Liz Talley's Blog, page 2

The Spirit of the Season by Katie Lane

When Hope Ramsay asked me to share my thoughts on the Spirit of Christmas, I thought it would be easy peasy.  I mean, who doesn’t know what the Spirit of Christmas is, right?  Except when I sat down at my computer I realized that it was a little more difficult to put into words than I’d thought.  Sure, I could write down a list of charitable acts that take place every holiday season—the families who hand out blankets and coffee to the street people on Christmas Eve, the crafty women who volunteered to knit blankets and caps for under-privileged babies, the folks of the local churches that do Christmas boxes for children in third-world countries.

These are all wonderful acts of kindness, and they are certainly products of the Spirit of Christmas, but did they fully explain what the Spirit of Christmas is?  What is the special feeling you get around the holidays that makes you dig deep into your wallet for the stranded family at the gas station or has you smiling at strangers you pass on the street?

Having spent hours reading to my children and grandchildren, it wasn’t surprising that while I was mulling over the question a passage from a children’s book popped into my head.

“Maybe Christmas,” he (The Grinch) thought, “doesn’t come from a store.  Maybe Christmas . . . perhaps . . . means a little bit more.” (How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss)

In my mind, I could picture all the Whos down in Whoville holding hands and singing.  And just like that, I figured out what the Spirit of Christmas means to me.  It means that we’re not alone.  That each and every one of us on this planet is connected.  And even if our minds don’t realize it, our hearts do.  Our hearts are what lead us to offer a blanket and a hot cup of coffee to those brothers who are cold.  Or give gas money to a sister and her stranded family.  Or offer a smile, not to a stranger, but to a member of our great big, wonderful family of God.

So why is this feeling so prevalent during the holidays?

Picture a starry night.

A sleepy town.

A tiny manger.

The perfect gift of love.

I hope you’ll take time today to share some love with your family.  It doesn’t have to take a lot of effort or money—smile at the overworked salesclerk, hold open a door for the exhausted mother, or slip a dollar in the red kettle.  And if you’re not going out today, just comment (even a simple “hi”) and I’ll donate one dollar for every comment to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital up to a hundred dollars.

Happy Giving!

Love, Katie Lane

www.katielanebooks.com

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Leave a comment to win a copy of Katie’s book, A Hunk for the Holidays.  In addition we’re given away Christmas angel pins to random commenters.

Angels Among Us

by Donna Alward

Sometimes it takes a tragedy to realize how wonderful your community is.

Last year, right around this time, I got an e-mail from a neighbour. She explained how she’d met the new owner of a house in our subdivision, but that tragedy had struck them a terrible blow.  The wife had moved across the country, the kids were with her while her husband had followed with their belongings. About six hours away from his destination – our lovely area – he had an accident. He was killed. That poor woman lost her husband. Her very young children lost their father. They were in a new community, knew hardly anyone, and to make matters worse, most of their belongings had also been destroyed in the accident.

Can you imagine how horrible that would be? How utterly and completely devastating? I read the e-mail with tears in my eyes. It was truly a nightmare only she would not wake up to find everything was okay. And it all happened so close to the holidays. It was truly heartbreaking.

It just so happens, though, that our community is full of angels. Within a few days a group of volunteers had arranged to be at the house for “drop offs”. Drop offs included completely furnishing that house. Beds, sofas, futons, mattresses… The local Tupperware rep donated stuff. People sent toys and clothing for the children. Kitchen items…you name it. At one point there were so many clothes that they weren’t going to be able to keep them all and donated the surplus to goodwill.

Local businesses pitched it with gift cards, including our grocery store. Someone donated a winter’s worth of snow removal so she wouldn’t have to worry about winter storms and getting out her driveway.  The girls and I found books, movies, and I had a few household items in my “gift nook” that I’d bought on sale.  I dropped off a few boxes of things which ended up being a drop in the bucket.

When I mentioned the situation to the Harlequin Romance authors, they rallied around someone *I* didn’t even know personally and we donated WalMart gift cards.

I know that all the items in the world could never make things right for that woman and her children. But I do know that as a community we came together to try to ease the way, to take care of a few things so that she didn’t have to.   I always knew we moved into a wonderful area, but this proved it beyond a shadow of a doubt. And it’s nice to know that if I ever need help, all I have to do is ask and it will be here. Because that’s what we do when push comes to shove.

We look after each other.

And isn’t that how it should be?

Have a wonderful, merry holiday.

Donna is the author of over twenty books for Harlequin Romance and Samhain Publishing and is a member of the Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada Chapter and the RWA Women’s Fiction Chapter.  She’s won both the Booksellers’ Best Award and the Colorado Award of Excellence twice, and is a 2012 RITA Finalist for her title HOW A COWBOY STOLE HER HEART.

www.donnaalward.com

 

 

Welcome to the Twelve Days of Angels

Dear Friend,

Welcome to the Twelve Days of  Angels – an opportunity to celebrate the spirit of generosity as we approach the holiday season.

Most authors hate having to do the old soft-shoe sell of their books to readers – frankly it’s our least favorite part of being a writer. So when faced with promoting (aka hawking) our Christmas books, we dreaded making bookmarks, running contests and constantly tweeting, Facebooking and pinning our bookcovers all over creation. So, we decided we wouldn’t. Instead we decided to celebrate the release of our Christmas books doing something, well, a little different.

In Liz’s book The Spirit of Christmas, her heroine is a do-gooder. Mary Paige feeds strays, works at shelters and buys coffee for curmudgeonly old grumps. She doesn’t do it because she expects a reward – she does it because that’s who she is. So rather than make bookmarks or pander for readers, Liz decided to celebrate the do-gooders of the world by creating a place where friends could share their stories of the “angels” in their lives…and a place where these angels could be rewarded.

In Hope’s Book, Last Chance Christmas, she has a heroine, Lark Chaikin, who has never celebrated Christmas.  Lark is lost, war-wounded, and completely without family.  She doesn’t even know it, but she needs a place to call home.  She finds it among strangers who open their hearts and their doors for her.  And of course she has a little help from a Sorrowful angel.  To Hope, there are angels everywhere, not just among the church ladies who show up at your doorstep with casseroles whenever life throws you a loop, but everywhere.  If you drop your cynicism you can see them – the angels with kindness in their hearts who do small unsung things that make the world a better place.

Realizing we couldn’t do all this without a little help from our friends, we asked some other authors, many of whom have Christmas books out this season, to join in and share the special people in their lives who make the world a better place. Visit each day to read about how some of the top authors in the industry are blessed by the presence of special people, and, yeah, many will do giveaways, so there is something more in visiting each day than just gaining a happy glow.

And not only will we celebrate the angels in the lives of these authors, but we want you to share your stories of “angels” in your life by nominating someone who embodies the spirit of the holidays. At the conclusion of the twelve days, we will choose one angel to receive a $100.00 VISA gift card as a token of our thanks for being, well, themselves. There will be special gifts given every day for our commenters, and don’t forget to check out Liz’s Angels and Hope’s Angels on the tabs above to read about some special people we’ve encountered who’ve made our lives a little brighter with their selflessness.

Thanks for joining us in this celebration, not of our books (though we celebrate them, too), but of people who make life sweeter for those around them.

Cheers!

Hope Ramsay and Liz Talley