A Christmas Scene in WISH FOR THE MOON

  WISH FOR THE MOON-a 1901 North Texas coming of age story about sixteen year old Annie McGinnis.
Excerpt--Christmas

The year was 1902, and Annie McGinnis, the youngest child of the family, now at seventeen finds herself the lady of the house--the home she grew up in. The position is not one she wants, but Annie has a very strong sense of duty and responsibility, and in this case...taking care not only of the household chores, but seeing after her widowed father, Grover, and Old Blind Jarrel, a neighbor man they took in. Her brothers, Kyle and Clifford have married and moved away.

Max Landry, the man Annie fell in love with after saving him from the hangman's noose, has moved on, too...or so she thinks.

Christmas time nears, and Annie goes to town to sell her pecans, eggs, and jars of jelly. She hopes to earn enough money to buy a gift for her father and Jerral. She also hopes she has enough to buy a bar a lavender soap for herself.

She finds a tiny cedar tree and uses it for a Christmas tree. She places it on the end of the kitchen table, decorated with strings of juniper berries and bows made of bits of colored cloth and old lace. On each side, she places a candle.
~*~*~*~
WISH FOR THE MOON--99cents for the Kindle--(regular price $5.49)-Through December 31

EXCERPT:

On Christmas Day, Annie placed her offerings in front of the tree. She sat two candles, one on either side, and lit them.

“Jerral,” she said, “give me your hand, and you can see the tree.” She helped guide his hand, so he could feel each part, and the gifts underneath. Carefully, she guided his hand to feel the candlesticks, and waved his hand over the flames so he would know they burned.

After breakfast, Annie told Grover to stay at the table so he and Jerral could open their presents. Grover, though, took Jerral to the bedroom first, and when they returned, each held a gift, wrapped in white paper with red string.
Jerral loved his suspenders, and exclaimed over them, how he liked the thick, woven texture, and the feel of the smooth metal clasps. She helped fasten them to his pants and adjusted them to the right length on his bony shoulders. “Oh, you look so fine, Jerral. These were just made for you.”

He asked if he could kiss Annie’s cheek, and she happily let him.

Grover said little about his new blue-striped shirt, but he held it in his lap and stroked the soft fabric for a long time.

Finally, he told her the other two gifts were for her—one from him and one from Jerral. Jerral gave her the only thing he had—his family Bible.

Jerral said, “I can’t read it, Annie, and I don’t have any kin. You’re as close to a daughter as I’ll ever have. I want you to have it.”

Annie cried and hugged him around his neck and kissed his cheek. “Oh, thank you, Jerral. I’ll treasure it and add it to my bookshelf where I have the other books. And guess what? I’ve baked you a vanilla-raisin meringue cream pie!”

Grover gave her a small box of chocolates from the drugstore. They were in a gold colored box with a fancy seal on the top. The label read, “Golden’s Chocolates, Made in Chicago.” Each one had a different center—vanilla fondue, strawberry and lemon creams, nuts, coconut, and caramel. Tears ran down her face. Never in her life had she received such a grand present.

“Thank you so much, Papa. I will savor each one, and the box will look so pretty on my dresser. If I ever get a necklace, I’ll keep it in the gold box.”

“Annie,” he said gruffly. “I’m sorry I missed your birthday. I just plumb forgot. Helen would have my hide if she knew I didn’t remember our baby’s birthday.”

Annie laughed and cried some more, and soon, all three choked up.

Christmas had come, after all.
~*~*~*~
Blurb:

At the dawn of the Twentieth Century, sixteen-year-old Annie McGinnis wishes for a chance to see more of the world, since all she’s ever known is the family farm in North Texas. A mysterious visitor arrives who will change not only her life, but her family’s as well. To save Max Landry from a bogus charge, she follows him and the Texas Rangers back to the coal-mining town one county over where a murder occurred. The short journey sets Annie on a path of discovery—new horizons, an inner strength, and quite possibly…love.   

Buy Link on Amazon for Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/Wish-Moon-Celia-Yeary/dp/1466452382/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324864096&sr=1-8  

Celia Yeary

Romance...and a little bit of Texas

    

 

Two New Christmas Releases!

Good morning, Linda. Aren't you excited about our Christmas releases? A Time to Give is a perfect Christmas story. How did you come up with the plot?

You know, Celia, I sometimes feel the stories behind our books are as interesting as the books themselves. We've discussed how our characters take on life and develop minds of their own.

Oh, yes. More than once one of my characters starting acting a little bit too big for her britches and became the star of the show.

Well, as you wrote A Christmas Wedding, I remember you saying that you didn't know where the story was going.

That's right, I didn't know how I was going to make Kailey Lovelace connect with Alex Dunn. At the time, they were medium-height people.


But I guess Kailey knew all along and you just had to give her a chance to tell it. I started the book last night and the plot has already drawn me in. I had to force myself to leave it for another time as it was past the witching hour and I needed sleep. But I won't be able to get it out of my mind until I read that last word. Your stories always have that effect on me.

Thank you so much. You don't know how much that means to me.

When I read a couple of your short, short stories recently I asked you if one was an offshoot of the other. I had seen a similarity in the characters and plot that reminded me of an incident in my own work. And I promised to share that with you.

I can't wait to hear that tale. Since we have time on our hands, I'd love to hear about it right now.


It began when I wrote A Time To Give. We were living in Alabama at the time and driving a two-lane highway from Kentucky to our new home. On our route was a small roadside restaurant where we always stopped for coffee. Out of that stop, I created a setting, a waitress named Ellen, and the season of winter, which became Christmas. Among my characters that stopped at the restaurant were a young mother and her two children on their way North from Florida. Ellen invited them to stay over but they drove on in a snowstorm.

So, this is the newly released story, right, Linda? A Time to Give?


Yes, and fast forward a few years when I wrote a novel set at a Kentucky Welcome Center with a tour guide named Kala. Again, it was nearly Christmas and the Interstate closed down due to a snowstorm. Tourists were caught with no place to go and among them were a young mother and her two children. When they walked into the Welcome Center in my story, I said to myself, "I know these people." But the problem was, I couldn't remember the names I'd given them, and my manuscript was in my condo in Florida, not available on my computer. I thought I'd named the little boy David but try as I might, I couldn't remember the name I'd given his sister. So I called her Heather and the mother Brenda.

Later I learned that in the short story the little girl was Teresa and her mother Diane. And the irony of this is that both the book and short story are now available on the Internet and I still haven't changed the names!

How funny! This could only happen to Linda Swift.

This second story, Let Nothing You Dismay, was published by Kensington and with a setting in my hometown. It got a lot of local publicity, and in the midst of it, I got a call from a local magazine editor saying she was using a short story I'd submitted to her. Yep, you guessed it. She was publishing A Time To Give in her December issue.

So both stories were available for the townspeople to read, with the same three characters in both. And I was wishing I'd been able to keep the names the same so no one would think I'd plagiarized my own work and tried to cover it up.

I did have a chance to explain this when I did a program in the library for a local TV station. I made a joke of how long it took the woman to drive from North Alabama to West Kentucky, which was about three years instead of the normal five hours.

But this taught me a lesson. Now I try to keep characters from insinuating themselves into someone else's story unless it's a series.

Now, you really have me laughing. Like your To Hull and Back tales, your humor and wit are quite engaging.


You've done a four part series of one set of characters, haven't you? I've read three of them now and I'm waiting for the fourth. And will you do anything more with Kailey and Alex?

A four-part series? Oh, yes, you mean my "Texas books," for lack of a better name. Three have been released, with the fourth coming in April. Each novel led to another, with the same family, the Camerons of Texas, woven through. I can't seem to stop doing that! But the main characters always clamor in my head until I write their stories.

My newest, a Christmas novelette titled, A Christmas Wedding, features a six-foot-tall heroine who finds her hero in an even taller man. Why did I use a tall heroine? I'm not the least bit tall! Once I knew a statuesque woman who had lost her husband some years before. She was still young, a nurse, and one summer she joined a medical mission team to Guatemala. The doctor in charge was very tall. They are now married.


And guess what? Kailey Lovelace in A Christmas Wedding is a nurse and marries Alex Dunn, an ex-soldier who was an Army medic. They plan….oh, I can't tell. You'll have to read the story!


Linda and I invite you to go to Willow Moon Publishing and check out our stories:
A Time to Give-Linda Swift
A Christmas Wedding-Celia Yeary
Link:

http://willowmoonpublishing.com/

Celia Yeary-Romance...and a little bit 'o Texas
http://www.celiayeary.blogspot.com/
http://www.celiayeary.com/
New Releases
Texas Promise-eBook-Desert Breeze Publishing
Making the Turn-print & eBook-Wings ePress

MEET DIANE CRAVER



DIANE CRAVER



Have you ever experienced a connection with a complete stranger after only brief introductions? I met Diane Craver through a mutual publisher and on a couple of Yahoo Groups for romance authors. She stood out among the other wonderful authors as a person with deep convictions and beliefs. I liked her pleasant, caring comments, and the fact that she always paid more attention to others rather drawing it to herself.

She’s an Ohio farm girl and still lives in the country. Don’t let that fool you—she is well-educated. She met the love of her life, another teacher, while teaching in an orphanage and directing their plays.

Diane writes fun and inspiring stories filled with memorable characters.



MARRYING MALLORY

I read one of those novels, titled Marrying Mallory. In it, things have always gone wrong for Mallory, including a divorce from the father of her young son. Even though she has faith in God, she suffers guilt because she cannot forgive her philandering husband. So she decides to do something for herself—a cosmetic surgical procedure she’s always wanted—and accepts the fact that some things cannot be changed. After all…life must go on.

Today, I am pleased to have Diane as my guest. Diane, you have a special Christmas release, titled A Christmas Gift. Since the season is right around the corner, I’m certain readers will want to know about it, too. What is the story about?

A CHRISTMAS GIFT

“Some of A Christmas Gift is based on my childhood experiences, so that lends an authentic feel to the whole story. Love seeps through the characters, even though the story line and characters are fictional. Debby Reeves is an adult in the prologue and epilogue of the book. The rest of the book is told through the viewpoint of Debby as a bright seven-year-old. Her father, Justin Reeves, is a man who has it all: a good job, a loving wife and children who are the center of his universe. Justin also has a secret he’d hidden from everyone his entire life. One night Debby stumbles upon his secret and is shocked by what she finds. She confronts her father with the awful truth. What happens next is heartwarming and proves that obstacles can be overcome at any age.”


The novel sounds like a perfect Christmas story. When will this book be available?

“A Christmas Gift will available on November 15th – in both trade paperback and eBook formats.”

You’re one of the busiest people I know, pulled in many directions. How and when do you find time to write?

“It’s hard. I thought it would be easier now that we only have two daughters at home but it isn’t. I actually wrote longer books when more children were at home. LOL My three books published by Samhain are much longer at approximately 85,000 words. My Desert Breeze books are only around 50,000 words. I wanted to keep A Christmas Gift short so it’s 25,000 words. It’s a perfect length to read during the busy holiday season! I write in spurts and set writing goals. I do manage to scrawl paragraphs on pieces of paper if busy with family and household chores, so later I can transfer what I’ve written to my laptop.”

Your life sounds full and rewarding! What is the most surprising thing about you that most people don’t know?

“I think they’d be surprised how easygoing I am when it comes to my hubby. When we were making our wedding plans, he said that I wouldn’t get him to wear a tux. I didn’t care if he wore a tux but wanted him to wear a nice suit. Then he decided to buy a leisure suit to wear because it wouldn’t require a tie. Wearing a tie would be a reminder that he was losing his freedom as a single guy and be a symbolic thing with feeling tied down. His words! He’s always been a nonconformist and unique in his thinking, and I actually went along with it even though I thought he should wear a suit and tie. We had a small church wedding with about 80 guests in 1975. He and the best man wore their stupid leisure suits that were only in style for a short time. After 35 years of marriage and six children, he never mentions feeling tied down. LOL”

You sound very proud of his nonconformist attitude! When you have complete freedom and time alone, what is one special thing you enjoy?

“If it’s in the summer, I like to escape to our pool and swim by myself. It’s quiet and peaceful. During other seasons, I enjoy reading.”

The pool sounds lovely—a perfect respite. Since you’re an accomplished author, what advice would you give to aspiring writers?

“It’s been a long road to publication for my books. Getting published hasn’t been easy. I made it with self-discipline, faith in my writing, family support, and determination. If you are an aspiring writer wanting to be published, hang in there. You have to continue to write and to believe in yourself. Writing is not a career for the weak. When it comes to rejections, you have to be persistent and develop a thick skin. Remember this is a subjective business so don’t get discouraged.”

Perfect advice. I don’t think anyone could have said it better. Do you have anything else you’d like to tell us?

“I have a Christmas contest on my blog. If you leave a comment on this post, your name is entered for my two drawings. The first drawing is Nov. 14th. The second one will be Dec. 8th. For each drawing, I’ll give away a signed copy of one of my Christmas releases to the winner, a $10 GC from one of my publishers, and a beautiful angel ornament. More details are on my blog. http://www.dianecraver.com/blog
Buy books for your Christmas gifts! Both my Christmas releases will be in paperback. Or if you prefer eBooks for your own reading enjoyment, all my books are in electronic formats.”
BUY LINK for Marrying Mallory:
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-51/Marrying-Mallory/Detail.bok

BUY LINK for A Christmas Gift:
http://www.whimsicalpublications.com/newreleases.html

Diane’s Website:
http://www.dianecraver.com/

“Thank you, Celia, for having me on your fantastic blog!”

And thank you, Diane. I know readers will love your books.

Celia Yeary-Romance...and a little bit 'o Texas
http://www.celiayeary.blogspot.com/
http://www.celiayeary.com/
New Releases
Texas Promise-eBook-Desert Breeze Publishing
Making the Turn-print & eBook-Wings ePress

Fruitcake Gets Bum Rap

“Fruitcake Gets Bum Rap”-a quirky individual who gets shuttled off to jail on an imaginary charge.

No, not that kind of fruitcake. I would never use such a politically incorrect term to define someone who might resemble my Great-aunt Lizzie who made pies out of left-over jams and jellies. I’m referring to the type of cake made from candied fruits and nuts that some insist on baking or buying to give as Christmas gifts. You’ve heard Jay Leno make fun of a family tradition of giving this cake, where one recipient says, “Why, thank yew sooo much! I just love fruitcake.” Then that person proceeds in wrapping it anew and giving it to someone else. The same cake is passed around for years—and never deteriorates!

I, for one, really, really do love fruitcake. Admittedly, some are better than others, but even the cheap ones that come in a decorative tin and sold in your local discount store have something to offer. At Christmas parties, someone always contributes a plate of dark sliced fruitcake, perhaps a little dry, forlorn, skipped over by guests as they select a tidbit here, a morsel there. Me? I’ll take a piece of the cake every time.

My mother made an excellent fruit cake back in the fifties and sixties. She used the common candied cherries and pineapple and citron, sometimes dyed green, raisins, and lots of good old Texas pecans. She would buy a big sack of pecans as early as she could in the fall, and Daddy cracked every one and picked out the nutmeats. Fresh pecans make a big difference. Since we were teetotalers at home, Mother would tell Daddy to buy a bottle of whiskey—she said whiskey, but probably meant bourbon—when he next had to work over the state line in New Mexico. Most of the South Plains counties were “dry.” After soaking the 10-inch-tube-pan cake two weeks in the alcoholic beverage, let me tell you, that was a good fruitcake. I especially enjoyed it for breakfast with a hot cup of black coffee.

Years later, I found my own recipe for fruitcake. I’d like to share it with you.

BRANDY NUT CAKE

3 cups chopped Texas pecans
1 ½ cups halved maraschino cherries
1 cup dark raisins- ½ cup light raisins
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup white sugar
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
3 eggs
2 Tbs. apricot brandy

½ cup apricot brandy, for soaking

Combine nuts and fruits. Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add to nut mixture, tossing to coat well. Beat eggs till frothy; add the 2 Tbs. brandy. Pour egg mixture over fruit mixture; mix well. Pour batter into greased and floured 9 x 5 x 3 loaf dish or pan. Bake in 300 degree oven 1 hour and 45 minutes. (If you use a dark pan, perhaps lower the temperature a few degrees or test for doneness a few minutes early.)

When the cake cools, wrap in clean cheese-cloth. Dribble apricot Brandy over all sides until soaked. Wrap in aluminum foil. You may add more brandy later, if you wish. Store the cake at least a week.

Enjoy! And Merry Christmas.

Celia Yeary

SHOWDOWN IN SOUTHFORK: eBook available at:
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/


ALL MY HOPES AND DREAMS-a Cactus Rose—
Print and eBook available at: http://www.thewildrosepress.com/ http://www.celiayeary.com/