Widow Carol MacKenzie always felt an affinity for Christmas. During a casual internet search, she stumbles upon a Santa School website. Carol applies and is accepted into Santa School as a solo Mrs. Claus. Attending Snowflake Visions Santa school is life-changing. Carol learns how to wrangle reindeer, American sign language holiday greetings, and meets a worldwide community of like-minded people, including one beautiful bearded single Santa musician who lives one hour from her west Michigan home. Charlie Johnson has a decade-long resume of performing as Santa. A Mrs. Claus has never been part of his repertoire. Santa friends encourage Charlie to pursue Carol. Meanwhile, Carol’s sister-in-law Penny pushes Carol to try an online dating site. Which maneuver, if any, will succeed? Through a few unexpected twists and holiday surprises, a happy finale prevails.

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Jennifer Medina, successful romance writer, is suffering from writer’s block. Having divorced her critical husband, she is determined to avoid men and concentrate on career and volunteer work. Ray Trevino prefers working outside in the family’s construction business, so he has refused his dad’s offer of an office job to help run the company. Past experience taught him not to take risks in his personal or business life. When they meet, immediate attraction flares. Ray invites Jennifer out—not on a real date, but as research for her book. Yet despite their wariness about love and commitment, their relationship progresses until both realize they’ve crossed boundaries…and they go their separate ways. Can they somehow forget the past and make better memories this Christmas?

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Haley can’t face Christmas. Her super-critical family hate her presents and her life. It’s her turn to prepare the holiday diner, but her apartment kitchen is too small for anything but toast. Which is the only think she knows how to cook. When her cookie fortune turns out to be an ad–Madam Zelda, Fortune Teller—she makes a desperate decision. Zach is the mastermind behind the ad. He and Zelda show Haley that a fortune cookie can be full of surprises, solutions, and love.

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It’s been a difficult year in Lissi Johansen’s sixteenth-century Danish village. As Christmas approaches, she longs for holidays past when her parents visited their neighbors, distributing cookies and good wishes to all. She hopes to bake a single batch of her mama’s Snowdrop Cookies and tuck a gift of magic wishes inside. But she will need help to make the miracle come true.

Miller Ole Andersen is barely hanging on after the loss of his wife and child to the plague. When Lissi begs him for a measure of flour, he’s won over by her warmth and generous spirit. He never suspects the events that follow will teach him about the limitless capacity of the heart, or that wishes given away can sometimes be the most magical of all.

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Multi award-winning author Laura Strickland delights in time traveling to the past and searching out settings for her books, be they Historical Romance, Steampunk or something in between. Her first Scottish Historical hero, Devil Black, battled his way onto the publishing scene in 2013, and the author never looked back. Nor has she tapped the limits of her imagination. Venturing beyond Historical and Contemporary Romance, she created a new world with her ground-breaking Buffalo Steampunk Adventure series set in her native city, in Western New York. Married and the parent of one grown daughter, Laura has also been privileged to mother a number of very special rescue dogs, the latest being a little boy called Tinker, and is intensely interested in animal welfare. Her love of dogs, and her lifelong interest in Celtic history, magic and music, are all reflected in her writing. Laura’s mantra is Lore, Legend, Love, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Author Web site: www.laurastricklandbooks.com

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Author Amazon page:  http://www.amazon.com/Laura-Strickland/e/B001KHSACW/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

Author Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/760146.Laura_Strickland

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Laura Strickland Author @LauraSt05038951

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NOTE:

See my 5+ Sparkler review on the holiday review page as well as Goodreads and other sites. You need to add this novella (it’s only 80 pages!) to your reading list and read it now. You won’t be sorry.

Birthdays: Thomas Carlyle (1795), Samuel Butler (1835), Rainer Maria Rilke (1875), Cornell Woolrich (1903), Munro Leaf (1905), Rhoda Blumberg (1917), William Diehl (1924), George Ancona (1929), A. Scott Berg (1949), Peter Godwin (1957), Plum Sykes (1969)

Scott Berg won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Biography for “Lindbergh”

Quotes: “What we become depends on what we read after all of the professors have finished with us. The greatest university of all is a collection of books.” – Thomas Carlyle

“What’s happening is that we’re living in a world full of people who want us to think the way they do and act the way they do and believe the way they do and if we don’t, if we don’t conform, they destroy us. And you know the irony? They’re always in the minority.” – William Diehl

“The Ancient Mariner would not have taken so well if it had been called The Old Sailor.” – Samuel Butler

“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

Tip: You are the creator of your own world. Be sure to take care what you people it with and how you present it.

Jumpstart: She liked to burn things, but never big ones and never where she’d be found. Then…

Birthdays: Joseph Conrad (1857), Kate O’Brien (1897), Morgan Llywelyn (1916), David K. Shipler (1942), Grace Andreacchi (1954), Mark Salzman (1959), Stephen Elliott (1971), Zlata Filipovic (1980)

David K. Shipler won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction for “Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Poisoned Land”

Quote: “The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.” – Joseph Conrad

“If you do all that work of figuring out exactly how writing is done, then it’s available to you at anytime, and you can build on it. It’s like the difference between shooting one hoop and having it go in by accident and saying later, ‘I shot a basket,’ – and practicing so much you can do it whenever you want.” – Mark Salzman

Tip: When writing a cover letter or proposal, don’t be cutesy or use fancy fonts. This is a business. Treat it as such.

Jumpstart: The book lay on the table, coated in dust, unopened for centuries. She drew near and it quivered, much like her stomach. “I am for you,” whispered in her mind…

Stacey Zervos swore off Greek-American men and their mothers. In search of the Christmas cookies that remind her of home, she stumbles upon a new bakery and finds Steve Kalofonas. He’s exactly what she doesn’t want: good looking and attached to his family. But there’s something about Steve and those cookies Stacey can’t resist. Steve just can’t say what he means. When Stacey walks into his aunt’s bakery, he fumbles. She’s like no one he’s ever met, stunning and witty. Is the instant lust and pull he feels real to her, too? Unable to shake Stacey from his mind, he musters the courage to ask her on a date. Is cultural connection and attraction enough? Will Steve finally learn how to say what he needs?

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Benny O’Brien owns his reputation—carefree bachelor and successful computer design engineer with one of Atlanta’s premier firms. In keeping with the Christmas spirit, he agrees to teach a middle school coding club as a favor to a coworker. He expects to debug computer statements…not his heart. As the new public relations coordinator at the firm, Claudia Banks spends her days strategizing market segments and her evenings relaxing with her close-knit group of girlfriends…or curling up with a favorite book. When her office crush signs on to her school outreach program, she braces for a lesson in irresistible attraction. The stakes rise when the two come together over the school’s Christmas dance and a mysterious scrapbook. As secrets tug at their hearts, will they choose honesty and go all in for love?

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Victoria, a rich, shapeshifter wizard, uses her cat form to spy and gather evidence on those intent on breaking the law. Once the DA has her evidence and files charges, she exposes the criminals in a series of newspaper articles. She hates how these people continually evade the law by buying off witnesses or making the evidence disappear. Especially the vile man she’s currently investigating. Dragon, a bodyguard from wizarding security, tackles Victoria out of the way of an attempted hit-and-run. He and her roommate confront her about the threatening notes she’s been receiving. He’d like to take her away to a safe house, but she has other plans. How can he protect her when she refuses to take the danger seriously? Will they manage to work together before it’s too late? Even magic can’t keep her safe…can he?

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For the month of December, I will be highlighting books from my publisher, The Wild Rose Press. These books focus on cookies and the holidays. Enjoy! You can find all these books at The Wild Rose Press as well as other sellers.

Birthdays: Jonathan Swift (1667), Theodore Mommsen (1817), Mark Twain (1835), Winston Churchill (1847), Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874), John D. Carr (1906), Margot Zemach (1931), Kevin Phillips (1940), David Mamet (1947), David Nicholls (1966), Tayari Jones (1970)

Jonathan Swift is best known for his book “Gulliver’s Travels”

Theodore Mommsen won the 1902 Nobel Prize in Literature as “the greatest living master of the art of historical writing”

Mark Twain is best known for books like “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn” as well as multiple short stories.

Winston Churchill won the 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature for books like “The Gathering Storm”

L.M. Montgomery is best known for her “Anne of Green Gables” series.

Margot Zemach won the 1974 Caldecott Medal for “Duffy and the Devil”

David Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony nomination for “Glengarry Glen Ross”

Quote: (Note: there were so many good ones for today, that I’m giving you multiple quotes from today’s authors).

“Your intuition knows what to write, so get out of the way.” – Ray Bradbury

“It’s no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make senses.” – Mark Twain.

“The proper words in the proper places are the true definition of style.” – Jonathan Swift

“There is no such thing as talent; you just have to work hard enough.” – David Mamet

“I am simply a ‘book drunkard.’ Books have the same irresistible temptation for me that liquor has for its devotee. I cannot withstand them.” ― L.M. Montgomery

“Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.” – Winston Churchill

Tip: Think about your readers when writing your climax and ending. What would satisfy them? The climax should be intense, but should leave the reader with a feeling of satisfaction.

Jumpstart: The shoes were an impulse buy. Something she never did. But they were the perfect shoes for the perfect dress for the perfect evening. Except…

Birthdays: Amos Bronson Alcott (1799), Louisa May Alcott (1832), C. S. Lewis (1898), Madeleine L’Engle (1918), Sue Miller (1943)

C.S. Lewis is best known for his series “The Chronicles of Narnia” of which “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe” is most famous.

Louisa May Alcott is best known for her book “Little Women”

Madeleine L’Engle is best known for her Newbery Medal winning “A Wrinkle in Time”

Quote: You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. – C.S. Lewis

“You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” – Madeleine L’Engle

Tip: Every writer has his or her own personal tics—mistakes made over and over again. Figure out what yours are and be sure to check for them.

Jumpstart: It’s the end of the world. There isn’t enough time to do all those things you said you wanted to do in life. What do you do? Where do you go? Who do you spend your last day with?

Birthdays: John Bunyan (1628), William Blake (1757), James Allen (1864), Nancy Mitford (1904), Ed Young (1931), Rita Mae Brown (1944), Alan Lightman (1948), Jon Stewart (1962)

John Bunyan is best known for his book “The Pilgrim’s Progress”

Ed Young won three Caldecott Awards for his illustrations.

Quote: “Make it dark, make it grim, make it tough, but then, for the love of God, tell a joke.” – Joss Whedon

Tip: Avoid TSTL characters—too stupid to live. These are characters who have no depth and no reason for being in the story except as place holders or they may lack motivation or do the wrong thing just because the writer wants them to.

Jumpstart: She climbed onto the bus, her bag in her hand…(where is she going? Is she excited? Scared? Sad?)