Gifting with Gratitude by Christa Allan

I’m so grateful to take a break from my post-retirement from teaching, newly assigned position as the unpaid receptionist at my husband’s veterinary clinic where my duties consist of saying, “Hello, how are you? Hold on…” and taking detailed chart notes to feed my longing for my non-existent writing time.

Since my reading as of late consists of deciphering scribbles to write prescription labels, I’m quite excited about the new cycle in GBC blog-land, which is talking about books. And how cool is it that it coincides with the holidays, as in hint-hint-hint…gift-giving.

So, now the happy chance to suggest some titles from out GBC list:

THE IN-BETWEEN HOUR (coming December 31) by Barbara Claypole White What could we worse than losing your child? Having to pretend he's still alive…

SCOT ON THE ROCKS by Brenda Janowitz (chick lit/ women's fiction)

It's the story of a woman who goes to her ex-boyfriend's wedding.  Hilarity ensues.  

THE OTHER WOMAN  by Hank Phillippi Ryan  Winner of the Mary Higgins Clark award, nominated for Agatha, Anthony, Daphne, Shamus and Macavity awards.  It’s The Good Wife meets Law and Order! A Boston reporter on the trail of an ex-governors secret mistress—and a detective on the trail of a possible serial killer. 

FATHER FOUND by Judith Arnold   Jamie McCoy's syndicated column, "Guy Stuff," keeps thousands of men in a macho frame of mind. But the day Jamie finds Samantha on his doorstep, his life changes drastically. Samantha is a baby. Jamie knows nothing about babies. He phones Allison Winslow, a nurse who runs the Daddy School, for advice. But when he actually meets Allison, he finds he wants much more than her assistance. Winner of the RT Magazine Reviewers Choice Award for Best Superromance of the Year.

PERFECT TIMING by Laura Spinella   There’s rock, there’s a hard place, then there’s Aidan & Isabel.   What’s a Jersey Girl to do when she moves to Catswallow, Alabama ? Isabel Lang finds the answer in friendship, an unlikely bond with the musically gifted Aidan Roycroft. The two share everything from a first kiss to startling family secrets. But when Aidan is accused of a violent crime, they flee to Las Vegas where Isabel’s future comes tumbling down.  

 LITTLE WOMEN AND ME by Lauren Baratz-Logsted (for teens) Emily is sick and tired of being a middle sister. So when she gets an assignment to describe what she'd change about a classic novel, Emily pounces on Little Women. After all, if she can't change things in her own family, maybe she can bring a little justice to the March sisters. (Kill off Beth? Have cute Laurie wind up with Amy instead of Jo? What was Louisa May Alcott thinking?!) But when Emily gets mysteriously transported into the 1860s world of the book, she discovers that righting fictional wrongs won't be easy.

WHAT A MOTHER KNOWS by Leslie Lehr When a woman recovers from a deadly car crash and is accused of murder, she learns that her 16 year-old-daughter, the only one who might know the truth of what happened that day, is missing.

PRIDE, PREJUDICE, AND THE PERFECT MATCH by Marilyn Brant  A single mother and an ER doctor meet on an Internet dating site—each for reasons that have little to do with finding their perfect match—in this modern, Austen-inspired story. It’s a tribute to the power of both “pride” and “prejudice” in bringing two people romantically together, despite their mutual insistence that they should stay apart…

HOLLYWOOD GIRLS CLUB by Maggie Marr  Four friends; A-List actress Cici Solange, Producer Lydia Albright, Agent Jessica Caulfield, and Screenplay Writer Mary Anne Meyers try to get their film made in the treacherous cut-throat town that is Hollywood.  

A Happy Thanksgiving to all the GBCers and our readers everywhere!

Christa Allan's newest novel, A Test of Faith, will release in March of 2014. You can track her down at Facebook, and Twitter while she awaits the re-invention of her website. You can find her other novels here. She and her husband are looking forward to Thanksgiving surrounded by family, laughter, and--of course--football.

To write or not to write... that is the question by Brenda Janowitz

Ah, holiday time.  Even though we're technically on to the new year, I'm still in that holiday mindset.  Hard to sit down and get things done, harder still to write.  Fellow girlfriend Amy Sue Nathan suggested that we read our way through the holidays, so I've done that (and am continuing to do that!), and I've really been lucky to read some amazing books in the past week and a half.

My editor suggested I pick up SEATING ARRANGEMENTS by Maggie Shipstead, which I loved.  The story of a WASPy family getting together on a WASPy island to celebrate a WASPy wedding weekend, it's a smart, funny read.  Every character felt so real to me, the plot felt fresh.  When I finished reading, I just wanted more.

Next, I read UP FROM THE BLUE, by the totally amazing Susan Henderson.  It's a book about mothers and daughters, the way we see the past, and how we come to terms with it.  Heartbreaking, haunting, and beautifully written.  It's a book you won't soon forget.

I then read MAINE by J. Courtney Sullivan, which had been on my bookshelf for a while.  I don't know why it stayed unread for so long-- I loved this book!!  The story of three generations of women and a very special summer house in Maine, it's one of those books that you can't put down.  You'll see so much of yourself and your family in the Kelleher women.  An editor once taught me that the more detail a book has, the more universal it becomes, and that's true here.




After that, I picked up THE AGE OF MIRACLES by Karen Thompson Walker, a book I'd be hearing about for a while.  It's now on all of the top books of 2012 lists, and I can see why.  It's so many different things-- a coming of age story set against the backdrop of a science fiction conceit.  I just couldn't put this book down.  I was obsessed with every part of it-- the implications of the earth's rotation beginning to slow, every detail of this 11 year old girl's life, what would happen to her family, would she get the boy?  Even though I've finished it, I can't stop thinking about it.

Now I'm reading Mindy Kaling's IS EVERYONE HANGING OUT WITHOUT ME? (AND OTHER CONCERNS) and I'm just loving it.  It is, as you might expect, laugh out loud hilarious.  Mindy is charming, adorable, and says everything that I'm thinking.  I'm so glad I picked this one up!

Next up for me are the two books currently in transit from Amazon.com-- ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE by our very own girlfriend Jess Riley, and GIRLS IN WHITE DRESSES by Jennifer Close.



So, what did you read over the holidays?  And what are you reading next?











I’m the author of SCOT ON THE ROCKS and JACK WITH A TWIST. My third novel, RECIPE FOR A HAPPY LIFE, will be published by St. Martin's in 2013. My work’s also appeared in the New York Post and Publisher’s Weekly. You can find me at brendajanowitz.com or on Twitter at @BrendaJanowitz.

Tiiiiiime Isn't On Your Side by Jenny Gardiner

What???? You want me to talk about how I get work done over the holidays???? That would be me, the person who didn't get up her post on time today, and it's January 3rd, the holidays sufficiently behind enough that I should have???? The same person who has a column due for the newspaper and hasn't gotten that written either? Errr, ummm, I think that tells you more than you need to know about me and getting writing done over the holidays. Or any other time when there are just far too many demands on my time... I suck at it. I'd love to say that I can set aside all of the myriad happenings that start cropping up come December, and just hunker down and focus. And maybe at some point in my life I was better at it than I am now. But at least this year, I failed 100%. I got not one word written. But I did have a fun holiday! Hope that counts for something. Part of the problem is now that my kids are in college and beyond, they don't get back home very often. So when they do, I want to spend my time with them. Plus I'm no longer conditioned to ignoring the distractions that crop up with lots of people around (24/7 television blaring comes to mind, lots more picking up, cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, etc). This year had more complications: two of my kids had been overseas for an extended period. One was mostly incommunicado, so once we got him home, I wanted to catch up with him! The other, well, fortunately we got to visit her, so I was gone for much of November traveling with her, my husband and other daughter. That came on the heels of a huge work project that sucked up much of my autumn. Fast forward to December, and on top of it I turned 50. So we had festivities involving that that I wasn't going to shun in order to write. And lots of traveling to see family. And holiday cooking. And more holiday cooking. And more holiday cooking. Each day over the past month+ (make that past several months) I vowed I would find a place to hide and work. Even make up for the work I failed to accomplish the previous day. But the truth is, I have no place to hide in my house. It's an open floor plan and between kids home and barking dogs and squawking parrots etc, quiet simply does not exist. And going elsewhere to work wasn't an option because I was busy being near my usually far-away kids. Not only did I not get work done, I never once went to the gym. And I ate and I drank and I ate and I drank, with lots of celebrating going on. So suffice it to say, I have a lot to catch up on now that the holidays are behind me. And hoping that gym time doesn't cut into my writing *too* much...Because I have been known to get a little distracted... The good thing is this: I am a crammer. I'm the all-nighter girl who studied for finals by staying up into the wee hours till I got it all done. And I'm that way with my writing, too. Once I get into it, I just go and go and go. So here's hoping I get back into it asap, squeezing in a little gym time while I'm at it, and finish up the far-too-many books I'm in the middle of writing!


  Sleeping with Ward Cleaver

Slim to None

Anywhere But Here

Where the Heart Is

Winging It: A Memoir of Caring for a Vengeful Parrot Who's Determined to Kill Me

Accidentally on Purpose (written as Erin Delany)

Compromising Positions (written as Erin Delany)

I'm Not the Biggest Bitch in this Relationship (I'm a contributor)

And these shorts:
Idol Worship: A Lost Week with the Weirdos and Wannabes at American Idol Auditions

The Gall of It All: And None of the Three F's Rhymes with Duck

Naked Man On Main Street

find me on Facebook: fan page
 find me on twitter here
 find me on my website

Writing and Holidays

Here in the West, we stress ourselves out around our holiday season. I know I do. I'm an introvert, like many writers, who would rather spend my time with the familiar and comfortable, including the interior world of my writing. Writing does a
lot of things for me, including earning income. But it's also something I love.

I've already had the crisis point when I realized that even if I never published another word, I would still write stories. That fierce love of words and story keeps me going when the business aspects get me down.
 
One thing I've tried to do over the years is recognize and eliminate pain points that put me off my writing game, and, therefore, my general-happiness game. There are some things I can do little to control but there's a lot I can do to to reduce or eliminate stress.

Holiday spending, for example. Used to be, I spent too much at the holidays: I love finding the right gifts. I'd end up stressed about the budget busting and stressing about the credit card bills afterward. Then, along with the local-shopping movement a few years ago, I decided I would be an all cash holiday affair. And so, for the last several years, every payday, I take all the cash left in my wallet and put it in my secret holiday spending pot. And by the end of the year I have a darn decent amount of money. But more to the point, I have ALL the money I am allowed to spend for the holidays.

I take that money downtown and spend it. Because that's what it's for. If there are presents that can only be bought online (and there are a few) I deposit that cash into my checking account so it's covered.

I look forward to asking clerks "Do you mind if I pay you in ones?" Store clerks are generally delighted to get a lot of one dollar bills. The stress of shopping is just about nil.

Family. Hoo Boy. Family can stress you out. Mine does. But I've come to recognize that with two exceptions, my immediate family does not support my writing; extended family not at all. This was not an easy or happy realization, but it's accurate. They aren't deliberately undermining me. It's more that I can't seem to get them to understand that writing is a job, and it's a hard one. I sign contracts that obligate me to turn in my work on time. With self-publishing in there, it's plain and simple fact that I need to put out high-quality content on a regular schedule.


Now that I've come to terms with the reality of family forces that work against my writing, it's actually easier for me to carve out the time I need for writing and not feel guilty. I'm also far less resentful. Of course I want to spend time with extended family, but that comes when I know my writing life is in a safe place.

It's no fun for anyone if I am at a family holiday event stressing because I have word count to make and will it EVER be time to leave? When I have paid my dues, as it were, I say, "I have work to do, so I am leaving now. Thank you so much, it was lovely to see you."  And then I leave. And that means I am far more relaxed when I am at that event.


A writer needs to carve out time, space and mental peace for her writing. What's within that space belongs to you. Do not share it with people who are destructive to the peace and safety of your writing. YOU draw the lines. Do not invite others to cross that line when you know they are not safe. Now, if I'm asked, I say things are going well, and then I change the subject. Do not volunteer your good writing news, (or any news) to people you know do not support your writing. DO share that news with those who do.

Other people may find the best solution is to schedule their projects so that time off at the holidays is a welcome break. That does mean telling your editor, no, you cannot deliver a book on December 31. Negotiate a due date that allows you to take that time off.

The time you spend writing does not need to be vast. It doesn't matter if your writing time is 5 minutes whenever you can, or 5 hours every evening. Over time, the words add up, and before long, your goal-per-day adds up to a novel. Keeping the writer part of you safe makes that happen.

Holiday Temptation

By Laura Spinella

There’s no better time than the holidays to stop everything and blog about the lack of time during the holidays. I’m referring to writing time, as opposed to the general time we scramble for at the November/December juncture. Personally, it always manages to sneak up on me. One minute I’m scraping bottom for the last fun-size Snickers in the Halloween bowl, the next my kids are sending me buy links to Zumies (aka skateboard hell) and Victoria’s Secret. Zumies I pray will pass before the boy suffers a catastrophic head injury, VS compels me to send this reply to my daughters: “Girls! You realize this is despicable body image advertising at its worst, and that real women don’t look like this. Furthermore, I am at a loss to understand in what brothel-like circumstance you were reared—apparently, it’s one that would lead you to believe a lacy string up your butt suffices for underwear… Love, Santa.” 

            Apologies, I digress. My point is how writing time suffers during the holidays. I am, I think, like many writers, a creature of habit. I prefer the laptop in the sunroom to the desktop in the study. Ordinary tea becomes a potion that cues my brain to get in gear.  And so much the better if Trip, the ugly tiger cat, hangs over my shoulder while we coerce sentences into submission and cajole plot into paragraphs. I’m not a fan of noise, so if you’re home sick, find a television on a different floor. I know that sounds harsh, probably because it is. However, I also know the depth and span of the cavern one must cross to get from, “I have this idea for a story,” to “Penguin called. They bought your book.”  

             It’s a path that offers no holiday shortcut.

However, fighting for time and that coveted writing rhythm isn’t to say I’m not tempted. On the contrary, during the holidays I can be my own worst enemy. I am a sucker for quirky traditions, giddily abandoning a WIP for The Homecoming. Do you know it?  It’s the cavity inspired pilot for The Waltons’ television series, and it would not be the holidays here without it. It’s hokey and couldn’t be more out of sync with… well, the ideals put forth in a Victoria’s Secret catalog. But grounding twenty-plus years of tradition in hokey is what, in part, allows me to joke about the scantily clad. Holiday temptations and obligations start with the Waltons, continuing on to things we all whine about but would never forgo: the food, the shopping, the presents, the decorations… the time it all takes.  

            A wiser writer might retreat during this period, using the downtime to recharge and read, enjoy the festivities and start anew along with the year. The publishing industry seems to operate via that mindset, all but shutting down during December. I wish I could follow suit. But my compulsion to write doesn’t recognize holidays or vacations. I don’t know how to shut it off, or even hit the snooze button. So what I’m wondering is if, during the holidays, you happily pack up your laptop and say, “See you next year!” Or do you adjust for the climate, writing through the graveyard shift while no one is stirring, not even a mouse? I’d be curious to hear. I’d welcome the advice. It would be interesting to know if I’m certifiably odd or assuredly in the company of others who find writing an inescapable master.          

Laura Spinella is the author of the award-winning novel, BEAUTIFUL DISASTER (which makes a groovy holiday gift) and ISABEL'S RHAPSODY, coming November 2013. Visit her at www.lauraspinella.net.    

                   

Let's go for a Sleigh Ride!

by Malena Lott

I'll confess: I'm a holiday junkie. I love so many things about October through January 2nd that I couldn't even list them all here, but what they have in common is tradition and that magical romantic quality about the season as a whole. It gets cold. We get closer. Don't we call more, hug more, make more of an effort to connect? The world doesn't slow down, but it does feel more in focus.

Sleigh Ride: A Winter Anthology is definitely my homage to the season and how something as simple as a sleigh ride can have such meaning in our lives. I invited fellow Girlfriend Authors Maggie Marr, Maria Geraci and Samantha Wilde to be a part of it and they graciously accepted. You'll also be introduced to debut authors Dani Stone, Jenny Peterson and Megan Barlog, who are great writers you're going to be seeing a lot more from.

To celebrate our launch, we're doing several great contests including the 7 Sleighs/7 Days of Giveaways contest (now on day 4) as well as the Big Stuffed Sleigh Contest that ends Nov. 30th ($150 value.)

The book is available in trade paperback and ebook. For a chance to win a print galley of Sleigh Ride, leave a comment on WHO YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE A SLEIGH RIDE WITH IF YOU COULD INVITE ANYONE IN THE WORLD. What would you talk about? Or would you not be talking? :) Thanks for reading, and happy holidays! 

In order of appearance:

In Samantha Wilde's "Monks and Musicians," a family sleigh ride turns a mother's life upside down, leaving her to decide the fate of her future and family.

In the romantic comedy "Noche Beuna," Maria Geraci shares what happens when a woman breaks tradition and takes the holidays into her own hands.

Jenny Peterson explores the powerful bond of sisters with a painful past in "Fairy Lights."

A phone call out of the blue from the former great love of her life causes a pharmacist to question her past and whether or not a second chance is worth the risk in Dani Stone's humorous, "No Place Like Home."

In Megan Barlog's story, "The Escape," a stable owner with a hover sleigh is drawn to a troubled young woman who needs his help to avoid the bleak future planned out for her.

When her dog jumps out of the car in a snowstorm in Vermont, the California girl has the wildest night of her life on her journey to find her dog and heal her heart in Maggie Marr's, "Dashing Through the Snow."

A grieving mother returns home at the holidays to face the family she walked away from after tragedy in Malena Lott's, "Snowflakes and Stones." 

Called "beautiful" and "touching," this collection is a Good Read/Good Deed project with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the domestic violence prevention cause through the Alpha Chi Omega foundation.  

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