Favorite Holiday Reads

This book has already been mentioned. In fact, I think I bring it up every single time we do the holiday book thing. Here it is again, with good reason. It's my favorite. Has been for decades now. The story is aces. The art is utterly haunting - even though it's cartoon water color, it's vivid and fluid and alive. You feel like you're actually striding the strawberry fields. It doesn't matter how often I read the book, I end up on the emotional roller coaster of the story whether I mean to or not.

So sure. It's a silly little holiday book. A trifle. A book for kids and for kids at heart. And if you read it to one of your favorite kids, the art and the story will stick with you for days and days. Maybe for the entire year until the next time you read it to someone. Or have it read to you.

If you're of a certain age, you recall exactly what it was like to go see E.T. in the movie theater for the first time and to expose yourself to the master emotional manipulation that defines that movie. Red Ranger Came Calling is the watercolor and blue haze of swear words hanging over the fields and frightening the rabbits version. It's sublime emotional manipulation. 

To my mind, that makes it Art. Fight me. Just remember. I have back up.

Photo credit: Faye Heath

Holiday Books

So, I have to confess, I'm not much of one for holiday books.  I certainly would struggle to pick a favorite.

Of course, I do have a deep fondness for A Christmas Carol.  It's a fantastic story, that's at the same time deceptively simple in structure, yet rich and complex in execution. And I kind of love that it went from concept to in-stores in six weeks as a "damn I need some fast money" ploy.  Which: mad respect.

On a simpler level, I love A Visit from St. Nicholas.  It's such a pure and delightful story of Christmas joy, and there was a time when I could recite it for memory.  Now I might stop and stumble a bit if I tried.  But as a story, as a piece of poetry, it's a deep favorite for me. 

I think both, for me, represent something fundamental and pure about my feelings of the season.  Like: hey, here's a little bit of the magic of Christmas, and maybe, just maybe, experiencing it will make you a slightly better person. 

That's how I like to think of it, at least.

5 Christmas Books to Read Nightly

Eep. Just had a bout of mild panic because it's twenty-seven days to Christmas and I couldn't find the books. The important books. The books we read almost nightly but definitely eleventy billion times at least in this interstice between Thanksgiving and Go Day. What in the world did I do with The Books?!

Outside of house is festively bedazzled. Tree is lit (in the lighting sense, though we also do have nog). Mantle is strung with Yoda lights and littered with figurines of mice and chihuahuas in winter clothing. (I have no idea why this is my thing, but this is my thing.)

But the books are the most important part. Because the books are family. We read them together, and recite the funny parts and make up silly voices and ... aha! There they are. Downstairs by the board games cabinet. Well of course.

Now, which books? Oh, right. These ones:

1. The de rigueur no-movie-will-ever-be-as-good-as-the-original seasonal classic.

2. For the emotional heft and modern sensibility, and also because we are a pet-centered family:

 3. Read before 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. It adds context. Also muy relatable if you've ever had the flu on Go Day. Which we have. As a family. Twice. Good times.

4. Of all the versions, I like this one with Mary Engelbreit's illustrations best. Good old Santa, creepy as ever. And yet we all still keep letting him invade our homes in the middle of the night and eat our cookies. We are a weird people.

5. And this one, to cap off the night of readings. Berk Breathed is mostly known as the writer of the long-running Bloom County comic strip, but he also turned out this gem of a book. If you haven't read it, you need to. I don't care what you believe, the message in this book will resonate. Also, that last page. *grin*

So THANK YOU to SFF Seven for putting the fire under my feet to locate these books before The People come home from work and school and such and settle down for a warm winter's read. When they ask tonight, I will be prepared.

Now to practice my silly voices.

Cover Reveal: The Hanged Spy

Yes, yes, yes, our topic this week is "what's our favorite holiday book." Dear Readers, this year, my favorite holiday book is the fourth book in my Immortal Spy series. It drops on December 27! While Bix isn't participating in the holiday spirit in this story, she does have the impeccable timing of helping me hit my personal goal of releasing four books in one year. I may be delivering on that goal by the skin of my teeth, but deliver I shall!

(The Berserkers are all about the winter holidays in Book 3, The Captured Spy, FWIW).

With another amazing cover by Gene Mollica Studios, here is Bix gearing up for her next mission to save the Mid Worlds...

THE HANGED SPY
Immortal Spy: Book 4

Stealing the build specs for a prototype Mid Worlds defense system pits Bix and her team against the pantheons'  elite wet works unit. Bix’s only chance at success rests in the scarred hands of the Hanged Spy…

Pre-Order the eBook Now:

Amazon  |  iBooks  |  Nook   |  Kobo

Paperback available on Dec 27.

A Christmas Carol

My favorite book for Christmas time is none other than A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

Honestly, can there be any doubt? It puts a few of my favorite concepts in one wonderful package. We have Christmas, pf course. And the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Be. We have the bitter old man, who has not kept Christmas in his heart and the stories of the people around him throughout his life who did. We have actions and consequences and we have, of course, a chance at redemption.

I just don;t think it gets any better!

Don't have a copy? Here, take a look.


Of course, you can always start a new tradition, too. Take a look at HARK! THE HERALD ANGELS SCREAM!  Trust me, the stories are a dark and often comedic blast.

Jeffe's Favorite Holiday Book

Our topic this week at the SFF Seven is our favorite holiday book. I have a Christmas tradition that involves my favorite seasonal books. I keep them in the bins with the decorations and bring them out only at Christmastime, when they occupy a pride-of-place position on an end table.

I haven't brought them out this year yet, as I'm a strictly no-Christmas-until-after-Thanksgiving kind of gal, but they include A Child's Christmas in Wales, A Christmas Carol, and some pretty-picture books like Santa Fe Christmas.

I at least flip through them every year - and many of them are from my childhood, so they're a reminder of the continuity of those family celebrations.

But the one I think of first, and always with a smile, is The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

It was published in 1972 and I think I might have a first edition. (I'll have to check when I get it out!) My stepdad Leo married my mom in summer of 1973 and I remember him getting that book and reading it to us out loud as we sat in the living room, between a lively fire in the fireplace and the towering, twinkling Christmas tree.

This book is so damn funny. I remember we all laughed until we wiped tears from our eyes.

Revisiting it as an adult, I've discovered this book says so much about the true values that Jesus taught - loving our neighbors, practicing tolerance and compassion, including everyone in celebrations, not just those we approve of. It's about people learning to be better - both the "awful" ones, and the ones who already thought they were good.

Highly recommend.

I Talk About #SciFi Romance Books (and more) All the Time

‘Blurb a buddy’ is this week’s theme.

I don’t do book blurbs. I’m also not a reviewer. I do, however, spend a LOT of time talking about science fiction romance and attempting to share my love for the genre with a wider audience, to entice readers to give it a try (and oh, by the way, if they’d like to read one of my scifi romances some day, that’d be very cool!)

In pursuit of this goal, I interview authors for USA Today Happy Ever After blog, I write a bi-weekly column for Amazing Stories Magazine blog on SFR and I do 3-4 mini reviews of current SFR novels for the Love in Panels platform once a month. I also run a weekly post on my own blog of new releases in SFR, fantasy romance and paranormal romance.

So, having said all that, let me share with you the last three books I highlighted over at Love in Panels (link to the full column):

Cyborg by Miranda Martin: “When an author can get me to read a book based on a trope I’m not overly fond of – in this case amnesia – and I stay riveted to the pages, reading the story in one sitting and loving it, I’m thrilled…”

Dark Cure by Cynthia Sax: “I’ve been a fan of USA Today Best Selling author Cynthia Sax’s Dark Refuge scifi romance series since the beginning (and loved her sizzling cyborgs before that). I’ve also been one of those readers pestering her to tell the story of Gisella, the Refuge’s chief medic…”

York by Laurann Dohner:  “A series which has been percolating along nicely is …The Vorge Crew, about the individuals on a pretty unique interstellar ambassador’s ship, and the human women they interact with, and of course fall in love with. I’ve been a fan of Dohner’s for a long time and I’m happy to report that this new series is fun. York, the third installment, takes a nice turn…”

For Amazing Stories Magazine most recently I shared the SFR winter holiday new releases…

And on USA Today Happy Ever After, I interviewed the four authors of the Seasons of Sorcery (I cover fantasy romance sometimes!) because I so loved all of the stories…which of course included our Jeffe Kennedy’s The Dragons of Summer. Here’s how I began the column: “I love reading anthologies! I enjoy reading shorter works by favorite authors, set in worlds they’ve established in series, as well as discovering new-to-me authors included in the selections. A new fantasy romance collection, Seasons of Sorcery, from four amazing authors — Jeffe Kennedy, Jennifer Estep, Grace Draven, Amanda Bouchet — fulfilled my reading desires in high style…”

My most recent hard SF recommendation over at Amazing Stories was The Rising Tide, a generation ship novel by J. Scott Coatsworth…

For the most part, I’m not recommending all the new releases in my weekly blog post on my personal Wordpress site. I’m reporting that ‘here they are!’ and if I do have a specific input because I’ve read a book or loved the series, or a blogger/reviewer/reader I respect has recommended a book to me, I’ll add that note. 

I curate the list to a certain extent because no one human person can possibly list ALL the new releases in 3 genres every week so I do pick and choose. I give weight to previous reviews, of the book and/or of the author, if any, especially when there are repeated mentions of quality issues. But I include books that might not be to my personal taste in every respect – I just can’t get into reverse harem for example, but I respect that many readers do enjoy the subgenre and so I happily include those new releases. I’m not a huge steampunk fan either but I’m thrilled to find a new one to bring to the readers. I have fun compiling the list, seeing all the new books, relishing the covers, observing the trends…

And that's me, talking about other people's books pretty much all the time when I'm not writing my own! Happy reading, folks!

Happy Yeah This Topic Isn't Gonna Work

It's 9PM, Thanksgiving Day. I've spent the past three days cleaning and cooking two separate menus in preparation for hosting 12 people for dinner. (2 of whom are Whole Food, Plant-based vegans.) I think my father-in-law counted something like 26 separate dishes. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day filled with family, laughter, and way too much food. I haven't gotten to host and cook a major holiday since we moved aboard the sailboat ten years ago. It was a great joy to have my family and my husband's family all together at the table. They're a good group of people who all genuinely like and appreciate one another.

But it comes down to this. I'm stuffed and I'm tired. Not to mention that the buddy (not counting the buddies on this blog who have all had recent releases! But we were trying to pimp some new blood.) a new Fantasy Romance release coming out soonish - her first - doesn't have a cover quite yet. At least not one I can publicly share so far.

So Happy Thanksgiving those of you in the US and if you do Black Friday, remember the body armor. I'll be at home, writing, sipping tea, and eating pumpkin spice scones with caramel/pecan glaze drizzled on them. Well. And trying to  keep the kittens from dumping my tea or walking across my keyboard and adding their editorial opinions to my prose.

Instead, talk to me about amazing Black Friday deals. Where do you go and what kinds of things do you look for? Do you go in with a list? Or do you decide what presents people are getting based on what's on sale?

I, for one, am all about the notion of giving books as gifts. Isn't it supposed to be an Icelandic thing - you give books on Christmas Eve? I love it. Fiction, nonfiction - I wouldn't care. In fact. That's the perfect anodyne to too much rich, holiday food. I'm going to go peruse my TBR pile and make reading my Thanksgiving Day dessert. May your holidays be just as sweet.