Christmas is Coming
It is hard to believe that our day of giving thanks is over. I had a wonderful time with my family and hope you did as well.Once we get past Thanksgiving, Christmas is just around the corner. Each year I decorate early and have everything ready to display on December 1st. Mom and I started doing this thirty-eight years ago when we moved to Auburn WA. Since then, neighbors have followed suit. Now the cul-de-sac shimmers and glistens from Thanksgiving on.
🎄🎅🎄
Writing Tips
Want to double your writing fun and productivity? Consider co-authoring.
Ecclesiastes 4:9 (KJV) advises, "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labour." A writing partner can be invaluable, but you need to choose that person wisely.My niece, Julie Reece-DeMarco, and I have successfully co-authored more than a dozen books. We work harmoniously because we
- have our own unique writing styles, but are of the same heart and mind.
- respect each other's ideas and input. If one of us isn't satisfied with something, we work together until it is.
- are perfectionists, willing to do what it takes to achieve quality.
- accept only those writing projects that excite us both.
- accomplish more together than if we flew solo.
Those of you who are like-minded may wish to consider these titles.
New for 2016. Joy to the World, A Treasury of Christmas Inspiration
There is something about the holidays that can bring light and joy into even the darkest hearts.
It is a season of memories and merriment. A time when children's eyes shine with anticipation. Grandparents' traditions and stories bring families together. Bells, carols, manger scenes, and Christmas programs abound. A spirit of peace and good will permeates the season. Hearts are more giving and hope is more abundant.
This 120 page volume offers forty short pieces designed to fit into those moments when time-outs from holiday preparations are desperately needed. Guaranteed to bring laughter (and perhaps a few tears) "Joy" is an excellent pre-holiday read, gift, or stocking-stuffer, sure to be appreciated by all those seeking to find Christ in the season.
Patchwork Christmas, Two Heart-warming Novellas
God often works in mysterious ways. An heirloom quilt* heals tattered hearts when a homeless mother and a grounded pilot are most in need of comfort, home, and love.
Remnants of Faith. Natalie Thorsett and her two daughters, five and seven, are in desperate straits. Natalie's letters to her husband are returned marked "Address Unknown." Has Mark abandoned his family?
Silver Lining, sequel. Major Gavin Scott, U.S. Air Force pilot, is seriously injured in a plane crash in the Middle East. His nurse-practitioner fiancee, Christy Jensen, serves isolated families in Alaska. Can she accept the grounded "white bird?"
The two couples struggle to piece their lives back together and make it through a Patchwork Christmas.
*The quilt in the story is fictional. The one shown on the cover was made by my mother, Pearl, more than fifty years ago.
Homespun Christmas, Four Novellas of Hope and Love
Julie, Birdie L. Etchison Janelle Burnham Schneider and I combined our talents to produce a touching story of four couples finding love in a small town determined not to die. Enjoy Christmas as it once was, and may be again, in the town called Hope.
My great-grandfather, role model for character Fergus McKay, built the first church in the tiny western Washington logging town of Darrington in the early 1900s. The prologue to Homespun Christmas is based on Grandpa's experiences in the hamlet that had one grocery store, a one-room school, and seven saloons. Fergus McKay envisioned a place where couples could fall in love and grow old together in service to God and the community.
A century later the future appears hopeless for the good citizens of Hope. . . until a small boy's crazy idea for a Homespun Christmas begins to turn things around. Can love be kindled in the dying embers of the small logging town? Can the faith and Christmas wishes of one young boy once again ignite the fires of optimism in Hope's inhabitants?
And will one Christmas centennial celebration change a seemingly inevitable outcome?
Joy to the World and other titles available at
4 comments:
I've read Joy to the World, and I can attest to what you say about co-authors of one heart but with distinctive styles. You and Julie Reece-DeMarco make a good team!
Yes, It is always exciting when we embark on a project together. Thanks for comment.
Good writing advice, Colleen. I've enjoyed many of your books and look forward to reading the stories in Joy To The World during Christmas.
Thanks, Sandy. "Joy" is a particular favorite. It is fun to have a collection of stories short enough to fit the "bits and pieces" of free time during the holiday season.
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