Bell Bridge Books

Tikis and Tinsel in the Tropics

by Jill Marie Landis

Celebrating the holidays on a tropic isle is far from the images you see on traditional greeting cards or conjured up by the song White Christmas. I live in a very small town on the North Shore of Kauai, the inspiration for my Tiki Goddess Mystery series from Bell Bridge Books. Hanalei Town definitely has its own unique truly-tacky- tiki style when it comes to dressing up for the occasion.

In mid-November, one of the first signs that the holidays are on way is when poinsettia leaves begin to turn from green to red — one leaf at a time – until they are in their full glory. Gardens pop with showy reds, pinks, and variegated varieties of poinsettias against a backdrop of palms and ferns. Christmas trees are imported and begin to dry out the minute they’re unpacked from the shipping containers. A better bet is a potted palm or star pine, though hanging ornaments on palm fronds can be tricky.

Hotels, shops, and restaurants decorate with island style for tourists who arrive with families in tow to celebrate on the sand. Christmas trees wear hula skirts. Tikis wear tinsel. Blow-up Santas are strapped down so they don’t fly away on the trade winds. There is something so not right about a huge plastic snowman standing under a coconut palm in eighty degree heat.

Festivals of light are celebrated with boat parades where decorated floating craft range from yachts to kayaks. There’s nothing like the sight of bright colorful Christmas lights reflected on shimmering water. Santa is usually the parade’s grand finale as he floats by in his sleigh pulled by eight leaping dolphins or paddles onto the beach in an outrigger canoe full of presents.

Local and tourists alike get together at beach pot-lucks, luaus, fancy hotel buffets, or smaller gatherings at home after a quick surf session, if the waves are good, or a walk on the beach if the sun is shining. Of course, if it rains while you’re out walking, there’s usually a stunning rainbow when the sun breaks through the clouds.

Like everywhere else in the world, Christmas and the Holidays are a time for giving. Tis’ the season, so this month, Three to Get Lei’d, the third book in my Tiki Goddess Mystery series, will be featured as an Amazon Monthly Deal. A quick trip to the tropics might be just the pick-me-up you need whenever you can sneak a quiet moment for yourself or you might gift a copy to a friend as a little treat to savor.

No matter where you are or how you celebrate the season, I wish you and yours Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year.

As we say here in the islands, Mele Kalikimaka and Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!

Jill Marie Landis is a best-selling, award winning novelist of at least thirty novels (she’s lost count) who lives on an outer island in Hawaii with her hubby and a very spoiled cat. When she’s not writing she’s probably at the beach soaking up the sun or off somewhere dancing the hula. Read about her Tiki Goddess Mystery Series at www.thetikigoddess.com or join Jill Marie on Facebook and Twitter.

Three to Get Lei’d by Jill Marie Landis is on sale the entire month of December for just $1.99! Click the cover below to purchase!

   A LITTLE TRUE LOVE AT CHRISTMASTIME

by: Heidi Sprouse

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas and I have one of the best presents coming up right now…the release of my first novel, All the Little Things.  I’ve been plugging away for ten years now, dreaming big, and can’t wait to share this with friends, family, and readers that I hope will fall in love with my characters the way I do every time we meet again. More is on the way, but right now it’s time to get to know Sam, Meg, and all of the little things that matter most when it comes to love!

Have you ever wished you could find your true soul mate, someone who knows you better than you know yourself? A man who doesn’t want anything else but to be at your side? Sam O’Malley is that man and he fell in love with Megan Taylor the moment he laid eyes on her. Maybe he was only 10-years-old, but the 8-year-old girl literally swept him off his feet and sent him for a freefall out of a tree the day she moved into the neighborhood.

Twenty years later, this small town boy has become a successful architect, knows what direction he’s headed, and doesn’t want anything more than what he’s found in Meg. There’s only one problem. The girl has begun to question her life and it will be up to Sam to pull out all of the stops, digging up memories, and leaving no stone unturned in their past to try and change her mind.

I’m a small town girl myself and many of the things that are precious to Sam and Megan come from my own childhood and life, moments that will be locked in my heart forever. As for a man like Sam, he’s of the solid, reliable sort any woman would love and has many of the qualities of the greats I’ve known over the years. I hope you’ll like him as much as I do, cheer him on, and stick it out to see what happens. If you love Sam, just wait until you get tangled with his best friend, Michael, and a hot-blooded Italian, Sophia, in Lightning Can Strike Twice (coming soon!).

Grab Heidi’s novel – ALL THE LITTLE THINGS – out TODAY! 

130 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS

by Danielle Childers

Much to the chagrin of my husband who does not in any form or fashion enjoy watching Christmas movies every month and every season, I love Christmas.  I saved this post for August, because I really wanted to emphasize just how much I’m obsessed with the holiday cheer. It’s not December, and it’s not Christmas in July. I just really love Christmas. Ask my colleagues. Christmas is my only Pandora station.

So, I’m currently reading THE FAT MAN: A TALE OF NORTH POLE NOIR by Ken Harmon featuring Gumdrop Coal. He’s an angry elf.  It’s so satirical and

still kind all at the same time. It’s brilliant! There’s a mistletoe forest and an eye shooting BB gun. I could die of Christmas overload. I love it. It reminds me of a holiday version of John Hartness’s THE BLACK KNIGHT CHRONICLES. Comparable snark minus the vampires!

So, during my summer time winterfest and during the 198th time I’ve watched The Santa Clause starring Tim Allen (one of the best Christmas movies ever and in my top 5 favorite movies of all time) I happened to notice that there are . . . wait for it . . . RECIPES in the bonus material of the dvd!  It was foodie contemporary before its time!!!  One of the recipes was for Wolfgang Puck’s hot chocolate, which is, according to Judy the elf, not too hot, has extra chocolate, and shaken, not stirred.  I had to try it, but this launched a conversation in the work place about the best hot chocolate. Had I not seen the pinterest recipe with condensed milk? Thus, the hot chocolate war began.

We tried condensed milk, ghiradelli bitter chocolate, and bourbon vanilla from Madagascar. Gross. Way too sweet (and that may be the first time I’ve ever uttered those words). No, thank you.

So, to my delight, The Santa Clause won yet another competition of awesomeness!

The best hot chocolate:

2 oz semisweet chocolate

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

pinch of salt

2 c heavy cream

2 c milk (I used 2%)

1/2 c sugar

3/4 t vanilla

Melt the chocolate into cream, stirring constantly over medium heat.  Whisk in cocoa, sugar, salt, and vanilla over low heat. Add milk.  Enjoy!

TOP 10 GIFTS FOR SERIOUS READERS

By C. Hope Clark

            Readers have their ways, and many of those ways are set in stone. They like certain books, certain lighting, certain types of e-readers, even the specific style of slippers on their feet. Readers possess habits and characteristics that nonreaders may not understand, and unless you know a reader well, you could miss the target and give what you think is a grand reading gift that totally misses the mark.

Reading is a serious hobby. If you didn’t know that, ask a hard-and-fast reader what she will and won’t tolerate in her books, reading setting, even the format of the book. Just like a part-time doll-maker, carpenter, or gardener have preferences and experience, so does the reader. Think this is an exaggeration, do you? Step back and note how many writers, publishers, agents and editors hop when reader preferences shift. Yep, readers can make millions dance to their tune.

So what’s a reader what for Christmas? Besides books, of course! Let’s delve further into what readers would appreciate for the holidays and make your gift-giving easier this year.

1)      An e-reader.

Not just any e-reader, though. When you buy a Nook for a Kindle person or vice versa, the package may not even get broken open. Know which political affiliation your reader prefers when it comes to electronic devices. These days an e-reader can drop below $100 in a heartbeat, giving your special reader ease of carrying hundreds of books in an item that can slip in her purse.

2)      Tea, coffee and that oh-so-special cup.

Go with diversity and assortment when you aren’t sure which tea or coffee your reader relies upon to find her moment. An antique, bone china teacup might delight that historical romance person. A mug with a grip like brass knuckles could thrill the thriller reader. And if you really aren’t sure about the flavor tea or the coffee strength, go with a Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, or Seattle Market gift card. If you want to go big, the single-serving expresso machines are all the rage, letting your reader alter her coffee per the book she reads.

3)      A subscription to Audible.com

Many readers grab their stories during commutes or long distance trips. Audible.com has per book or unlimited books per month options, with very reasonable prices. An ill reader, a busy reader, or a runner who prefers stories to music are great candidates for this gift. www.audible.com

4)      Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or bookstore gift cards

Books become an expensive hobby to the ravenous reader. Imagine the joy of walking into a bookstore (or perusing online) and being able to buy anything you want at a time when the rent might be due or a charge card’s collecting interest? Ever notice how readers weigh their purchases in the store? They’re rationing themselves, and it’s agony trying to select two books when you want to read twenty. Make your reader giddy at the opportunity to splurge.

5)      Book journals

Hard-core readers keep up with the books they’ve read. Why wouldn’t they? Some readers cover a hundred books in a year. Gone Reading has a cute assortment of journals purely for this purpose. http://gonereading.com/book-journal/

6)      Book lights

While some e-readers are back-lit, others are not, and of course old-fashioned paper books need illumination. Clip lights are handy in the car, by the bed, next to the recliner. They are inexpensive (under $20) so you might buy more than one, for every situation. You can buy them specifically for certain e-readers, making for a nice combination present/ For the reader with aging eyes, consider a strong desk lamp or floor lamp; they even come with magnifiers. http://www.magnifyingaids.com/Lamps_Magnifiers To someone struggling to see, the perfect visual setting is key to the most story enjoyment.

7)      Scented candles

Science has proven that our sense of smell is our strongest connection to memory. If you give a book, add a candle to the gift. Downstream, after your reader has finished her book, the scent of that candle will bring back memories of the story, the characters, and the wonderful friend who gave her the experience.

8)      Finally, books

Electronic or audio, paperback or hardcover, invest in a book your reader would be thrilled to receive. As a twist, buy several books of a single author, or several books from a single publisher like Bell Bridge Books. www.bellebridgebooks.com  Use a theme like dog fiction, or mysteries involving librarians, or historical women’s fiction in the Pacific Northwest.  Don’t just give a book. Demonstrate that you gave deep thought to a gift with meaning.

Readers love to read, and aiding them in their efforts to sink into grand stories is about the best gift you can give them. And it only takes a little extra attention to make that gift personal, unusual, and memorable for Christmases to come.

BIO

C. Hope Clark is author of The Carolinan Slade Mystery Series, set in rural South Carolina. Lowcountry Bribe is available wherever books are sold, and the second in the series, Tidewater Murder, will be available April 2013. Hope lives along the bank of Lake Murray in central South Carolina with her federal agent husband and mini-doxie Roo. She is also long-time editor of the award winning FundsforWriters.com –  www.chopeclark.com

#Tradition

By Lindi Peterson

One of my favorite aspects of the Christmas season is the memories it evokes. The memories of Christmas when I was a child, a teenager, a young mom. I have always had a huge family, so when I say memories, I have a lot of them. Memories of many people, much laughter and a whole slew of fun.

My Christmas Eve memories involve my Grandmu—my mom’s mom. It was a known fact that she spent $10 dollars on each grandkid. I’ll never forget the year my brother opened his gift and said, “This doesn’t look like ten-dollars worth.”

My other brother and I laughed until we cried while my mom cringed in embarrassment. Oh well, life went on, Grandmu kept her $10 budget for each grandkid and no one ever commented on it again.

Christmas day memories consist of a full day at Grandma and Grandpa Aebi’s house with the whole family. Cousins, aunts, uncles, great aunts and uncles, people who weren’t blood related, but somehow they garnered the aunt or uncle title as well, were frequent visitors. My little girl eyes remember the table with tons of food, my total lack of understanding when my teenaged-cousins were thrilled when they opened a package that held a slip, and how I stood on a chair drying dishes as my grandma washed them and my aunt put them back in the cabinets. And all so we could do it all over again about the time we finished, because by then it was suppertime and there were amazingly somehow leftovers to be eaten.

I reminisce about those days this time of the year. I think about how our world has changed. Some things have changed a lot. Some things haven’t changed at all.

The way we communicate seems to me to be the biggest change. My Grandma Aebi had a party line. If you know what that is, great. If you don’t, think party. Enough said. Now we have phones that can do almost anything. Computers that make our life easier. (For the most part!) We also have communication mediators, as I call them. Facebook, texting, Twitter. Ah, Twitter, which has brought new meaning to the term hash tag. No longer only used to divide scenes in our manuscripts and in front of numerically ordered items, it now has brought the world into categorically organizing what we say. #itistrue

But family hasn’t changed. I still look forward to Christmas Eve with my mom. I love Christmas Day spent with our children and our grand children. We have a ton of food, I’m now the one who is thrilled when I receive a slip, and although the dishwasher has replaced the standing on a chair drying job, there is still the clearing of the table, and all the great conversation that takes place during that time.

Enjoy your Christmas Season. Eat well, laugh hard, love all those around you.

Do you have any Christmas memories you would like to share?

#MerryChristmas

Christmas Lists: Then and Now(—Are we thinking of the giver?)

By Kathryn Magendie

At various stages of Kid-dom, my Christmas list would read something like this:

Real Candy, with chocolate – not that hard stuff, or fruit

Baby Doll with a Stroller

Pretend, but really works, Spinning Wheel with Yarn

Barbie

Bike – a new one would be nice, but used is fine, too

Pack of Old Maid Playing Cards

Parcheesi

Checkers

Horse – not a pony, but a Real Horse, preferably a black stallion that rears up and paws the air

Books  – connect the dot, puzzle books, Black Beauty, Black Stallion books, Call of the Wild – any book about dogs or horses or wolves

A pair of black and a pair of white shiny vinyl knee-high boots

Blacklight and Poster

And, with the exception of the horse (dang), at one time or another, I received those gifts. Thing is, all of those gifts are tangible. One can go out to the store and purchase the item, wrap it up, and put it under the tree—again, with the exception of the horse, but that didn’t stop me from racing to the window every Christmas and checking to see if a horse was tied up in our suburban front yard. Yeah. Hope springs and all that.  But the list is simple enough, although at various times in my life we were pretty danged poor, so those items weren’t easy to come by. Somehow, though, my mom always found a way to have presents under the tree for us. And the magical wonderful thing about that is this: whether we had asked for a certain item or knew it was best not to ask because times were hard, it didn’t matter, because once we dived under the tree and began unwrapping, we thought how everything we received was just what we wanted no matter what our list, spoken, written, or just dreamt, was—we were happy, even with the sack of fruit and hard danged ole candy.

Fast forward to my Older-dom, the post-published author phase of my life, and the list reads something like this:

New York Times Best-seller

Win a Literary Award

Number 1 (again please!) on Kindle

People to love me and love my books and think I am AWESOME!

Yeah, yeah: Love and peace and health and all that jazz, etc etc etc.

Write a book that goes viral

Oprah saying “and a Magendie book for YOU, and a Magendie book for YOU, and a Magendie book for YOUUUUUUUUU!”

Book to movie

Do you see the difference in those two lists? Other than the obvious, of course. In the second list, the items aren’t tangible; one can’t go to the store and buy them; someone can’t place these things under the tree where I’ll rip them open, happy-shiny paper flying willy-nilly, the givers grinning their fool heads off because they’ve made someone joyful. The gift wishes in the second list are Hah-Uge and for all but a few, could be almost unattainable. With a list like that, one could be forever unhappy at Christmas, forever feeling slighted, forever just a little bit sad. One could sit there among the twinkly lights feeling sorry for oneself while all the others are ripping open their packages with glee.

So this Christmas, I think I’ll alter my thinking. I think I’ll make me up another list. One that makes someone else happy in the giving. One that GMR, or my friends, or family members can happily and sneakily purchase, wrap up, and place under the tree, anticipating my reaction. For when year after year I say, “Oh, all I want is (above list),” I take away something magical and wonderful from Christmas. I take away someone else’s joy of giving.

And you? What about you? What is on your Christmas List this year? And is it similar to my second list? And if so, want to join me in hoping for something tangible, something wrap-able, something we can tear into on Christmas morning with joy and abandon? All the rest is dreams—and dreams can be dreamt any old other time. Christmas is for plain old greedy want of material thangs—just say’n! Yeah!

Merry Christmas, all y’allses!

Kat Magendie, author, Publishing Editor of Rose & Thorn, is the author of The Graces Trilogy (Tender Graces, Secret Graces, Family Graces), Sweetie, and of the novella Petey in The Firefly Dance. Her next novel, The Lightning Charmer, will be released fall 2013.

Coping with Christmas Chaos

By Cindi Myers

The writer’s life is such that most of us don’t have “normal” 9 to 5 schedules. We work weekends, nights, holidays and whatever the deadline or the muse demand.  And most of us are fine with this.  But overlay that schedule on top of the demands of a busy holiday season and well, something’s got to give.

I love Christmas. I love the decorations and the carols and the cookies and the gifts. (I love Christmas so much I got married on December 22 — our flowers were poinsettias and we took wedding pictures in front of the Christmas tree.)  I want to celebrate all month long and I want to do everything.

But I’ve also got books to write and other work to take care of. What’s this Holly Jolly to do?

Because this season is important to me, I give myself permission to slack off a little for the weeks leading up to Christmas. I still work, but I take time each week (or even each day) to do the holiday things I enjoy. If I feel like baking cookies, I bake cookies. I watch holiday movies. I listen to holiday music and wrap presents. I take a drive around the neighborhood and look at lights.

To make room for all this and my writing, I had to give up some things. I decided to give up the holiday hassles I don’t enjoy. (Remember I said something has to give.) If it’s a Christmas activity that doesn’t make me feel good about the season, I don’t do it.

This means that some years I send lovely Christmas cards with handwritten notes, that I compose while sitting by the Christmas tree, music playing softly in the background, sipping hot cider.

And other years I say “the heck with that” and only send a handful of cards to people (like my mother-in-law) whom I know are counting on a card.

Some years I bake dozens of Christmas cookies.

Other years I buy any cookies we eat — or we just don’t eat cookies.

Some years I decorate indoors and out, having a blast stringing lights and wrapping garland. Other years — well, let’s just say that last year we never did put up a Christmas tree — and the holiday was great anyway.

On the other hand, decorations are a terrific excuse to forgo most housework during December. How can I dust around all that garland? And candlelight hides a lot of flaws, believe me.

I do 95 percent of my shopping online, and have gifts wrapped and sent directly to the recipients when possible. Staying away from stores and traffic reduces a lot of the stress of the holidays for me.

By focusing on what’s really important to me — the things that I enjoy most — I indulge in the good things about the season and I still manage to get a little work done, without feeling deprived or guilty.

One of my favorite things to do during the holidays? Curl up in front of the fire with a hot drink and a good book!

Cindi Myers is the author of The Woman Who Loved Jesse James.

While most people think New Year’s Day is the end of the holiday season, we can’t get enough of the holidays. Join us for a continuation of holiday blogs from BBB authors.