The Christmas Tree Alliance

Make sure to enter the Christmas Tree War contest—see details at the end of this blog.

Inspired by Book Cover

To celebrate the launch of my holiday novella on December 10^th, I used Debbie Taylor’s cover art as inspiration for one of my three personal Christmas trees. While I’m not exactly thrilled with the results of my blue and white creation, I do like it.  I am however, pleased with my other trees. I really enjoyed decorating all three.  In fact, I like decorating trees so much, I start planning a new theme each January (yes, I know I should be in a program). Worse, I’ve infected several of my friends and they, too, start planning eleven months early.

This year, I fashioned a green and pink tree—inspired by a hydrangea display I saw in a store window in Asheville, NC. Normally, I only design one “new”  
tree each year and simply recycle designs from prior year favorites for the other two. Did this obsession inspire The Christmas Tree Wars?

Not exactly.

Pink and Green

Pink Tree without Lights

In the past, I always felt a bit odd for my multiple tannenbaums—until I met my friend Pam.  She had twelve Christmas trees--or maybe the number was even higher. Of course, she counted the small tree on the tank of her bathroom toilet (the woman was ahead of her time). Pam had a wonderful assortment of Radko decorations and lights for every color of the rainbow.  Since I have a new theme each year, I must be more budget conscious about my ornaments.  Not only do I modify dollar store decorations and paint inexpensive boxed ornaments, I also create a lot of folded ornaments. Yep, the very same ones you made from Christmas cards as a kid. Except I use Wonder-Under and shiny/lacy/metallic fabric to give them a more grown-up flavor. You can find the instructions on my website, www.AuthorRobinWeaver.com.

Sometimes art imitates life and sometimes it doesn't. The effort my friends and I expend on our trees each year certainly ignited the idea for The Christmas Tree Wars, but there are no battles. Ours is more of a Christmas tree alliance; we each keep an eye out for ornaments befitting the theme (both our own and others).

Some might say spending so much time on a tree that’s displayed for only a month or so is a waste of effort. I say it’s a thing of beauty.  After all, isn’t that what makes life worthwhile—those moments of beauty?

Wishing all of you a very happy holiday!

Robin

Don’t forget to enter the Christmas Tree Contest.  Send a picture of your Christmas tree to ChristmasTreeWars@yahoo.com.  I will be posting the pictures on my facebook page and will select at least one winner on December 15th. The winning entry will be selected on December 15th and will receive a free copy of The Christmas Tree Wars AND a copy of Ashantay Peters holiday tale, Dickens of a Death. Also, one lucky person leaving a comment on either of my Facebook pages (Robin Weaver OR Christmas Tree Wars) will win a copy of the novella--so leave those comments.

REVIEW: The Christmas Tree Wars

By Ashantay Peters

My love of Christmas stories is hereditary—my mother reads books with a winter holiday setting all year around and so do I. Genes also account for our cross-genre reading tendencies, along with our need for stories that feature twists and turns. That’s why I believe my Christmas story pick, The Christmas Tree Wars by RTG blogger Robin Weaver, will appeal to readers across generational—and genre—lines. The book is set for release on December 10 by The Wild Rose Press. You can search for it by title or by author Robin Weaver's name.

In this novella, Suzette Forrester discovers she’s been entered into the local Christmas tree decorating contest, familiarly known to many as The Christmas Tree Wars. Unbeknownst to the generous friends who footed the bill, Suzette had played the lack of funds card as an excuse. Her real reason for not entering the contest was deeper and difficult to admit.

While looking for a way to pull out of the contest, Suzette is cornered by her nemesis, Katarina Snodgrass. Posturing, a rash bet, a few rude words later…and to her horror, Suzette is bound to compete.

Suzette wonders if she’s made Santa’s naughty list for life when she learns her high school crush, Spence James, has returned to help his ill father. She’d love to sit on his lap and whisper her Christmas wishes in his ear, but Katarina was standing first in line.  Which makes working with Spence fraught with emotional icicles.

Mix a wanna-be fiance, a Hollywood star with secrets, a series of contest wins by Suzette’s grandmother, and a history of losing to Katarina to the holiday potpourri, and you’ve got the makings of a Christmas Tree War.  And what a fun war it is!

I enjoyed the many plot turns and new twists of language employed by Ms. Weaver. The author’s trademarked snarky heroine does herself proud and pulls off a laugh out-loud HEA win in more than one category.

If you are searching for a short read to take your mind off the stress-related decorating, baking, and shopping to find just that right gift for cantankerous Uncle Joe, pick up The Christmas Tree Wars novella. You’ll be swept into a story that will invigorate you faster than devouring an entire gingerbread house!

Be sure to put December 10 on  your calendar so you can add this title to your personal Christmas gift list. This writer gives the book a high recommendation for a ho-ho-ho good time. And that’s no snow-blinded opinion. Remember, I come by my holiday story biases naturally.

May your upcoming holidays be filled with satisfying stories, love, joy, and peace!

Looking for a Little Holiday Mayhem?

DEATH UNDER THE MISTLETOE By Ashantay Peters

A Review by Robin Weaver

Looking for a holiday-themed mystery??  Look no further.  Death Under the Mistletoe is your book.  My good friend, Ashantay Peters, has served up a holiday feast of murder, betrayal, and quirky fun in this fast, furious, and fun whodunnit.

Hoping to reconcile with her former best friend, Lily Carlson agrees to maid of honor duties at a Christmas wedding. Dumb idea, right? But haven’t we all done something similarly foolish?  As you may guess, the bride-to-be is undeserving of Lily’s efforts.

Talk about tension--Ashantay creates an emotional hell before the holiday tree drops its first needles.  Imagine planning a wedding during the holidays—and as if that weren’t stressful enough, our author throws in more mayhem by hanging the groom at the altar--under the mistletoe and without pants. Yep—hanging. Sans pants!

Naturally the lovely Lily is the main suspect. Why? A)Because she’s there; the police place her at the scene during the time of the murder. B) Because she has the physical strength and technical knowledge to hoist the dead groom.  C) The groom dumped her, very publicly.  Can you say, MOTIVE?

Gray Bronson—the hero, not the groom--left town five years earlier. He’s returned to Granville Falls to act as best man, even though he hates the groom—is this a dysfunctional wedding or what? Naturally, Gray and Lily also have a history, but unlike the dead groom, Gray still craves her more than eggnog. Our best man is determined to win back the fair maiden—even if she is guilty.

I won’t spoil the ending, but I will give you a taste of this spicy mystery—here’s an excerpt.  Enjoy!

****

“Lily, this is my wedding. The maid of honor is supposed to make sure everything goes well.”

Maybe that was true in a traditional sense, but Alexa’s wedding planner, Stephanie White, had made my presence irrelevant. The woman was a dominatrix with a penchant for lace veils and rose petals. She made European railroad schedules look like kindergarten attempts at slavish obedience to a clock.

My stomach flip-flopped. I inhaled and pushed out jumbled words. “Rod is . . .” I couldn’t find the words.

Alexa’s fists punctuated her hips. “He’s drunk. Great. Just great.”

I closed my eyes against Alexa’s anger. Good thing I never had to speak with victims or their families.

“Wait, what’s wrong with Rod?” She dropped onto a chair, probably inspired toward weak knees by my facial expression.

I sank to the floor beside her and, against my better judgment, took her hand in mine. She continued to watch me, her confused expression unwavering.

Somehow I found the guts to spit out the truth. “What I meant to say is, Rod’s dead.”

She shook her head.  “No. No way.”

Alexa moved faster than I could react.  Running full-out, she screeched to a stop within view of her groom’s corpse. Her faint punctuated our already crappy heart-to-heart.

 

Review by Robin Weaver

Author of Blue Ridge Fear

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