A Year to Remember!

Happy, Happy Holidays to you all! 

 By: Marcia King-Gamble

Come participate in my daily December holiday give-a-ways on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/MarciaKingGamble

I've always used this time of year to reflect on all the good things that have occurred. No matter how challenging life has been, there are always things to be grateful for.  An attitude of gratitude helps in making the most unpalatable, palatable. Just think there are so many out there less fortunate than you and me. That said, I'd like to share excerpts from my annual holiday newsletter.  

I'm still amazed that 2016 is almost over and we are about to bring in a brand new year. For me it's been a whirlwind time with lots of firsts, both personally and professionally.

One of the highlights of the year was finally making it to the Scandinavian countries and Russia. These were countries on my non-bucket list (I like to think I will live forever.) What a great experience that visit turned out to be. I would visit again in a New York minute; time and money permitting. 

This year, with my agents help, I released 4 new Audio Books You can find all four titles on Audible and to make it easier for you, simply click on each book title below:

His Golden Heart | Baby, I Want You | Truly Mine | Mine Forever

Ending the year on a high note, Author Bettye Griffin and I collaborated on a quartet (4 enovellas)  themed - Get your Sparkle On! Each enovella centers on a special dress that has the ability to change the heroine’s life. 

First up is Bettye Griffin’s LOVE ON LAKE SHORE DRIVE. It’s a Thanksgiving wedding story. You can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Next up, are my offerings, NAUGHTY IN NEW YORK, currently available for order on Amazon It's a second chance at love story, and set in New York. 


 Here's a sound bite of what's to come:

Theodora Johnston is Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Beau Visage; a major cosmetic house. Theo has sacrificed a personal life for her career. But with her biological clock now ticking, she is seriously considering having a baby.

Almost two decades ago, her parents were killed in a plane crash and the holidays are a difficult time. Theo is obligated to attend the executive party on Long Island, New York, and her assistant has rented her a dress; one she considers unsuitable.

Anderson MacDonald is the newly appointed COO; a man Theo had a love affair with ages ago. He just might be the guy to make that baby happen. But Anderson is her new boss and there’s some major baggage that needs to be stowed before that happens.

Following that, are Bettye's HOLIDAY IN HOUSTON and my LOOSE IN LAS VEGAS.

We hope that our four enovella offering will help make your season even more magical.

To your best holiday ever! Wishing you health, happiness, and more importantly love!

Get your Sparkle on! 

Marcia King-Gamble

www.lovemarcia.com

Holiday Greetings-What News?

By Linda Lovely

It’s Black Friday, and shopping is the one thing that won’t be on my agenda today. Definite activities? Putting up our Christmas decorations and eating leftover turkey. I could also snuggle up by the fire and read a light-hearted holiday romance like Robin Weaver’s THE GINGERBREAD SKIRMISH--which I heartily recommend as an enthusiastic Beta reader. (THE GINGERBREAD SKIRMISH will be available December 16th from Amazon.com and the Wild Rose Press.)

My other Black Friday task is one I always dread—writing the annual holiday letter. I love to get cards and letters from family and friends. As I get older, it’s nice to know the folks in my age bracket (and even older) are still breathing and with it enough to send greetings. I figure most of the people on my greetings list feel the same way. That’s why I write the blasted things.

The Writers' Police Academy is one highlight to
include in my holiday letter--even if guns aren't
exactly associated with peace on earth.

My goal is to strike a compromise between the cards I receive with only a signature and the multi-page documents that describe all the family minutiae of the past year. Signature-only greetings always leave me puzzled. Are the senders healthy, still married (or single), working or retired? It would sure be nice to know if they’ve been considered for a Cabinet post or spend their days greeting people at Walmart? About the only thing I can deduce from a signature is that the sender hasn’t changed his first name from John to Joan so there probably hasn’t been a sex-change operation. Since signatures only frustrate me, I figure I need to provide some clues about the status quo in my own holiday letter.

That presents a problem. It’s a lot easier to write about fictional characters, who lead exciting lives. Ours is, well, boring. I’m not complaining. Boring is just fine. But I’m pretty sure people aren’t really interested in our home improvement projects, which consume a fair amount of our time (and money.) And we did almost all the same things this year that we did last year.

So to fill a page I’ll go for humor and include a few photos. (I also ID everyone in the picture, since I get frustrated when I receive greetings from friends I haven’t actually seen in years and haven’t a clue who the young folks are in the group shot—children, grandchildren, neighbors? I also make sure my husband and I are included in at least one of the photos. The reason? While I enjoy seeing a high school friend’s progeny, I really want to see them!

Of course that means finding pictures in which the two of us look presentable. I have been known to do a teensy bit of Photoshop work, since that’scheaper than actually paying a dentist to whiten my teeth. 

So what is your holiday greeting strategy? Do you send to people you haven’t heard from in years or assume silence gets you off the hook? Do you send cards, holiday letters, or both? Is this a chore you enjoy or dread?

Linda Lovely is the author of  two Marley Clark Mysteries, two Smart Women, Dumb Luck romantic suspense novels, and LIES: SECRETS CAN KILL, a 1938 cocktail of lies, love and murder., For more information, visit her website: www.lindalovely.com