans. Sweet potato casserole. We generally go to my in-laws for dinner on Christmas day and my mother-in-law makes an awesome pumpkin pie - from a real pumpkin. I often make cocoa fudge for the kids when we get home.

Tell us about your favorite Christmas memory.

It's a pretty new one actually. Christmas 2005. Our son had hidden an engagement ring in the pocket of a leather jacket he'd bought his sweetheart, Donna. He'd tied a string to it. She put it on and was modeling the coat when he told her to put her hand in the pocket. She found the string and started pulling it out with fear on her face. She had no idea what he was up to. She got to the end of the string and found the ring. She looked at the ring then up at Davy. Then she looked at the ring again and back to Dave.

Finally she shrieked and launched herself into Davy's arms. He was laughing so hard he could barely stand. He said, "I take it that’s a yes?" She screamed, "Yes, yes!" It was a great time!

(rh: You'll have to work that into a book, C!)

What are you plans for this season?

Welcoming our soon to be son-in-law into the family! Mark proposed the night of the Book of the Year awards at the ACFW conference. Even though I won Suspense Book of the Year, the highlight of the night was the news about the upcoming wedding - in Hawaii!

Any final thoughts on Christmas?

I treasure every year with my family. A moment, a phone call, can change everything. Like the year we lost my brother and the year my grandma died. And the year we lost Gramps. I want to cling to every minute God gives us together and make memories.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to reflect on all His blessings, Rachel!

(rh: Thank you, Colleen, for all you do. Many of you may not know, but Colleen is a wonderful cheerleader and supporter of new and established writers. Some of us have benefited greatly from this gift from God she uses. Merry Christmas, Friend.)

The official word on Colleen Coble:

Best-selling author Colleen Coble is living a life that seemed only a dream until she was nearly forty. With thirty-two books now under her belt now (including two Women of Faith titles), she writes romantic mysteries to make sure justice prevails, at least in her imaginary world.

Colleen has won the ACFW Mentor of the Year award twice, and her books have won or finaled in numerous contests including RWA's Rita award, the Holt Medallion, the ACFW Book of the Year, Booksellers Best, the Daphne du Maurier, and the National Readers' Choice Award. Colleen and her husband reside in Indiana, where Colleen tries to ignore the work that still needs done on the Victorian home they're forever restoring.

Visit her website at www.colleencoble.com

The 12 Authors of Christmas Tour!

Hey y'all!

Starting tomorrow, December 1st, I'm hosting " The 12 Authors of Christmas." Stop by each day to read Christmas memories and traditions of your favorite authors, and perhaps a few new-to-you authors.

I'll be hosting the first half of December with the lovely and gracious Tricia Goyer hosting the last half of the month and the sweet and smiling Camy Tang running overlap mid month on her site.

We even have a few bonus authors* on the tour.

Look forward to celebrating cyber Christmas with you all.

Here's the line up

Dec 1 - Colleen Coble
Dec 2 - Kathryn Mackle
Dec 3 - Janelle Scheinder
Dec 4 - Deb Raney
Dec 5 - Gayle Roper
Dec 6 - Kristen Heitzmann
Dec 7 - Terri Blackstock
Dec 8 - DiAnn Mills
Dec 9 - Jill Nelson
Dec 10 - Donita Paul
Dec 11 - Marlo Schalesky
Dec 12 - Linda Hall
Dec 13 - Gail Martin*
Dec 14 - Tricia Goyer!*

On the 13th, hop over to Tricia's site for the next round. Here's the line up.

December 13 -- Linda Ford

December 14 -- Rachel Hauck

December 15 -- Camy Tang

December 16 -- Bonnie Leon

December 17 -- Tamara Leigh

December 18 -- Kim Sawyer

December 19 -- Roxanne Henke

December 20 -- Rene Gutteridge

December 21 -- Nancy Moser

December 22 -- Susan Meissner

December 23 -- Karen Ball

December 24 -- Neta Jackson

December 25 -- Maureen Lang
*Bonus* Mindy Clark

Weclome Cindy Woodsmall

My friend and author, Cindy Woodsmall, has a new release in her Sisters of the Quilt series. Cindy is doing great with these wonderful stories. Take a look at a blurb about book two, "When The Morning Comes.

Her relationship with former fiance Paul Waddell in tatters, Hannah Lapp has fled her home in hopes of finding refuge with another Amish outcast, her shunned Aunt Zabeth in Ohio. Hampered by limited education and hiding her true identity, Hannah struggles to understand the confusing world of the Englischers and embrace unfamiliar freedoms, but a deepening friendship with the handsome Martin Palmer renews her courage to face the future.

Meanwhile, Hannah's absence and the distressing events that led to her disappearance create turmoil among her loved ones in Owl's Perch, Pennsylvania. Her father stubbornly refuses to search for her or to acknowledge increasing signs of instability in daughter Sarah, who suffers secret guilt over her sister's ruined reputation.

Fiance Paul Waddell is wracked with regret over his betrayal of Hannah's trust and is concerned with her whereabouts. He befriends Hannah's remaining allies - brother Luke, best friend Mary, and loyal Matthew Esh - trying to convince them to help search for his love. Rich with authentic details of Amish community and powerful in its theme of hope beyond measure.

When the Morning Comes succeeds as a compelling follow-up to Cindy Woodsmall's best-selling debut novel, "When the Heart the Cries."

Cindy Woodsmall is an author, wife, and mother of three sons. Her first novel released in 2006 to much acclaim, including a Reviewer’s Choice Award from the Road to Romance website, and became a CBA bestseller. Her real-life connections with Amish Mennonite and Old Order Amish families enrich her novels with authenticity. Cindy lives in Georgia with her husband and the youngest of their three sons.


Leave a comment to enter your name for a free book! I'm giving away "When the Morning Comes" AND "When Cries The Heart."