What’s on your holiday to do list?
December 10, 2022 by Tari Jewett in category Writing tagged as Book Release, christmas cookies, Christmas list
The holiday countdown has begun! Are you ready? Just 15 days until Christmas and 8 until the start of Hanukah. I’m nearly there. My Christmas shopping is finished. Our tree is up, and we’ve done a little decorating, although most of our decorations are in Arizona. The little apartment we’ve rented in California for Paul until he retires is where we decorated…that’s where the grandchildren will be. And, while I’ll be baking cookies for my family, I won’t be on a huge baking binge this year…and I’m trying to bake healthier.
HOWEVER…for many years, there have been places that I could only go at Christmas with a platter of cookies. Baking cookies has been a Christmas tradition for me, since I got my first apartment at 18 years old. I tried to add a new cookie to my repertoire every year
Some of the cookies on my list included:
- Applesauce Fruitcake bars– my alternative to fruit cake
- Butterballs– aka snowballs, Mexican Wedding Cakes, Russian Tea balls
- Candy Cane Cookies– ala Martha Stewarts Christmas book page 41
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Cinnamon Swirls
- Double Chocolate Thumbprints- recently renamed Mud Puddles – this recipe is my own, and it’s printed in the story Love and Mud Puddles.
- Frost on the pumpkin cookies
- Magic Cookie Bars
- Oatmeal Craisin cookies
- Orange Glazed Carrot Cookies…this recipe has a story to it, and if you sign up for my newsletter, you’ll get the recipe and the story!
- Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies
- Snickerdoodles
- Sour Cream Cookies
- Spritz Cookies
- Sugar Cookies…or as we call them cut-out cookies
- Thumbprint
There are more, but you get the idea…I bake cookies. One year I made over 200 dozen cookies…but that’s another story. For this year. I’ll bake a few of my family’s favorites, and some new healthier cookies that I’m hoping will become new traditions.
So, it’s perfectly fitting for me to write a Christmas romcom about cookie baking. Love and Mud Puddles released on November 30th, and it’s available on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble I hope you’ll check it out. And don’t forget that I have another Christmas romcom #12DancingSantas…if you’re in the mood for holiday romance.
I’ve shared many of the recipes on the cookie list above in my Facebook group Tari Lynn & Friends. So, if you’d like them please join us, and you can join in the rest of the fun as well!
I have another story releasing in the Imperfect Date Collection in February, it’s available for preorder now! …and I can’t wait to tell you more about that!
For now, Happy Holidays to all of you and your families, and I’d love to hear what you’re baking this season!! (And if you don’t bake and just eat them, that’s okay too.)
Dianna Sinovic, Featured Author
December 7, 2022 by Dianna Sinovic in category Featured Author of the Month tagged as Dianna Sinovic, Featured Author of the Month, Quill and Moss, Short Stories
Author of the Month: Dianna Sinovic
Dianna is a contributing author in the last three anthologies from The Bethlehem Writers Group, An Element of Mystery: Sweet, Funny and Strange Tales of Intrigue, Fur, Feathers, and Scales, Sweet, Funny and Strange Animal Tales and Untethered, Sweet, Funny & Strange Tales of the Paranormal. She has also contributed stories for the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable ezine, including “In the Delivery.”
Born and raised in the Midwest, Dianna has also lived in three other quadrants of the U.S. She writes short stories and poetry, and is working on a full-length novel about a young woman in search of her long-lost brother.
She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Horror Writers Association, The American Medical Writers Association, and The Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC.
Dianna also has a regular column here on A Slice of Orange, titled Quill and Moss, in which she frequently includes short fiction.
Below, you can also listen to Dianna read her short story, “Cold Front” from the GLVWG Writes Stuff anthology.
Other books by Dianna Sinovic
The Year is Ending, but Publicity is On The Rise!
December 6, 2022 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as Crooked Lane, Facebook Parties, Harlequin Romantic Suspense, Holiday Giveaways, mysteries
It’s December. The year is coming to a close. But it appears that book promotion is ramping up even more!
For one thing, I’m delighted that two of my recent books, my Harlequin Romantic Suspense novel Guardian K-9 on Call, part of my Shelter of Secrets series, plus my—or my pseudonym Lark O. Jensen’s—mystery novel for Crooked Lane, Bear Witness, are both included in a really fun on-line Christmas Gift-Giving Guide featuring quite a few books. Here’s the link.
Also, today, December 6, I’m part of a Facebook party featuring a lot of the authors of the Coltons of Colorado books published this year. Mine, Shielding Colton’s Witness, was published in November. It’s at the Facebook group Coffee, Cupcakes and Contemporaries, and it’ll only be there today, but there are quite a few book giveaways.
And Coffee, Cupcakes and Contemporaries is also hosting the Second Annual Holly Jolly Holiday Party on Friday, December 9. Yes, I’ll be there too. And there may also be prizes.
That doesn’t include all the holiday parties for writers and others I’m invited to. Yes, this is a busy time of the year!
How about for the rest of you? Are you writers involved in any end-of-year promotion? How about parties held by the writers organizations you belong to? And readers, are you watching out for those on-line parties, interacting with writers, and entering contests?
In any case, have fun—and have a wonderful holiday season!
~Linda
Some of Linda’s Books
NANO RECAP
December 5, 2022 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed tagged as finishing the book, Nano, Tracy Reed
I’m going to make this very short, because I’m preparing for two releases at the end of the month.
Congratulations to everyone who participated in NANO. Whether you finished or not, isn’t the point. What matters is that you made the effort. I successfully finished NANO. I completed it with 50K+ words, however that wasn’t my number one goal.
My main goal was to complete my book, which I didn’t. The book I selected for NANO was the fifth book in my Alex series. The books in that series are 90k+ words. I’m preparing to release book four in the series on December 29th. It’s over 100k words. When I completed book four, I knew there was going to be a book five. I figured, while the characters were still fresh in my mind, it was the best time to write book five.
In order for me to complete book five, I would need to write approximately 3k+ words per day. I started the month well and then I hit a road block. Somewhere around the middle of the month, I realized I wasn’t going to finish the book. Instead of kicking myself, I focused on the NANO goal of 50k words. I finished NANO on the last day with my story at the mid point and 50k+ words.
This year for NANO, I did something I never do, make a writing plan. Unlike previous years, I periodically referred to my plan. Although I had notes, I still stuck to my pantser style. I knew I was going to introduce a new character. In my notes, she had at least three other names and a slightly different physical look. I sketched her out, but when it came time to introduce her, the only thing she had from my notes was her profession and her original fashion style.
I would love to finish this book by the end of December, but I’m not going to pressure myself. Instead, I’m giving myself until the middle of January to complete the book. This book caught me off guard. I’m still not sure if it’s going to be book five or if it will be a spin off stand alone. Right now, it could go either way. Only my writing muse knows what will happen.
How was your NANO season?
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Free Book Alert
December 4, 2022 by marianne h donley in category Spotlight tagged as Free Book, Good Folk Series, Green Valley, Limited time, Penny Reid
Totally Folked, a heartfelt and hilarious standalone romance from New York Times bestselling author Penny Reid, is ZERO PENNIES for just a short while. Now is the perfect time to start the small town Good Folk series and visit Green Valley!
★★Grab your copy TODAY!★★
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/35yF77N
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3bRkRCr
Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/3oHrMRT
Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/2N30PKI
Apple Books: https://apple.co/2XAtZmf
Nook: https://bit.ly/3ib736z
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2N2YDTu
Google Play: https://bit.ly/3skGO2h
Smashwords: https://bit.ly/3nIJd3c
Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3upwLcB
★★Blurb★★
One unforgettable night leads to an unlikely shared connection, and unlikely connections never go unnoticed by the good folks in Green Valley, Tennessee. . .
Jackson James follows the rules. He has to. He’s a sheriff’s deputy in a super small town with a super big personality. However, strict adherence to the law during the day has been enjoyably balanced by rakish rules at night. Jackson, typically happy to protect and serve (and serve, and serve), starts questioning the value of wayward evenings when getting laid starts to feel more like being waylaid. Could it be that Green Valley’s most eligible—and notorious—bachelor longs for something (and someone) real?
Mega movie star Raquel Ezra follows only one rule: always leave them wanting more. Studio execs, reporters, audiences, fans, lovers—no one can get enough of the smart, savvy, and sexy bombshell. But when “generous offers” begin to feel more like excessive demands, years of always leaving has the elusive starlet longing for something (and perhaps someone) lasting.
When Raquel abruptly returns to the quirky Tennessee hamlet, her path crosses with the delectable deputy with whom she spent one unforgettable night. Unfortunately, scandal and intrigue soon follow. Raquel and Jackson must decide which is more important: following their rules? Or, at long last, finding something real.
TOTALLY FOLKED is a standalone, contemporary romantic comedy novel and book #1 in the Good Folk: Modern Folktales series.
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