Christmas Series 2012: Everybody Loves Mickey by Therese M. Travis

Everybody Loves Mickey by Therese M.Travis

One more week until Christmas! Let's keep the holiday festivities going with today's interview with Therese M. Travis as she discusses her Christmas romantic novella, Everybody Loves Mickey. Enjoy! ~ Annette   

What makes your Christmas (compilation/novel) different than others you’ve seen or read? 

There’s a lot of attitude going on. These characters are real, and get sarcastic in their frustration, but for all that, they’re loveable. 

What genre is your story? 

Short romance 

Tell us how your story come about. 

It started with the title, and Aubrey just took over from there, dragging Mickey along. 

What time of year did you write it and how did you motivate yourself to write a Christmas novel at that time of year? 

Spring. But I love Christmastime so it wasn’t any stretch for me to set a story at that time. 

What’s next for you in writing? Will you do more Christmas stories?

Working on three right now. One is a mystery set on Catalina Island. One is a YA, and one is set in Pasadena CA. I have a YA coming out with Watershed soon. 

Everybody Loves Mickey released December 5th from Pelican Book Group as part of their Holiday Extravaganza. This story only comes in e-book format and during December, you can download it for $0.99.

He’s a saint with a tarnished halo, and Aubrey Thomas can’t stand him…or can she?

Handsome fireman, Mickey Hurst is loved by all. He volunteers at the local parish where Aubrey Thomas works as an administrator. He sings in the choir. He leads the youth group. He even acts as the church handyman, but Aubrey knew him before he became Saint Mickey—when he told her he’d have to be drunk to kiss her…and he was. What’s so infuriating is that despite his horrible admission, Aubrey loves Mickey as much as everybody else.

Mickey doesn’t blame Aubrey for disliking him. After all, he kissed her when he wasn’t sober—and insulted her, to boot. Aubrey deserved a better man—a godly man. But, since that fateful kiss, Mickey’s drawn closer to the Lord. With the intercession of God and the matchmaking parish staff, Mickey prays that this Christmas he will be able to prove to Aubrey he’s now the man for her. 



(e-book)

Christmas Series 2012: A Patchwork Christmas Collection

Stephanie Whitson

Hey, everyone! How is your Christmas season going?  We're back this Monday with another Christmas title feature. This time, Stephanie Whitson is here representing her team from the historical romance compilation, A Patchwork Christmas Collection, which also includes novellas by Judith Miller and Nancy Moser. Read on for some behind-the-scenes nuggets we writers can relate to. And may your season be filled with peace and inspiration. ~ Annette

Welcome, Stephanie! First, tell us what makes your Christmas compilation different than others you’ve seen or read.
 

A Patchwork Christmas compilation

Using the patchwork theme creates a unique “connecting thread,” since each of the settings required that we learn about a different kind of quilt-making in order to be true to the setting and the time.

How did your story (and/or this compilation) come about?

I’ve been an avid quilt lover for a long time and have been writing a series of full-length novels (the Quilt Chronicles for Barbour) in which quilts play a role. Quilt-making images have many applications to the Christian life. One day, I was thinking about that in the context of Christmas and in my overactive imagination, the phrase “peace on earth” became “piece on earth” (i.e., make quilts) … and it grew from there.

What time of year did you write it and how did you motivate yourself to write a Christmas novel at that time of year?

Once my imagination takes me into a story world, I don’t have any trouble writing about a different season. The idea for my novella set in a snowbound sod house on the prairie is one that’s been lurking in my storyteller’s mind ever since I read the anecdote of a real event that inspired the story. It was a delight to finally be able to bring that idea out and work on it in earnest.

What’s next for you in writing? (Will you do more Christmas stories?)
I am about to submit the manuscript for book 3 in my Quilt Chronicles series for Barbour. The Message on the Quilt releases in the spring of 2013. I hope to continue to write more quilt-inspired fiction, although my next contracted book is set on a Missouri River steamboat. As to the Christmas theme, working on this collection has reminded me to pay more attention to mention of Christmas in the pioneer diaries and reminiscences that often inspire my historical fiction. 

Thanks for visiting today, Stephanie! 

A Patchwork Christmas Collection released September 1st from Barbour Publishing. 

Three quilt stories take readers to the Amana Colonies (a wedding quilt), a snowbound sod house on the prairie (a doll quilt), and Gilded Age New York (a crazy quilt) and share the stories of three women who encounter unexpected love. Jilted by her fiancé, Karla packs away her wedding quilts and her plans for marriage. Nearly destitute, Jane heads west to marry a prosperous man she barely knows in order to give her daughter a better life. In New York, Ada, a wealthy ingenue, inadvertently causes grave injury to a poor man she once considered quite a catch. Each woman must search her heart and change her plans in order to patch together a new life. (This novella collection also includes bonus recipes and craft projects.)


(print version)            (e-book)

Christmas Series 2012: The Christmas Stalking by Lillian Duncan

Lillian Duncan

Hi everyone! We hope you're enjoying reading about some of the great Christian fiction coming out this Christmas. Maybe you've written a seasonal novel or maybe you just love reading them. Either way, we hope you're inspired. Today, Lillian Duncan is here to discuss some behind-the-scenes secrets about her newest release, The Christmas Stalking. Enjoy! ~ Annette

Welcome, Lillian. Tell us what makes your Christmas novel different than others you’ve seen or read?

The fact that it’s a suspense novel makes it different. Most Christmas stories are sugar and spice and everything nice, but The Christmas Stalking is an action-filled suspense story but still has a Christmas message.

How did the story come about?

I sat down at my computer and thought—CHRISTMAS... CHRISTMAS... CHRISTMAS—and it went from there.

The Christmas Stalking

What time of year did you write it and how did you motivate yourself to write a Christmas novel at that time of year?

I wrote it in May—the opposite season of Christmas. I did listen to some Christmas music to get me in the right frame of mind.

What’s next for you in writing? (Will you do more Christmas stories?)

I had a lot of fun writing this, so, yes, I hope to write more Christmas stories. Right now, I’m working on final edits for Betrayed, the second in my Sisters By Choice series by Harbourlight books. It will be out sometime next year.

Thanks for visiting, Lillian!

The Christmas Stalking releases this month from Harbourlight Books.

Country music superstar Destiny has it all—beauty, money, fame—and a crazed stalker.

Overzealous fan or crazed stalker? Country music superstar Destiny appears to have it all. Beauty, money, and fame. But it’s not all glitz and glamor, being a celebrity comes with a price—loneliness and now threats from an unknown stalker.

With Christmas approaching and as the danger escalates in Nashville, Destiny has no choice but to disappear. She escapes to her grandparents’ cabin in the Adirondack Mountains near the tiny Village of Serenity & Peace.

It seems to be the perfect choice for a hideout. Longing for the serenity and peace she experienced there as a child, Destiny resumes her long-forgotten identity as Holly Stone.

Unfortunately, her fame follows her to the tiny village—along with her stalker.

To learn more about Lillian and her books, visit her:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/lillian.k.duncan
Twitter: @lillianduncan
Website: www.lillianduncan.net 

  (e-book format; $0.99 download during December)