Rachael Johns's Blog, page 22

Today I have debut Medical author Annie Claydon visiting the blog. I LOVE Medical romance and combined with Christmas, well, really, what more could you ask for :)

First of all, a huge thank you to Rachael for inviting me onto her blog. And since it's that time of the year again, and we both have Christmas books to share, there's only one thing on my mind at the moment.

Christmas! With all its sparkle, goodwill and family times, isn't Christmas the ideal time for a romance? You might have guessed that I'd agree with that proposition, since my debut book has a Christmas theme. The sparkle of Christmas isn't the whole story, though.

Statistics show that Christmas isn't always the peaceful and happy time we'd like it to be. I write Medical Romance, so I'm likely to find that my characters are not just busy with their own preparations over Christmas but also rushed off their feet at work. In addition, my hero and heroine are both haunted by past Christmases, which they'd rather forget. So is Christmas really the perfect time for them to find romance?

I'd say yes. Because romance isn't just glitz and sparkle, it's about hope. The hope which tells us it's possible to move past the bad times, and make the most of the good things we have. That same hope which convinces us that taking a chance on something we really want might not be such a crazy idea, after all.

Christmas is a time for hope, too. Families come together to celebrate and share. There's a new year about to begin, and here in the UK, the longest of the dark, winter nights has passed. December also sees more people giving to charity than any other time of the year. It's no coincidence that one of the most enduring Christmas stories is Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'. If the miserly Ebeneezer Scrooge can see his past, his present and the future that awaits him, and find it somewhere in himself to change, then surely anyone has reason to believe in miracles.

So I'm an unapologetic believer that the magic of romance blends perfectly with the magic of Christmas. Not because I expect either to go smoothly – I've had my fair share of wilting Christmas Trees, cakes that go soggy in the middle and sweaters that don't fit – but because both give us a reason to have faith in the future.

Last year, all I wanted for Christmas was – just that. The manuscript for 'All She Wants for Christmas' was under consideration by the Mills and Boon editors, and I remember thinking that I could relax over Christmas and maybe take a chance on dreaming a little about what the New Year might bring, before reality had a chance to intervene. And this year, I have some celebrating to do, because I've already been able to hold my debut novel in my hand, and see it on the shelves in my local bookstores.

I'm hoping that you'll celebrate with me and so I'll be sending a copy of my book to one commentator.

Is there something you want (or maybe don't want!) for Christmas?

If you leave a comment answering Annie's question, you'll go into the draw to win a copy of her debut book :) You have two days to comment and the winner will be posted on Thursday's blog post.

Blurb for All She Wants For Christmas

The tinsel is up and Christmas party invites are flooding in! And this year hearing therapist Beth Travers has made a few secret Christmas wishes… 1. Wonder how new heart surgeon Matt Sutherland would feel about being gift-wrapped? He's definitely on my present list! 2. Helping Matt and little son Jack with their Christmas tree reminds me how much I'd love a family of my own to decorate one with… 3. Dare I dream about a stolen kiss under the mistletoe at the Christmas party…? Are three Christmas wishes allowed? Well, I'm crossing my fingers and hoping so!

Today I'd like to welcome Nancy O'Berry...

Why does one write a Christmas story?

I can't think of a better time to write about the anticipation, the wonder, and the spirit of the season. Christmas carries its own special magic, whether it is in the anticipation we see in a child's eyes or if it's just something in the air, but it is there. We remember the wide-eyed innocence of being children and waiting for that night when Santa would come down the chimney. The anticipation of that event was far more exciting that actually getting the gifts. Oh, as adults, we might complain about the "commercial" aspect of the season, but if we stop and we think about our own youth, we recall the joy in hearing those first ho, ho, ho's, which heralded the season of giving.

In A Cordial Christmas, I hope to capture the spirit of our youth through the eyes of Lucy Watson, a young girl coming to her grandfather's home with her aunt for her "first" Christmas and contrast it with the dire despair of the hero Dobson Winters, who feels he has lost it all. This story has the feel of It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol. As I wrote, the one thought that came back to circle in my mind was the quote on the front cover. "When a man thinks he has nothing to live for, life as a way of coming full circle". Christmas brings us all back to that central question, "What do I have to give? Will my contribution to the world really make that much of a difference?" The fact is, without our knowing, our lives do make a difference. The smallest act of kindness never goes unrewarded, even if we can't see the benefit of our actions. This is what the season is about.

This story reminds us, how important it is to be there, in the present, passing on the hope, the ideas, the dreams to the future generations. Dobson Winters' life will come full circle in a way he never expected. When an old enemy tells him on his deathbed that he's planned a way to redeem his soul whether he wants it or not by writing in his will, he must marry his daughter Holly.

I hope you'll enjoy A Cordial Christmas just as much as I enjoyed writing it. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from our house to yours.

And here's a sweet extract from Nancy's Story:

Excerpt
Dobson Winters was not the kind of man that celebrated things. He didn't celebrate his birthday, the Fourth of July, or Thanksgiving and he wasn't about to lend his blessing or his money to the town of Cordial, Texas to decorate the square for nothing. Christmas was a holiday best left alone."Just a few decorations, Mr. Winters," the banker began. His eyes nervously darted to the bowler hat sitting quietly on his lap."The answer is still, no.""But, Mr. Winters, sir, the children will be most disappointed. They look so forward to the holiday. The decorations are old and faded." the preacher in black, sitting next to the banker spoke."Look here, Reverend," he began. "Christmas is a holiday created for the likes of Sam Russell at the General Store and those self centered pious folks, who step inside your walls to pray for the fortune when they should be hard at work bringing it in. I got over ten thousand head of beef to answer to. I got no time or extra wealth to pay for decorations used one day out of a year."The thin little minister sitting beside the banker blanched and tugged at the white collar around his neck as if his words suddenly made it grow too tight."Really, Mr. Winters, have you no heart?" the banker scolded. "Think of your wife she loved the holiday. Why not a day goes by that we aren't reminded-"The banker's words proved the last straw. "Gentleman, our meeting is over." As he spoke, he rose to his feet. Stepping back, his hand closed around his father's double barrel shotgun he'd cleaned just that morning. The two men who sat before him scrambled to their feet."Now, Mr. Winters." The Reverend's eyes grew wide."Dobson," the banker cautioned. "Be reasonable."His eyes narrowed. He flipped the breech latch and broke the gun open. The men began to sweat as he glided two cardboard shells home. "You know, my daddy once told me a seat full of buckshot deters most highway men from pickin' a man's pocket." The click of the barrel as it closed sent the two men into action. Tripping over their feet, Reverend Thomas of Cordial's First Presbyterian Church hurried toward the front door, followed closely behind by Thomas Carter.The banker slammed his bowler onto this head and cut Dobson a hard glare. "The town council will hear of this - about how you treat your guests. Just because you founded the town, don't give you a right to be rude.""It gives me every right," he snapped, his upper lip curling back, so the men might see the white of his teeth. "I didn't tell you to set up your tents or build homes around my stockyards. But, you did it. Nor did I request any sheriff to monitor the saloon you all invited in to town. Yet, I put up with it." He shoved the barrel against the banker's backsides. The man let out a yelp as he and the preacher wrestled with the front door. "Oh, I pay my fair share of taxes and usually keep my mouth closed. In fact, until today, I've lived up to the town's motto, never a discouraging word. Well, not today boys, I will be damn if I pay another dime."In their hurry to leave, both men collided, their shoulders wedged as they tried to press through the door in unison. Squeezing out the entrance, they lengthened their strides as they moved toward the buggy."But your wife," the minister called over his shoulder. "She wouldn't want the town to go without a Christmas."His heart constricted. How dare they. How dare they bring her up! "Don't you ever go there, you two bit Bible thumper." He could feel his face grow red from the heat of anger as his eyes bore into the Reverend. The little man's Adam's apple bobbled as if it were a boulder being tossed downstream through a rapid. "Now, git!" he bellowed. Moving to the edge of the porch, he turned the gun barrel skyward curled his index finger over the trigger, and let loose one shot.The percussion of the gun echoed in the still air. Both men let out a yelp like a wounded dog. The speed of their retreat increased. They fumbled, their feet slipped, yet somehow they managed to scramble aboard and turn the horse around. "You haven't heard the last of this," Thomas Carter shouted as the Reverend brought the lines down upon the horse's back. The iron rims hissed against the ground as they left at a fast trot."Damned fools," he snarled. In the quiet of the ranch grounds, he watched them pass the barn and caught one last look as they tossed him a glare mixed with fear and pure hatred. He broke open the barrel and pulled the empty shell from the smoking gun. By golly, they got the message that time. Tossing the spent shell onto the ground, he pulled the unused ammunition out and returned it to his vest pocket. He turned and stared at the empty doorway of the two-story log home he'd built. A momentary expression of hurt rolled across his face deepening the lines next to the grim turn of his lips. She should be here. By all rights, Miranda should be there, standing in the doorway, waiting for him.

You can find Nancy at:

www.nancyoberry.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nancy-OBerry-Romance-Author/161753103856411

http://twitter.com/#!/NanObe1

Today I have fellow Carina Press authorJoanna Chambers as a guest. I'm sure you'll enjoy her post. When I read it, I couldn't believe I hadn't already bought her book, and I went and changed that quick fast. Really looking forward to reading it.Without further ado... Joanne...Hi everyone! My novel, The Lady's Secret , is set around Christmas time, with some of the major events of the novel occurring in the early hours of Christmas morning, so I was delighted to come and blog about Christmas on Rachael's blog!

The Lady's Secret is a Regency-set historical romance. The book was loosely inspired by Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, twelfth night being the last of the twelve days of Christmas commencing with the 25th of December and ending with the 5th of January.

Twelfth night was traditionally a night of merry making, to mark the end of the festive season. It's often associated with the Lord of Misrule, a lowly person, such as a servant boy, elevated to a kingly status for the night's festivities in a reversal of the usual order. This may have its roots in the Roman winter festival of Saturnalia in which masters dressed as servants and men as women – when the 'natural order' was turned on its head. It's funny to think that a festival as cosy and homely as Christmas has this deviant side!

It's all great stuff for a romance of course. The upsetting and subsequent restoration of the natural order has illustrious romance roots. Ever since Cinderella swept ashes out of her hearth, romance heroines have been being deprived of their places in life and forced into disguise to assert their rights.

And my heroine is no different. Georgy Knight dresses as a man and takes the role of the hero's valet in order to search for evidence of her and her twin brother's legitimacy. It's all good role-reversal stuff for twelfth night! Of course, the hero finds her out and that's when the fun really starts!

I had lots of fun with my winter setting. Lots of snow and frost and wintry landscapes. Not to mention light and dark—in deepest December it gets dark very early in Britain (before 4 o'clockin the afternoon where I live) so I developed a complete obsession with how dark it would have been in each scene. My protagonists are always fiddling with candles!

And that makes me think of that surprising moment on Christmas Day when you look out of the window and see that it's getting dark. And you close the blinds or curtains and turn on the lights and you feel that gratitude to be safe and warm when it's so bleak outside.

And you know it's the same feeling people have been having—and celebrating—for centuries.

Merry Christmas all!

You can find Joanna at:

http://tumperkin.blogspot.com

Twitter - @ChambersJoanna

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002993543568

If that post intrigued you, here's the blurb for The Lady's Secret:

London , 1810

Former actress Georgiana Knight always believed she and her brother were illegitimate—until they learn their parents were married, making them heirs to a great estate. To prove their claim, Georgy needs to find evidence of their union by infiltrating a ton house party as valet to Lord Nathaniel Harland. Though masquerading as a boy is a challenge, it pales in comparison to sharing such intimate quarters with the handsome, beguiling nobleman.

Nathan is also unsettled by Georgy's presence. First intrigued by his unusual valet, he's even more captivated when he discovers Georgy's charade. The desire the marriage-shy earl feels for his enigmatic employee has him hoping for much more than a master-servant relationship...

But will Nathan still want Georgy when he learns who she truly is? Or will their future be destroyed by someone who would do anything to prevent Georgy from uncovering the truth?