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| Karen Erickson |
Ah,
the holiday romance.
I do love writing them…almost as much as I love reading them! This is one of my favorite times of the year, reading-wise. So many holiday romances to choose from, not enough money to buy or time to read them all! In fact, I have a confession to make…I have holiday books I bought last year that I never got a chance to read! Sigh…
I do love writing them…almost as much as I love reading them! This is one of my favorite times of the year, reading-wise. So many holiday romances to choose from, not enough money to buy or time to read them all! In fact, I have a confession to make…I have holiday books I bought last year that I never got a chance to read! Sigh…
In
the hustle and bustle of the holiday season I love being able to relax for a
bit and lose myself in a story. It helps me forget all the presents that still
need to be wrapped, the cookies that need to be baked and the teacher gifts
that need to be bought—at least for a little while.
My
latest release, JANE’S GIFT, is my
favorite of all the holiday romances I’ve written. For my heroine, it’s about
grabbing that second chance at life and running with it. For my hero, it’s
learning how to depend on someone and let that someone depend on you.
Overall,
it’s a story about love, both from your family, your children and that special
someone in your life. How love can come along when you least expect it. And
there’s no better time than the holidays for all of this magic to unfold…
Do
you enjoy reading a good holiday romance? Any favorites? Share with me in the
comments! I’ll start with my all-time favorite—Jill Shalvis. She can write
about any holiday and I’ll read it. She’s an automatic buy for me. But her
holiday stories are some of my favorites (and she has a Lucky Harbor Christmas
novella coming out next month—squee!).
JANE'S GIFT blurb:
A devastating house
fire cost Jane Clark nearly everything: her husband, her confidence, and her
looks, with the physical scars marbling her body. Now, two years later, she’s
living and healing back in her childhood hometown of Lone Pine Lake. The
upcoming holidays are the perfect opportunity to bring some Christmas cheer
into her young children’s lives, starting with a visit to the firehouse, where
her brother’s best friend has offered to help quell their residual fears.
Lone Pine’s resident
playboy, fire captain Christian Nelson is happy with his single-guy lifestyle.
He’s an everyday local hero, so he’s never wanting for attention around the
holidays. But when Jane Clark shows up, Chris is immediately drawn to the
beautiful widow—even though kids and commitment have never been his style.
Despite her brother’s
warnings about his friend’s playboy status and dangerous occupation, Jane can’t
help but fall for the gorgeous fire captain. The holidays are a time of new
beginnings, but can two scarred people find the strength to let go of their
pasts to live in the present, when a lifetime together might be the sweetest
gift of all?
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| Victoria James |
Staying
Power…
As far back
as I can remember I have always been a reader.
And a loyal one-I basically had a ‘keeper shelf’ without knowing what
that meant! One of my earliest reading memories was with my mother, at the
doctor’s office. I was around four years
old, and every time we’d sit in the waiting room, I’d run and grab the book
about the duck that tears down his house trying to find an ant. I still remember the basic plot of this
book. And I can still remember my
mother’s face when she had to read, and reread
this book-every time we went to the doctor’s.
My tastes
have thankfully evolved since then (though, I think I need to search for a copy
of that ant book!) I still have my favorites-you know that stash of books, that
you still enjoy even though you’ve read them a dozen times? They sit in a basket, beside my
bookshelf. Each of them appeals to me
for different reasons, and at different times.
And each of them has the power to transport me back to that moment in
time when I first read them. If I’m
crunched for time, I might just flip through and re-read my favourite
parts. Inevitably, though, I usually get
sucked in and read more.
I think a
book can bring you comfort, laughter, and peace. I think it can also say a lot
about your personality, who you are. For
instance, I started reading romance during high school. Historical, was my first love, then
contemporary. I always gravitated toward
characters that had to overcome adversity, because seeing them triumph in the
end was so rewarding. As a writer, I
find myself drawn to writing these types of characters. Humor is vital for me as well.
In my
current release, THE BILLIONAIRE'S CHRISTMAS BABY, my heroine, Hannah Woods has
had a traumatic past. When she was
growing up, the only real thing she had to call her own, was a small stash of
books. The books traveled with her from
home to home-and the comfort she derived from them was her constant. Books gave her the ability to escape the life
she was living-and they kept the idea that happy endings really did exist
inside her.
When she sees her favorite
romance book in the hero’s hands-Hannah feels exposed. She feels that way because of her deep
connection to the book and what it reveals about her character. Eventually, she does open to the hero about
her books and childhood dreams. He,
being the fabulous guy that he is, vows he’ll help her fulfill those dreams ;-)
How about
you? Do you think that your favorite
books reveal your personality? Do you
have a pile of ‘keepers’? Or are you always
looking for something new? Are you drawn
to books with certain types of characters or do you like a variety?
About
Victoria James:
Victoria
James is a romance writer living near Toronto, Canada. Victoria is a mother to
two young children, and one very disorderly feline. Victoria attended Queen's
University in Kingston, Ontario and graduated with a degree in English
Literature, where she met and then later married, her own hero. After Queen's,
Victoria earned a degree in Interior Design. After the birth of her first child
she began pursuing her life-long passion of writing. Her dream of being a
published romance author was realized last February, 2012, when Entangled
Publishing bought her manuscript. Victoria
is living her dream-staying home with her children and conjuring up happy
endings for her characters.
5 comments:
Welcome to Romancing The Genres, Karen and Victoria! We're delighted to host Entangled Publishing romance authors this weekend!!!
Karen, I don't have a favorite Holiday-themed romance and there are too many to list. My to buy/read list seems to get longer and longer instead of shorter and shorter lol. And I've a couple of books from over a year ago (I went rather wild when Borders closed) that I still haven't read because I keep buying new ones and reading those.
I'm not sure my favorite books say something about my personality, Victoria. It's a great question and I plan on asking some friends what they think. There are a few books I've read several times but for the most part I move on but stay within the historical or contemporary romance sub-genres.
A question for each of you: How long did it take to complete your first manuscript?
I enjoyed both of your posts, Karen and Victoria. I want to read your books.
I don't have a favorite holiday romance, but I do enjoy them. I'm pretty much a sucker for wounded heroes and heroines, so both your stories uave set their emotional hooks in me. :)
I think what you read can reveal something about your personality, in a broad sense. Readers motivations (read for pleasure, to get amped up, to relax, to relieve boredom, out of curiosity) and/or tastes (like concise, spare writing; like surprise endings, like animal characters,like small-town settings, like gorgeious, literary-style writing, like Beta heroes) vary so wiedly it's hard to make generalizations. I'd guess someone who reads eclectically is a more open, flexible, or curoius person than someone who reads only one narrowly-defined sub-genre, but that's just my opinion.
Enjoyed your posts.
Thanks so much for having us, Judith! My first manuscript took quite a few months. I wrote a little here and there, and was trying to learn the craft as I went along. But I did finish it-and now it's tucked away somewhere! :-)
Thanks so much, Sarah!
Hi Judith! So sorry I didn't answer yesterday - I've been out of town and then traveled all day today! Hmm, my first manuscript that I actually completed was a category length book that I wrote while participating in my first NaNo back in 2005. It took me a month to write those 50k+ words. That was the "a ha" moment for me - knowing I could actually finish the book.
So that's always my advice I give to writers when someone asks what's the one thing you would tell someone starting out: finish the book. I wasted years writing bits and pieces. YEARS.
Thank you so much for having me on the blog! :)
I like a lot of different kinds of books. I have some keepers.
bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com
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