Best selling authors Melissa McClone and Katherine Garbera have written and just released two lovely Christmas novellas. They are my guests today and have both answered my questions about the upcoming festivities. It's never to early to talk Christmas! Don't you think so? Read their answers and get your chances to win their books in the rafflecopter form below. The giveaway is open internationally, there will be two winners ( 1 e-book each), deadline November 12th. Good luck, everyone!
My questions for both are: Christmas is coming soon! What
are your favorite decorations? How do you decorate?
Melissa
McClone:
I love Nativity scenes. They are my favorite
decoration. One that's pretty much dog and cat proof goes under the tree. A
snow globe nativity goes on the shelf. We also have a nativity fountain. Small
ornament sized ones hang in the tree. Medium and larger ones can be found all
over the house. I'm always on the lookout for Nativities. I usually have at
least one in each room.
I go all out decorating. Decking the halls, so
to speak, usually takes me a day or two, not counting the tree. First, I take
down pictures from the wall and pack away everything that's on our built-in
shelves and windowsills. Then I pull out our Christmas decorations, books and
DVDs. We have boxes and boxes of them. I start with the Advent wreath then hang
garland on the banister and fireplace mantle and swags on all the windows.
Dept. 56 villages used to go on the windowsills until we got a kitten that
thought they were her play toys. Now she must content herself with the tree,
which we leave up for a least a week with no garland (wood cranberry beads) or
ornaments so she can climb and nap in the branches to her hearts content before
we decorate it. Advent calendars are hung upstairs and downstairs. Besides a
tree upstairs, the kids each have a small one in their bedrooms. We have lots of shelf sitters,
stuffed animals, snowmen, snow globes and other knickknacks. My kids also know
if something isn't where it was the year before!
Home for Christmas
Ginger, nutmeg and
cinnamon: Rachel Murphy loves the scent of
gingerbread baking almost as much as she enjoys creating custom edible houses
at Christmastime. But she needs a bigger kitchen if she wants to make the most
of her impromptu holiday business. Enter Nate Vaughn, handsome venture
capitalist turned dude ranch owner and her brother's boss. Nate's commercial
workspace is perfect for baking. He thinks she might be perfect for him…as a
business partner.
But, after being burned by a celebrity cook who stole her secret
recipes, Rachel's wary of Nate's interest in her gingerbread houses. Then there are his tempting mistletoe kisses:
he’s good enough to eat but mixing business with anything else could be a
recipe for disaster. Should she leave the Bar V5 ranch and return to the
deserts of Arizona? Or can Nate convince her that, here with him in the
mountains of Montana, she's already home?
The Author
Melissa McClone has published over twenty-five novels with Harlequin and been nominated
for Romance Writers of America's RITA award. She lives in the Pacific Northwest
with her husband, three school-aged children, two spoiled Norwegian Elkhounds
and cats who think they rule the house
Katherine
Garbera:
This is actually my favorite part of the holidays. The
decoration I love the best is my nativity by Fontanini. We set it up the
day after Thanksgiving and keep baby Jesus hidden away until Christmas morning.
When my kids were little we’d rotate years as to who would get to place Jesus
in his crib on Christmas day. The Three Wisemen make their journey around
our house as well and each night when the kids go to bed I move them somewhere
else. I also have an advent calendar that is a box with little doors in it.
Each day I put a clue in the box and the kids have to go off and find
their treat for the day.
I put up a tree in every room. My upstairs trees are less
formal then the one in the living room. The ones in the kids’ rooms are
themed to their likes and each year as we get out the ornaments they loved as
little kids we chat about when we got the ornament. I have garland down
the stairs that I wrap with some twinkle lights and bows. I change my
hall runners to holiday ones and put out some embroidered table runners that my
grandmother and I made when I first got married.
My kitchen is the heart of the holiday for me because we have so
many dishes we only eat at this time of year. I change the mugs next to
my coffee maker to my Santa ones and the plates over my kitchen window to my
holiday themed ones and then I put out my teapot and salt shakers and change my
seat covers on the kitchen chairs.
A Cowboy for Christmas
Annie Prudhomme never expected to be back
in Marietta, MT and her family is fond of reminding her that she left them and
the town behind in search of better things.
A humiliating divorce that cost her everything she’d gained has driven
her back home and her family isn’t about to welcome her back into the
fold. She’s in town to rebuild the old
home that she inherited and to move on once again.
Carson Scott never forgot Annie or the way
she left. Now that she’s back in town
he’s realizing that the old flame still burns hot but he can’t risk his heart
the way he did last time now that he has his son to think about it.
Being trapped together during a December snowstorm gives them a chance to
rekindle their romance but is Annie back for good or is she just looking for a
cowboy for Christmas?
The Author
USA Today bestselling
author Katherine Garbera is a two-time Maggie winner who has
written more than 60 books. A Florida native who grew up to travel
the globe, Katherine now makes her home in the Midlands of the UK with her
husband, two children and a very spoiled miniature dachshund. Visit her on
the web at http://www.katherinegarbera.com, connect with her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter
@katheringarbera.
I absolutely love to read and watch Xmas stuff in December. There's something so special about the season, I just feel the impulse to dive into it until my fingers go all Christmas pruny ;)
ReplyDeleteHi! Thanks for having us on your blog!
ReplyDeleteAgzyM - I agree about reading and watching stuff in December. It's just such a wonderful time of the year!
Melissa
I'd love to spend quality time with my family, that's my gift. And Books, of course! ;)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you too AgzyM. I love the term Christmas prune and might have to borrow it.
ReplyDeleteLorelei--family is so much a part of Christmas. We read a lot of the same books year after year with my kids who are teenagers now but we have this one book that is Santa Ninja that cracks up and we still all sit around reading it out loud.
Kathy :)
Oh my goodnes, Lorelei! I was asked a question for a blog about my favorite gift. Your comment is how I answered it. I said both things! Too funny!
ReplyDeleteMelissa
Love finding new blogs , Natalie townson
ReplyDeleteI'd like to sleep in--my boys keep me hopping!
ReplyDeleteAnd Mary, thanks for welcoming Montana Born Books!
my decorations are a bit of a "farmhouse" country style--I don't need the books because I've been lucky enough to have read them!
ReplyDeleteI'm preparing a special advent calendar for my children. It is summer here, so some of the days will include things like a water-fight with Dad! They all look forward to that one! LOL
ReplyDeleteWelcome, Natalie! This is a new blog for me. I really like it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading the books dstoutholcomb! I love farmhouse style. I bet it looks great!
I love the idea of a special advent calendar, Joanne. The kids love the ones with chocolate inside. We had Legos ones for the two younger kids and a cool nail polish one for our oldest. But doing special things each day would be so much better!
I am definitely outclassed by some of the ladies above - a tree in each bedroom? I'm just pleased with myself if I get one tree up!
ReplyDeleteI love my tree and its colored lights. I put it right where I can see it from my desk, and at night I often turn off the room lights so the tree lights really shine.
But now I am intrigued about this book, Santa Ninja... XD