Writer Valerie Comer On Christmas Reading

Valerie, welcome to my Christmas series of Writers on Reading. I’ve been looking forward to these interviews like—well, excuse the cliché—but a kid at Christmas! So with your recent Christmas story Merry Kisses released in November. What is your favorite part about a Christmas-themed story?

I love the various ways authors can draw the reader to feel anew the awe and wonder of Jesus' birth. Whether it's the hush of a candlelit Christmas Eve service, a parent telling the age-old story to a child with a nativity set, or a solitary character coming to grips with the immensity of God's gift to mankind under a moonlit sky.

How nicely put, Valerie! What do you look for when selecting a Christmassy novel or novella to cozy up with this month?

Snow. While I enjoy stories set in tropical parts of the world at other times of year, a Christmas story needs cheeks brightened from crisp winds. It needs snowflakes drifting, just visible in the dark night against the glow of streetlamps. Maybe it's the Canadian in me, but a Christmas story needs snow angels and tobogganing and sleigh rides.

Hah! I love that. You are soooooo right! I don’t know about you, but many of us associate this season with traditional baking. I don’t think a Christmas novel would be complete without those special scents floating around in your head. What are your favorite Christmas goodies to read or write about?

I agree. A Christmas story isn't complete without at least one round of Christmas baking and hot chocolate! I associate the scents of gingerbread cookies with Christmas, and try to bring the reader right into the baking experience with the delectable aromas of warm molasses, ginger, and cinnamon. Yum!

Well…I know what I’ll be doing tonight. That sounds too delicious. What is on your Christmas fiction to-read list this year? And what is your ideal Christmas reading experience?

I've been enjoying the novellas in several Christmas box sets, including Love's Gift, which includes my newest story, “Merry Kisses”. Novellas are such a great length for Christmas reading, and they're especially fun when they tie into series that I'm already

enjoying from favorite authors.

The ideal experience? I'm curled up in an easy chair between the Christmas tree and the flickering fireplace. A purring kitty is cuddled into the quilt on my lap, and a mug of steaming cocoa rests on the side table with a cookie or two on a poinsettia-wreathed plate. Carols waft from the mp3 player, setting the mood for the next novella on my Kindle.

My surroundings drift away… Come with me?

Yes, tonight I think we shall! Thanks for the invite, Valerie, and for sharing your Christmas reading experiences. Folks, you can continue to connect with Valerie at the links below her bio.

Where Food Meets Faith and Fiction http://valeriecomer.com

Riverbend Romance Novella Series:
Secretly Yours | Pinky Promise | Sweet Serenade | Team Bride
Farm Fresh Romance Series:
Raspberries and Vinegar | Wild Mint Tea | Sweetened with Honey | Dandelions for Dinner | Plum Upside Down

What is Farm Lit? http://farmlit.com
Fall in Love with a Good Book at InspyRomance.com

Writer Margaret Brownley On Christmas Reading

Margaret Brownley, welcome to my Christmas series of Writers on Reading. I’ve been looking forward to these interviews like—well, excuse the cliché—but a kid at Christmas! So with your recent Christmas story, The Nutcracker Bride having released in September what is your favorite part about a Christmas-themed story?

Thank you for letting me visit and talk about my favorite time of year. During the hustle-bustle of the Christmas season, I like to relax with a good story that takes me back to more simple times. For that reason I read (and write) historicals. Living in California, the only snow I can enjoy is in books! So let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…

Hah! How fun! What do you look for when selecting a Christmassy novel or novella to cozy up with this month?

It has to be a romance. The true meaning of Christmas must be the driving force that brings the couple together and helps them grow in faith and love. I love stories that lead to change, growth, and new beginnings.

I don’t know about you, but many of us associate this season with traditional baking. I don’t think

a Christmas novel would be complete without those special scents floating around in your head. What are your favorite Christmas goodies to read or write about?

Funny you should ask. The heroine in The Nutcracker Bride is a baker. Her German grandmother taught her to cook, so her specialty is German Zimt Makronen Cookies. My story is part of the 12 Brides of Christmas collection and each author provided a recipe to go with the story.

Oooh, talk about books to make your mouth water! That sounds just delicious! Is there an element of these books that you’d feel cheated if it wasn’t there? Or something special you like to add to your Christmas stories?

The story has to have a happy ending, and if that happy ending culminates on Christmas Eve or day, that makes it all the more special. I like to add something of historical significance to all my stories. In The Nutcracker Bride, the heroine’s grandfather is from Germany and makes nutcrackers. I can’t tell you how many readers have written to tell me that after reading my story they went out and purchased a wooden nutcracker. I love that!

Wow, that’s fun. As far back as you remember, what was the first Christmas-related fiction story you read or had read to you? Is there a Christmas book you like to share with your children or grandchildren? Do you have any other special Christmas reading memories?

The old standby has always been The Night Before Christmas. My husband read this

aloud before the children’s bedtime. The grandchildren prefer How The Grinch Stole Christmas and that story has kind of grown on me through the years.

Laughing. That’s very cute. What is on your Christmas fiction to-read list this year? And what is your ideal Christmas reading experience?

Someone just gave me the The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans. So that’s next on my reading list.

My ideal Christmas reading experience would be reading a Christmas story in December. Let me explain: I’ve been lucky to work with so many terrific authors on a series of collections including A Pioneer Christmas, A Log Cabin Christmas, and The Twelve Brides of Christmas. The galleys generally come in the late spring or early summer, so I can often be found reading Christmas stories at odd times of the year. (The hardest part is writing a Christmas story in the summer.)

Yes, that must be hard! But it’s awfully fun to picture you reading Christmas stories all year. Over the years, has any Christmas novel or novella really stuck with you that you’d like to share with our readers?

The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry is my favorite Christmas story. After all these years, it still makes me cry. The couple in the story have little money, yet they managed to give each other a gift from the heart.

Special. Thank you for sharing your Christmas reading memories, Margaret. Folks, you can continue to connect with Margaret—and find out more about her books—at the links below.

Margaret is a New York Times bestselling author and past Romance Writers of America RITA finalist with more than 30 novels to her credit. Not bad for someone who flunked 8th grade English. Just don't ask her to diagram a sentence. www.margaret-brownley.com

Writer Lena Nelson Dooley On Christmas Reading

Lena, welcome to my Christmas series of Writers on Reading. I’ve been looking forward to these interviews like—well, excuse the cliché—but a kid at Christmas! You’ve been busy! Your recent Christmas story, A Texas Christmas, is a novella collection with other authors. You also have a devotional in 21 Days of Christmas, a book that would be a wonderful devotional to use for Advent. And a novella in the collection Warm Mulled Kisses, that released in October. That makes three Christmas themed books this year! You even took the responsibility to be the publisher for WMK, because it’s getting hard for new authors to be published.) So…what is your favorite part about a Christmas-themed story?

 

I actually like all kinds of Christmas stories. For a novel or novella, I prefer that they have a romantic thread, but for short stories, they just need to have a spiritual or redemptive theme.

What do you look for when selecting a Christmassy novel or novella to cozy up with this month?

I’ve read several Christmas novels and novellas already this year. I do like for them to have strong internal/external conflicts that are worked out maybe in an unexpected way.

Yes! Nothing better than that in a novel or even real life. I don’t know about you, but many of us associate this season with traditional baking. I don’t think a Christmas novel would be complete without those special scents floating around in your head. What are your favorite Christmas goodies to read or write about?

I like Christmassy drinks—hot chocolate, spiced cider, etc. And I love homemade fudge and other candies.

Mmmm. Hot chocolate sounds ideal about now. Is there an element of these books that you’d feel cheated if it wasn’t there? Or something special you like to add to your Christmas stories?

Someone realizing that they haven’t understood the real meaning of Christmas, that Jesus came to earth to bring peace, joy, love, as well as salvation to them personally.

Beautiful! As far back as you remember, what was the first Christmas-related fiction story you

read or had read to you? Is there a Christmas book you like to share with your children or grandchildren? Do you have any other special Christmas reading memories?

I’m sure I can answer this one. I’m so far from the early Christmas for me and for my children and grandchildren. I do need to hear/read about the first Christmas both from Luke and Matthew.

What is on your Christmas fiction to-read list this year? And what is your ideal Christmas reading experience?

As I said, I’ve already read a number of Christmas novels and have more sitting on my table waiting for me. I loved Dan Walsh’s Keeping Christmas and Cynthia Ruchti’s An Endless Christmas. And I’ve read a couple of the Barbour Publishing novella collections. They are always good.

Over the years, has any Christmas novel or novella really stuck with you that you’d like to share with our readers? And is there one you’re looking forward to rereading?

The two I gave the titles of in the last answer. They are both stories that should be read again and again. Also, Dan’s book, The Unfinished Gift from several years ago.

Excellent recommends! Thanks so much for sharing, Lena! Folks, you can continue to connect with Lena—and find out more about her books at the links below her bio. And psst, Cynthia Ruchti—recommended above—visited us during this Christmas Series. If you haven’t already, drop by and read her Christmas stories while you’re here!

Award-winning author Lena Nelson Dooley has had more than 800,000 copies of her books sold. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers http://www.acfw.com/ and the local chapter, ACFW - DFW. She's a member of Christian Authors' Network, CROWN Fiction Marketing, and Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas.

www.lenanelsondooley.com - http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

Writer Cynthia Hickey On Christmas Reading

Cynthia Hickey, welcome to my Christmas series of Writers on Reading. I’ve been looking forward to these interviews like—well, excuse the cliché—but a kid at Christmas! So with your recent Christmas story, A Christmas Stamp, having released this August, what is your favorite part about a Christmas-themed story?

Love, romance, and Christ in Christmas!

What do you look for when selecting a Christmassy novel or novella to cozy up with this month?

A message of the true meaning of Christmas with a sweet romance to go along with it. I also enjoy stories of something lost, something precious found.

That’s fun to know. I don’t know about you, but many of us associate this season with traditional baking. I don’t think a Christmas novel would be complete without those special scents floating around in your head. What are your favorite Christmas goodies to read or write about?

If a Christmas story features a dish that means something to the characters, it’s nice to

have the recipe included in the book.

Is there an element of these books that you’d feel cheated if it wasn’t there? Or something special you like to add to your Christmas stories?

If there wasn’t a Happily Ever After with a gift that is special only to the characters, I’d be sorely disappointed. In my Handcarved Christmas, a family heirloom is accidentally destroyed, and the hero’s actions to make Christmas memorable, despite the heartbreak, will warm the reader’s heart.

How very special, Cynthia! As far back as you remember, what was the first Christmas-related fiction story you read or had read to you? Is there a Christmas book you like to share with your children or grandchildren? Do you have any other special Christmas reading memories?

When the children were small, my husband would read to them The Night Before Christmas and from the book of Luke. Precious memories.

Indeed precious memories! Over the years, has any Christmas novel or novella really stuck with you that you’d like to share with our readers?

 

Being Scot-Irish, I read An Irish Country Christmas by Alice Taylor. It’s an older book, but the simple traditions of the Irish always warms my heart.

Special! Thank you for sharing, Cynthia. Folks, you can continue to connect with Cynthia—and find out more about her books—at the link below.

Multi-published and Amazon Best-Selling author Cynthia Hickey had three cozy mysteries and two novellas published through Barbour Publishing. Her first mystery, Fudge-Laced Felonies, won first place in the inspirational category of the Great Expectations contest in 2007. Her third cozy, Chocolate-Covered Crime, received a four-star review from Romantic Times. All three cozies have been re-released as ebooks through the MacGregor Literary Agency, along with a new cozy series, all of which stay in the top 50 of Amazon’s ebooks for their genre. She had several historical romances release in 2013, 2014, 2015 through Harlequin’s Heartsong Presents, and has sold half a million copies of her works. She has taught a Continuing Education class at the 2015 American Christian Fiction Writers conference. She is active on FB, twitter, and Goodreads, and is a contributor to Cozy Mystery Magazine blog and Suspense Sisters blog. Her and her husband run the small press, Forget Me Not Romances, which includes some of the CBA’s well-known authors. She lives in Arizona with her husband, one of their seven children, two dogs and one cat. She has seven grandchildren who keep her busy and tell everyone they know that “Nana is a writer”. Visit her website at www.cynthiahickey.com

Two Fantastic Christmas Box sets. Check out My other Writers On Readings Christmas Interviews on these authors!