Sweetness of the Season

Sweetness of the Season by Shanna Hatfield

A certain nostalgic sweetness sweeps through me, flooding my senses with sappy emotion, at the thought of holiday romance.

The reason for the syrupy state of my heart is due to my own holiday romance with Captain Cavedweller.

Years ago, on the day after Christmas, I reluctantly agreed to go on a blind date with the son of one of my dad's friends. Any number of thoughts, none of them very positive, raced through my head as I got ready to go out to dinner with him.

What kind of weirdo agrees to go out with the offspring of his father's friend?

What kind of whacko decides to go on a first date the day after Christmas?

What kind of loser doesn't already have a special someone?

Evidently, the negative notions rolling through my thoughts closely mimicked those he was thinking. (And yes, the fact that I was also a weirdo, whacko loser is not lost at all on me!)

It didn't help matters that he couldn't find the house I was living in at the time and showed up late. In fact, I'd just decided he was standing me up when the phone rang. He apologized for being late and asked for better directions. Within ten minutes, he stood on the front step and rang the doorbell.

Nervous and still slightly annoyed, I took a deep breath and opened the door. A shy, boyish smile charmed me. Then I looked into a pair of vibrant blue eyes and knew, in that moment, that I'd just met the man I'd marry. I never expected to open that door and immediately fall in love, but something I can't explain happened as soon as our eyes connected.

It took him a little longer than five seconds to decide he wanted to spend his future with me, but we married a week before Christmas the following year. We'll celebrate our twenty-third wedding anniversary this year.

Writing holiday romances gives me the opportunity to experience all those exciting, wonderful, falling-in-love feelings that I enjoyed first-hand from beginning my relationship with Captain Cavedweller. I love including elements of the season in my sweet romances. There's just something about all that mistletoe and sleigh rides that warms my heart.

My latest release, The Christmas Quandary, is no exception. I had such fun writing the story of a young man who comes home for the holiday season to recuperate from an injury and unexpectedly falls in love.

Tom Grove just needs to survive a month at home while he recovers from a work injury. How bad can it be to return to Hardman for the holiday season?  He arrives to discover his middle-aged parents acting like newlyweds, the school in need of a teacher, and the girl of his dreams already engaged.

After the loss of her parents and her fiancé abandoning her to spend a year abroad, Lila Granger desires a change of scenery. She leaves her home in New York to spend a few months with relatives in Hardman, Oregon. The idea of stepping off the train into a place that gives her a true sense of coming home never entered her mind. Neither did the notion of falling in love with a man who clearly can’t wait to get away from the small town.

The Christmas Quandary is a sweet Victorian romance, full of laughter and heartwarming moments, perfect for a holiday read.

Do you have a favorite holiday romance or holiday memory?

~*~

Shanna Hatfield

USA Today Bestselling Author Shanna Hatfield writes character-driven romances with relatable heroes and heroines. Her historical westerns have been described as “reminiscent of the era captured by Bonanza and The Virginian” while her contemporary works have been called “laugh-out-loud funny, and a little heart-pumping sexy without being explicit in any way.”

Convinced everyone deserves a happy ending, this hopeless romantic is out to make it happen, one story at a time. When she isn’t writing or indulging in chocolate (dark and decadent, please), Shanna hangs out with her husband, lovingly known as Captain Cavedweller.

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Find Shanna’s books at:

Amazon | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | Apple | Audible

Shanna loves to hear from readers. Follow her online at:

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Candy sticks or candy canes?

by Diana McCollum

Ever wonder how candy canes got the hook on the end? For centuries candy canes were made by hand. Around 1920 Bob McCormack, residing in Georgia, U.S.A, decided to start making candy canes by hand  for his friends. As the popularity of his candies increased he opened Bob’s Candies.

Bob’s brother-in-law, a catholic priest named Gregory Harding Keller, invented a machine that worked on straight candy sticks into the beautiful curved ones of today. The automated machine is called the Keller Machine.

Bob’s Candies was bought out by Farley and Sathers in 2005.

Here is a recipe for making green or red candy canes.

http://bit.ly/2fOQfoB  this is the cooking site Taste of Home where this recipe was created. Go there for a printable copy.

Picture by Homemade Candy Canes Recipe photo by Taste of Home

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 25 min. Cook: 25 min.

MAKES: 16 servings

Ingredients

·         1 teaspoon butter

·         1 cup sugar

·         1 cup water

·         1 cup light corn syrup

·         1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

·         1 teaspoon peppermint or spearmint extract

·         6 drops red or green food coloring

Nutritional Facts

1 candy cane : 110 calories, 0 fat (0 saturated fat), 1mg cholesterol, 14mg sodium, 28g carbohydrate (18g sugars, 0 fiber), 0 protein.Diabetic Exchanges: 2 starch.

Directions

1.    Grease two baking sheets with butter; set aside. In a large saucepan, bring the sugar, water, corn syrup and cream of tartar to a boil. Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer reads 280° (soft-crack stage).

2.    Remove from the heat; stir in extract and food coloring. Immediately pour onto prepared pans in eight 8-in. strips. Let stand just until cool enough to handle, about 1-2 minutes.

3.    Working quickly, roll each strip into a 10-in. log. Cut each into two 5-in. lengths. Curve the top of each to form the handle of a cane. Cool completely. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 16 canes. 

Editor's Note: We recommend that you test your candy thermometer before each use by bringing water to a boil; the thermometer should read 212°. Adjust your recipe temperature up or down based on your test.

Originally published as Homemade Candy Canes in Taste of Home's Holiday & Celebrations Cookbook Annual 2009, p83

http://bit.ly/2fOQfoB  web site red or green

If you are one of those people who say show me! Go to this ‘you tube video' for how to make candy canes.

http://bit.ly/2fBoNrN

And then after making some of those lovely candy canes, you might want to sit with a candy cane and a cup of hot chocolate and read one of the following books:

CANDY CANE CAPER                                              

Things go from crazy to insane in the Zimmerman household when Scooter's dad comes to town, Zoe tries to find the perfect gift for Zak while helping out with Hometown Christmas, and Levi finds the body of bakeshop owner Candy Kane dead in the pantry. It's funny, it's family, and it’s a Zak and Zoe Christmas mystery. (Amazon description)

DASHING THROUGH THE SNOW

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Savor the magic of the season with Debbie Macomber’s newest Christmas novel, filled with warmth, humor, the promise of love, and a dash of unexpected adventure.

CHRISTMAS ON CANDY CANE LANE

Review by Bette Hansen 

I loved it! It's the holiday season in Icicle Falls and the craziness is in full swing. There is no place in town that's as crazy as Candy Cane Lane. This is the story of three women, each trying to juggle the stresses of life, deal with crazy neighbors, and stay sane enough to still have a life!

I must say I've never tried to make candy. Cookies and cakes and pies, oh, my, yes I make all of those, but candy No.

Do you have a favorite Christmas candy? Do you make candy? 

Holiday Romances by Lynn Lovegreen

When I saw this month’s theme was holiday romance, I went blank—couldn’t think of any. So I turned to my friends in AKRWA (Alaska chapter of Romance Writers of America) for suggestions. Here are some of their favorites. You’re bound to find at least one that’s your cup of tea, whether you prefer naughty or nice.

That Olde Christmas Magic by Morgan Q O’Reilly (erotica)

Start with five gold rings, wrap with ribbons and bows, add a paddle, and let the party begin! Angels might get wings with every bell that rings, but four couples find that bells and magic this Christmas send them flying on wings of love. ~ Victor and Terri find their spell with five words and Five Gold Rings. ~ Greg and Lisa’s hearts are Tied Up in a Bow and lessons in trust. ~ Sheldon has A Paddle for Patti and she learns every now and again it’s good for the soul. ~ Edward learns All Amelia Wants for Christmas and fulfills her wildest dream.

https://amzn.com/0578129914

The Knight Before Christmas by Jackie Ivie (steamy historical romance)

A RELUCTANT HUSBAND. Caught in a furious blizzard, battle-weary Myles Donal has only two options: die alone in the snow, or make his way home by order of his sire to marry the woman known as the Harridan of the Highlands. The warm glow of light in a small croft will only delay his fate... A REBELLIOUS BRIDE. Kendran is not about to share her hard-earned shelter with anyone, especially not a man! Running away from an arranged marriage was her only chance at freedom--and she'll not forfeit it to another arrogant male...even one as devilishly attractive as Myles Donal... A WEDDING TO REMEMBER. Snowbound and equally stubborn, Myles and Kendran engage in a battle of wills that quickly becomes a passion too fiery to ignore. "Wedded bliss" may be an abhorrent concept to both of them, but true love is not so easily denied…

https://amzn.com/0821780123

Rules to Catch a Devilish Duke by Suzanne Enoch (Regency historical romance)

SHE BREAKS ALL THE RULES…

Sophia White knows she will never marry into polite society. The illegitimate daughter of a nobleman, she works at the Tantalus Club, a discreet establishment for gentlemen―and her only suitor is a pastor who wants to save her soul. So when Sophia is invited to spend the holidays at the estate of Adam Baswich, the devilishly handsome Duke of Greaves, she is delighted―and determined to enjoy her last nights of freedom before surrendering her hand…

TO CAPTURE A NOBLEMAN'S HEART

Inviting Sophia for Christmas is a daring courtesy on Adam's part, but he soon finds the pleasure is all his. Sophia is beautiful, courageous, and stubbornly self-sufficient despite her scandalous circumstances―and not at all the kind of woman he could possibly marry. Adam knows he must find a wife by his thirtieth birthday or he will lose his fortune. But can he defy convention―and convince Sophia―to risk it all in the name of true love?

https://amzn.com/0312534531

Whatever your taste in reading, hope you find just the right holiday romance. Enjoy!

Lynn Lovegreen grew up in Alaska, and still lives there. Her young adult/new adult historical romances are set in the Alaska Gold Rush, a great time for drama, romance, and independent characters. See her website at www.lynnlovegreen.com.

Giving Myself a Present

Hi everyone! I am YA author B A Binns , writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for teens. My tagline tells you what I am about - Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them. 

I gave myself a holiday gift this year.

Was it expensive - Absolutely.
Was it worth it - Again, a resounding yes.
Will I do it again - Read further and see the answer.

What was this present - well, a little background first. As a professional author with three books behind me and two more in progress including my middle grade debut novel Courage coming in winter 2018 from Harper Collins, I attend various conferences. Some are better than others, more boring or more informative, and may be geared toward readers or writers. No matter what, there remains one constant - most suffer from monochrome syndrome, the audience and speakers are largely white. Yes, the speakers are deserving and qualified, But I, like many of the young readers I write for, sometimes need a mirror up on the stage expounding wisdom, and in the seats around me. Someone we can look at and see hope for a future for ourselves.

I belong to the Illinois chapter of SCBWI, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. They hold a one-day conference every November called Prairie Writers and Illustrators Day (PWID) - Illinois is the prairie state, get it?

The conference theme was "Calling All Superheroes." The event included portfolio reviews for illustrators, critiques and contests (no, I did not win) One of the best things for me was that this year, the conference organizers found a diverse cast for their faculty.

Agent: Linda Pratt, WERNICK & PRATT
Executive Editor: Traci Todd, ABRAMS APPLESEED,
Executive Art Director: Giuseppe Castellano, PENGUIN GROUP USA
Executive Editor: Kendra Levin, VIKING CHILDREN’S GROUP
Assistant Editor: Nikki Garcia, LITTLE BROWN & COMPANY

Linda Pratt, Kendra Levin and Nikki Garcia discussing issues in YA and MG publishing. In addition Linda Pratt gave a presentation on the elusive thing called Voice, Kendra Levin's presentation helped attendees through exercises in character motivation, and Nikki Garcia helped us understand revising and editing MG and YA stories.

The opening keynote speaker was Don Tate, who calls himself a "visual storyteller." He
discussed his long and winding journey traversing the children's book publishing minefield, emphasizing the many twists and turns, and the length, of the journey while giving hope to those on their way. Mr. Tate will be one of the headliners at the 2017 Virginia Hamilton Conference on Multicultural literature, spoke about his dedication to his craft. BTW, I spoke at the Virginia Hamilton Conference a few years ago. If anyone wants to go deep into diverse literature, and see a truly massive children's library, that's the conference to attend.

I want to give the organizers kudos for noting the few attendees of color they have most years and resolving to look at possible ways to change things in the future.

Which brings me to the present I gave to myself.  I resolved to do more than just attend and see and hear the mirrors on the podium and gave myself the gift of additional mirrors in the audience along with me. Writing and illustrating are solitary endeavors. Yet, we all gain dividends from having a community like SCBWI, RWA or MWA, to be part of, to learn from and gain support.

Many #ownvoices have little chance to become part of that larger community. They feel isolated. Worse, many don't even know those writing communities exist. While they too have a largely monochrome  membership, people all over the world tell stories, from every race, ethnicity and religion. But #ownvoices can't join if they don't even know these groups exist, and if they don't have the finances to join because there are hefty membership fees and even more money is needed to sign up for and attend meetings and conferences.

So my gift to myself was the gift of helping others.

Khannie Dastgah, Urania Smith, B A Binns, Jill Kuanfung, Nabeeh Bilal

I chose to pay the conference fees for others. used a contest to select the scholarship winners, Khannie Dastgah, Jill Kuanfung, and Mabeeh Bilal. Aided by fellow SCBWI member Urania Smith, I set up a scholarship to pay the conference fees so that three additional #ownvoices could attend their first professional writers and illustrators conference.  It's worth noting that almost none of the people who entered the contest did knew anything about SCBWI. Something for the organization to consider: if your current membership is largely white, and many have little interchange with any people of color, much less the subset that are authors and illustrators, those people have no way of knowing you exists.  That ignorance is costly, since the Predators in the business always manage to find those who are hopeful, talented, persistent, and dedicated to their craft...and alone. One of the contestants was on the verge of falling victim to a $20K vanity publisher trap because she had no idea of any alternative to getting her children's books published.

Urania and I ended the day having Chinese dinner at the Absolutely Chines Restaurant in Rolling Meadows, along with Jill and Nabeeh. There they let us close out the place because we couldn't stop talking and enjoying each other's company. And I discovered I don't need alcohol to loosen my tongue and embarrass myself!

P. S. My final reward at the end of the day was a copy of a book illustrated by Nabeeh Bilal:  the Callaloo books.

An autographed copy!

So my gift to myself was to help others. It's like the starfish parable, I've helped one other individual (okay three) with the hope act that will influence their lives for the better and they will keep giving forward. That makes the answer to the question at the beginning of this blog - would I do something similar in the future?

As long as my finances hold, the answer is YES!  In the meantime, if you know of any #ownvoices  out there, whether they write for children or adults, let them know to contact me at author2 [at] babinns [dot] com for a welcoming community.  If you happen to be one yourself, ditto.

Editing Your Book, Part 3 Copy Editing

by Madelle Morgan

Copy editing. Copyediting. Copy-editing. 

Which is correct? Answers will differ, depending on the editing style guide used. 

Copy editors go though manuscripts word by word, and their job is not simply to correct spelling and grammar.

After the developmental edit (See Part 1) and the polish (see Part 2), I contract out copy editing to a professional. The first question to ask when requesting a quote is which style guide she or he prefers.

Choose the Style Guide for Your Book

Editors may select from several editing style guides for the English language. The goal of a style guide is to ensure consistency within a manuscript, or across all books published by a particular publisher. A style guide addresses: spelling; grammar; dates; times; italics; capitalization; titles; punctuation including hyphens (three types); formatting (such as this list); numbers (spell it out or use numerals); and much more.

In the United States (abbreviated U.S. or US depending on the style guide), The Chicago Manual of Style is one of the most widely used. Some publishers may adapt a style guide to use for in-house editing of their publications.

The British have several style guide choices. Canadians tend to choose between The Canadian Style: A Guide to Writing and Editing, or an American style guide, depending on the nationality of the majority of the readership. One important consideration for Canadian authors is that American readers are accustomed to American spelling. Canadian/British spelling may appear to be typos. Examples of Canadian spelling include modelling, honour, and centre instead of the American modeling, honor, and center. 

Then there are the dozens of words with multiple spellings; e.g., fore, for, and four, or your, you're and yore. Spell check software doesn't know which you intended to use. Copy editors are trained to watch for these spelling variations.

A style guide will provide guidance on how to handle foreign words. Should ingénue have an accent? Should it be italicized? Not according my copy editor for Caught on Camera. The style guide she used considers the word ingenue to be one of the many foreign words absorbed into the English language.

To illustrate how complex and seemingly arbitrary these arcane rules can be, a style guide dictated how to address the song and film titles in Caught on Camera's playlist. Here's how the first track was edited:

"Train on a Track," performed by Kelly Rowland, from the film Maid in Manhattan.

The rationale, to paraphrase my copy editor who used The Chicago Manual of Style, is that shorter works, such as song titles, are set in quotation marks. Longer works, such as an album name or book title, are set in italics. Who knew there was a difference? Not me, before the copy edit.

Style guides don't cover everything. A copy editor will present the author with a manuscript marked up with an overwhelming number of proposed changes/edits, including his or her own preferences. It's up to the author to accept or reject each change.

I overroad style rules for some compound words that, to my eye, are more readable when hyphenated; e.g., I retained post-traumatic rather than change to posttraumatic, but agreed with the change to makeup rather than make-up.

Sentence Structure & Errors

Copy editors will normally identify and suggest changes for problematic sentences and dialogue, lack of clarity, paragraph breaks, inconsistencies (e.g., the hero's eye color changes), and structural weaknesses that were not caught in your revisions or by beta readers. Be sure to ask a prospective copy editor what s/he includes in the price quoted.

Do You Need a Copy Editor?

You may believe that your grammar and punctuation is excellent—oops, that should be are excellent—did you catch that? You may figure your readers care about the story, and will not notice the trivial errors a copy editor painstakingly corrects. However, the bottom line is this:

Do you want the quality of your published work—your legacy—to be comparable to that of traditionally-published books?

Professional editing raises the apparent quality of the career-focused indie author's work, as does a professionally-designed cover. Caught on Camera is my September release. As I promote it on various websites, I've been asked by a couple of site owners if the novel was professionally-edited. When I entered it in the Romance Writers of America RITA contest, short contemporary romance category, I was required to supply the editor's name. I'm careful to include my editors' names in my books' acknowledgements.

It appears that professional editing is becoming a quality benchmark for indie-published books, as in:

Good cover? Check.
Four and five star reviews? Check.
High sales rank in an Amazon category? Check.
Professional editing? Check.

Finally, copy editing won't transform a poorly-written story into a great one. However, a copy edit guarantees that oh-so-important reviews will be focused on the story, not jarring typos and grammar mistakes which take a reader out of the story.

Caught on Camera Blog Tour November 21-December 2

On this two-week blog tour there'll be interviews, reviews, guest posts with the inside scoop on the book, playlist and the rest of the series, and Rafflecopter ebook giveaways at each stop. US, Canada and UK residents may enter for a chance to win the grand prize—a Muskoka T-shirt, a movie clapboard, and a print copy of Caught on Camera. 

Subscribe to MadelleMorgan.com or like my Facebook author page where you can join the event to be reminded of each stop on the tour and the daily giveaways. 

Caught on Camera is 99 cents / 99P for the promo period!

Author Bio

Madelle Morgan is the author of Caught on Camera, a New Adult romantic comedy, and Diamond Hunter, a romantic suspense about diamond smuggling inspired by her years as a young engineer in Canada's far north. Retired from a career in the public service, she lives with her husband in Ottawa, Canada's capital, visits beautiful Muskoka every summer, and watches too much TV.

Madelle tweets and posts about Hollywood, filmmaking, the settings for her stories, and of course, writing.

Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest | Wattpad | MadelleMorgan.com

What do you do to get into the holiday spirit? by Paty Jager

Because this month at Romancing the Genres is about Holiday Romance Novels, I asked a historical western romance facebook group I’m in, “Why do you read Holiday romance books?” I found their answers enlightening. 

While I had a hunch I knew most of the answers, there was one that stuck out in my mind.  One reader said she had a dysfunctional family and it was a way to experience a joyful, family-filled holiday by reading Christmas romance books.

 

Quite a few readers said the stories gets them in the mood for the holidays. Many said the books feel magical and they appreciate a story that has a happy ending.  A few liked that the books are an escape from reality. 

Because this was a historical group I asked, several said they enjoyed reading about how the holidays were celebrated in the earlier times of pioneers and cowboys. I have to agree, a lot of the fun of writing a historical holiday book is the research into how they did celebrate. While today’s children wouldn’t be impressed with an orange in their stocking back in the pioneer days it was a treat. Before the railroad it was hard to haul the fruit very far from the states where they grew, making it hard for many in the mid-west to even see let alone taste the citrus fruit.

Other comments made by readers included: 

I read them to feel better, get lost in a good story.

I read holiday romances to get lost from my reality. Love stories about others during the holidays always brightens my mood!

I love reading about the Christmas miracle and hope with the season.

They make me feel like I’m surround by family and friends.

I love Christmas stories. They just lift my spirits

I love reading and I Love Christmas! Put the two together and I'm in heaven!

It is fun to get into the holiday spirit with a good book. Sometimes I feel like I do so much for the kids that it is nice to have a little something like a Christmas story just for me.

I don't usually have a lot of family here for the holidays, so I spend my holidays with my book family.

I work retail so the holidays are twice as stressful. We don't get much time off, so I bury myself in Christmas stories to relax and bring the holidays back when they were more magical.

I love reading holiday romance it never snows here and never at Christmas and holiday romance are just so magical you can get lost in them and they make you feel good. I read them all year round.

What do you do to get into the Holiday spirit? Is it reading a holiday book or something completely different? 

Leave a comment and I’ll put your name in the drawing for an ebook of my Nov. 15^th release of the Shandra Higheagle Mystery, Yuletide Slaying. There’s a bit of romance, murder, and a feel good ending. 

Book 7 of the Shandra Higheagle mystery series

Family, Revenge, Murder

When Shandra Higheagle’s dog brings her a dead body in a sleigh full of presents, her world is turned upside down. The man is a John Doe and within twenty-four hours another body is found. 

Detective Ryan Greer receives a call that has them both looking over their shoulders. A vengeful brother of a gang member who died in a gang war is out for Ryan’s blood. Shandra’s dreams and Ryan’s fellow officers may not be enough to keep them alive to share Christmas.

Paty Jager is an award-winning author of 25+ novels and over a dozen novellas and short stories of murder mystery, western historical romance, and action adventure. She has a RomCon Reader’s Choice Award for her Action Adventure, received the EPPIE Award for Best Contemporary Romance, and a Paranormal Lorie Award. Her first mystery, Double Duplicity, was a finalist in the Chanticleer Mayhem and Mystery Award and a runner-up in the RONE Award Mystery category.  This is what Mysteries Etc says about her Shandra Higheagle mystery series: “Mystery, romance, small town, and Native American heritage combine to make a compelling read.”

 Photo © Can Stock Photo / monkeybusiness