Ahh can you believe another Christmas is behind us? I hope everyone had a great holiday and the joy continues into the new year. I was feeling very low this year because one of my children wasn't here to celebrate with us - it was his father's turn to have him. But then my brother and his girlfriend told me a little secret Christmas Eve that made it a very happy holiday. And since I've been given permission to announce it to the world.... come August I will be an aunt!

And to make those of you who entered the holiday blog hop to win an ebook of Last Call a little cheerful, I do have the winners. Congrats to Trilby and C. Munro! I do need C. Munro's contact info since I couldn't message through blogger. So if you could send me an email (all of my info is in the contact tab) that would be great!

Cheers!
Jennifer

Finding your way to the perfect tradition

Welcome holiday blog hoppers! If this is your first stop don’t forget to check out THIS post to catch up on the previous four blogs and find all the info you need on what’s happening. You’ll need to collect their blog hop graphic (in the corner of the picture) in order to be entered for the grand prize at the end of the Hop.

So, as I was reading my fellow author’s holiday traditions it struck me that my family really doesn’t have any of their own. Well, every year we get together for a meal that’s big enough to feed an army, get drunk and fight but that’s about it. Okay, we don’t always fight ;)

A lot of people start their Christmas festivities right after Thanksgiving. Well, in Canada our Thanksgiving is in October so that would be a little early to haul out the tree. Especially for someone who rarely puts her tree up much before December 21^st. What? I’m a Christmas procrastinator. I shop on the 21^st, I sometimes decorate on the 21^st and Christmas Eve is a flurry of wrapping paper and scotch tape as I try and remember which gifts I bought for which kid.  I like to think I work better under pressure. And let’s face it, at the end of the night Santa likes a nice glass of wine to go with the cookies rather than the milk that’s been sitting out for hours.

Not everything in my house is left until the last minute. Thanks to my mother I inherited a holiday baking obsession. Maybe it’s more of an addiction. Much to the horror of my waistline, the entire month of December is dedicated to Christmas baking. My kitchen seriously looks like a bakery exploded in it. Shortbread, gingerbread, turtles (homemade not the box kind), chocolate peanut butter squares, truffles, tarts, fudge, an assortment of cookies, rum balls, chocolate covered cherries, fruit cake, cheese straws…are you in a sugar coma yet? Obviously, Christmas baking is my thing.

But after I had kids, I found that I wanted to do something that was just ours. Something they could look forward to each year and remember doing forever. Yes, they love the baking as much as I do and the squeals that follow when I pull out my big yellow mixing bowl are almost deafening.  They know that bowl means business. But I wanted something that had more to do with one special day than an entire month.

So the day I pull out the tree and all the Christmas decorations is the day our tradition begins. There’s no set date, it’s random and spontaneous and that makes it all the more fun. The kids make cards for Grandma and Nana in the morning, and after that they each make them some kind of homemade gift. We make sugar cookies in the afternoon, complete with icing ending up not only all over the table but on the floor and somehow on the walls as well. And later that evening we set up the tree, shut off all the lights when we’re through, and watch Rudolph with just the tree lights on. It’s nothing fancy or over the top, but the boys know it’s our day.

I also have to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol every Christmas Eve. It’s just not Christmas without the Muppets.

What are your holiday traditions? Leave a comment along with your contact info (email, twitter, Facebook) and be entered to win one of TWO eBooks of Last Call that I’m giving away.  Winners will be chosen through random.org (If you would rather not have your contact info posted publicly, feel free to email me at the address provided in Contact)

Happy Holidays!

Jennifer

Forget the Bunny Hop and do the Blog Hop

There's a very special holiday treat for all of you out there. TWCS authors are doing a holiday blog hop full of fun posts and great prizes! Now be sure to check out the info at the bottom of the schedule because it is very important if you want a chance to get your hands on the grand prize

Dec. 12 Veronica Breville http://veronicabrevilleauthor.wordpress.com/
Dec. 13 Kathryn Gayle http://kathryngayle.com/blog/
Dec. 14 JD Watts http://jdwatts.blogspot.com/
Dec. 15 Michele Richard http://michele-richard.blogspot.com/ 
Dec. 16 Jennifer Schmidt http://jleeschmidt.blogspot.com/
Dec. 17 Sophia Duane http://sophiaduane.blogspot.com/ 
Dec. 19 Sherri Hayes http://sherri-hayes.blogspot.com/
Dec. 20 Michelle Birbeck http://apps.michellebirbeck.co.uk/Blog/ 
Dec. 21 Lindsey Gray http://lindsey-gray.blogspot.com/
Dec. 22 C. M. Smith http://cmsmithauthor.blogspot.com/ 
Dec. 23 E. L. James http://blog.eljamesauthor.com/

TWCS Author Blog Hop - Our authors are sharing holiday traditions Dec. 12 - 23. Each day an author will post on their blog a personal holiday tradition or a holiday tradition of their characters. They will also post the blog hop icon. You will notice in the bottom right hand corner of the icon a holiday/winter object. You will need to write these objects down and keep the list handy. In addition to great giveaways happening each day on the authors' blogs, we will have a grand prize drawing on TWCS's website (http://www.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/publishinghouse). To enter the grand prize drawing you will need to have collected all 11 objects.

What is the grand prize? An ebook of Season of Love, your choice of paperback (Connected, Take This Regret, Slave, or Fourteen), TWCS coffee mug, bookmarks (many are signed by the author). TWCS pen and notepad.

And, as stated, in addition to the grand prize, I will also be giving away two, yes TWO, ebooks of Last Call to two winners. Look for how to enter that on the 16th! The hop starts Monday so be sure to check out each author's blog to see what their icon is!

Cheers!
Jennifer

Books you never forget

One of the most common questions I've been asked is 'what's on your bookshelf?'

The first thing you'd notice is I have a slight addiction to Harlequin Blaze novels. Yes, I am one of those people. Sometimes a girl just needs a fun, fluffy read, okay? The second thing you'd notice is I am also a V.C. Andrews fan. I started reading her books well over ten years ago and, even though I've grown out of YA novels, I still love them. Third would be my vampire obsession. Meyers, Harris, Ward and all the others in between have a home on my shelf. I am a vampire whore.

What else is on those shelves? You'll find a mix of J. K. Rowling, Danielle Steel, Sandra Brown, Dean Koontz, Stephen King, and even one or two R.L Stine's thrown in there for good measure. No, those are not the only authors I read, but they are the majority.

Do I have a favourite? Who doesn't remember the first time they read Charlotte's Web? It's one of those childhood books that always stay with you. And yes, I still cry like a baby when I watch the movie. And while I love Water for Elephants, (it is my favourite fiction) my all-time favourite book is His Bright Light by Danielle Steel. It is a true story of her son's life and death and the battles he faced being bi-polar. It is a truly touching story and I cry every single time I read it. Steel was very open and real in the book and it makes you think of her in a completely different light. She's no longer just a bestselling author but a mother who has who went through the unimaginable. For me, it's one of those books that will forever have a lasting impression.

What's on your shelf?