Cover Reveal: All She Wants For Christmas by Sara V. Olds (and a giveaway!)

Okay people, I'm seriously getting excited about the holidays, and what better way to gear up for Christmas, than to get reading holiday stories?

I love this title. And isn't the cover gorgeous? I mean, come on?

About ALL SHE WANTS FOR CHRISTMAS: George Clauson is Santa's daughter, but she can't stand Christmas. All that ho-ho-hoing, caroling and people's greedy wants? No, thank you. She's left the family business and struck off on her own in the human world finding her niche as a humble second-grade teacher.

Ebenezer Herod is a descendent of King Herod. His family has never stopped trying to destroy Christmas. This year they may actually get their wish, but not if Ben can help it.

George wants nothing to do with restoring balance to the Christmas season, and she certainly isn't interested in the shockingly handsome and devilishly rich Ben. A determined do-gooder, Ben's used to saving the day, but he can't rescue Christmas alone. Can George and Ben find a way to work together despite their opposing heritages to make the Season bright?

About Sara Olds: Sara V. Olds has been telling stories for as long as she can remember. One of her favorite memories is of unfolding a tale for friends while they were all bundled in sleeping bags watching a comet shower in the Uintah Mountains.

Mother of three: Large, Medium and Small, she welcomes her newest role, that of mother-in-law.

Life has taken her from thither to yon and back again—she's moved 22 times during her marriage. She breathes to travel. Longs to fulfill a lifelong dream of owning a horse. Is an addictive reader. Enjoys swimming, skiing, violin and movies. Wonders if she'll ever get to SCUBA dive again. And has found a calling that fulfills her in ways she never could have imagined—teaching history to—wait for it—8th Graders.

Her stories consume her. There's nothing she'd rather do than spend all day, all night and the next day conversing with her latest set of characters. History, adventure, action, romance, humor. Adults, YA and kids. Yep, she does it all. Looking for something to enjoy on a quiet rainy afternoon? Or wanting a pulse-pounding, stay up all night turning pages adventure? Or a you've-GOT-to-be-kidding romp? You'll find them in her pages.

Sara’s social media links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/saravolds

Website: http://www.saravolds.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SaraVOlds

For 48 hours only, Sara is holding a massive giveaway. Don't miss the small entry window! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Filling Up the Cracks

This weekend, one of my online friends shared a statement made by her nine-year-old . The beautiful words were passed on by a number of people because of the profound simplicity of this child’s words. 

Sarah Eden’s daughter said, “When your heart is broken, you choose what to fill up the cracks with. Love or Hate. But hate can never heal. Only love can do that.”

I think now is a really good time of year to spread some love. Actually, there’s never a bad time to spread love. It is, after all, what makes the world go round, right?

So let’s share some ideas.

I’m a fan of angel trees, Toys-for-Tots, Sub-for Santa, and any assistance we can give to homeless shelters and food banks. Small donations don’t take much, and are a good way to contribute to the community.

Or, on a more personal level, spread some kindness and cheer by smiling more, saying kind words, and noticing the distress of others around you. Everyone benefits from small acts of kindness.

What are you doing to spread the love this week?

Christmas Glitter Notes Pictures

Seasonal Traditions

The Christmas / Hanukah / Kwanza / Festivus season is officially here. For my family, it means there’s a twelve-foot tree in our living room and little Santa’s and Snowmen around the house. There’s a card table with a puzzle in the family room, where we can work on it while we watch holiday movies, and our dining room table has been set up as the official treat station.

And now, all we need are some presents for people to squeeze and shake. (Working on that.)

This year’s puzzle is a James Christensen print, and most likely we’ll grab a couple Dowdle puzzles as well, because, well, we love them. (And we glue them when we’re done, so we always need a new one.)

If you were to visit my house, what movie would you want to watch (holiday or other favorites), and what treat would you hope to find on our table?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas. I hope your day is filled with joy, laughter, and love. I hope this video is a small reminder of the reason we celebrate this joyous day.

Joy, joy, joy!

Oh Fantastic Followers, How I Love Your Smiling Faces

Thanks for sharing your favorites with me this incredible holiday season. I could go on listing, because the truth is there are a lot of things to love about December. But the holiday week is upon us, and I think you get the point.

I wish you joy, happiness, love, and the best of all your favorites this holiday season. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Yule, and, well, Festivus. (Yeah, I said Festivus, for all the rest of ya.)

May your days be merry and bright. And may all your holidays be…well, you know the line.

Lots of love, from Me.

PS I'm taking the rest of the week off from blogging, but if you're wondering who won all my recent contests, you can see the winners on the following posts:

Signed copy of Leviathan
Twilight swag
Signed / stamped copy of MOCKING JAY

I'll be back next week!

Oh, Holiday Music, Your Notes are Brightly Singing

So, I was driving down the street the other night and I happened upon a couple reindeer. No, I did not hit them with my car (thank goodness). They were in a yard as I passed by. Or rather, they passed me on their way through several yards.

It happened to be a snowy day, and as I passed the deer, a great Christmas song came on the radio.

Yes, I am a squishy marshmallow, because my heart turned into gooey mush. Yet two more reasons I love December. Real live reindeer (which I shouldn’t like, because they’re pests and also because the fact that they’re in town means there isn’t enough food in the mountains where they live) and Christmas music.

I won’t make a list of the deer. But oh I love the music. There are a handful of CD’s in my holiday stash, but the ones I play the most are probably SheDaisy, Amy Grant (yes it’s old, I don’t care), and Celine Dion. (Scroll down to my playlist if you want to give them a try.)

Oh, all right. Confession: When my kids are around, our family favorite is a CD called Elves Gone Wild. If you ever come across it, you should buy it. Funnest holiday music ever.

And if I had to choose three songs that make Christmas official at my house, they’re Santa Baby by Madonna, Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer by (hm, who sings that song?) and Silent Night by—well anyone. It’s just a great song.

Wait. I can't stop there. I also love Oh Holy Night. Because it's just so pretty, about any artist can make it sound good.

Okay, your turn. All time favorite holiday song or entire album? Spill! (I need some new songs this year—so do share.)

It's Not About the Size of the Tree

The first Christmas after we moved into our house—feeling extremely festive and perhaps overly excited about the vaulted cathedral ceiling in our living room—we bought a new artificial Christmas tree. (I know, artificial isn’t nearly as awesome as real. But I have this thing where I’m pretty much incapable of keeping plants alive indoors. My thumbs are black, not green. And we prefer to not burn down our house.)

The thing is twelve feet tall, before decorations. (No, I am not joking. Yes, I am crazy. And before you ask, I probably won’t buy one quite this big ever again. It requires an insane amount of time to set up and take down. But I love the end result.)

Anyway, that first year when the tree was up and decorated, one of my new neighbors made an offhanded comment that was something like, “Wow, how will the rest of us ever keep up with that?”

Even though it was said in a joking tone, those words stung deep. Our choice of tree was not about competition. It was about joy. Joy for being in our new house, joy for the season and everything it meant, and joy for being able to make our family celebration as big or as tall as we chose to make it.Or on the other side of that coin, as simple or as small.

The day we walked into Costco and saw the tree, my kids squealed in delight, and their eyes lit up with sparkles. And funny enough, the cost turned out to be significantly less than many of the other trees we’d looked at that day. It was a good purchase that has lasted seven years and counting.

But every year when I’m decorating this monstrosity, that particular comment comes back and reminds me why I do things the way I choose, and why I don’t do them the way other people would have me do.

Regardless of what some might think, Christmas spirit is not determined by the size of your tree (or the number of lights) any more than a man’s masculinity is determined by the size of his truck or SUV. Any more than a woman’s worth is determined by her ability to sew or cook or clean house. (Yeah, that last one is so cliché it’s ridiculous. Forgive me for that. I’m lacking in all those departments.)

There was not a lit Christmas tree in Bethlehem or lights circling the roof of the stable. No gifts wrapped in expensive paper. No Black Friday shopping days. There was a family, experiencing quiet moments of pure, unadulterated joy.

Our tree could be a one-foot twig for all that it matters. We’d still find joy within the quiet warmth of our family. The only difference is it wouldn’t be quite so visible to the rest of the world.

What do you think? Does the size of your tree really matter? And do you really care what the neighbors think?

*Don't forget to enter this week's totally fab I *Heart* Followers contest* 

The Nativity: Breath of Heaven

I won't be posting much this week, but thought I'd share this video clip with my readers. I truly hope that you and your loved ones have a glorious, wonderful, festive holiday season.

Merry Christmas from Nichole!

* Video clip courtesy of Mailman0 on You Tube.

Not the Grinch (Or Presents Aren't Important--Are They?)

By now, I’m thinking you’re all pretty well sick of hearing about all my signing experiences. And though I’m excited and relieved about the results, I’m kind of getting sick of talking about it. So, I’m going to take a break from that today.

If you’re absolutely dying to hear all the details, email me. I’ll tell you everything I remember. Be warned that my brain has been on absolute overload this month, but it’s December and, well, all things considered, that’s to be expected.

Anyway, sometime around Halloween, my parents—consisting of my mom and stepdad, and my dad and stepmom—decided that this year would be a good one to refocus our attention on the true spirit of Christmas. The economic downfall has been very hard on some of them, and none of us wanted anyone to feel the burden of buying gifts they couldn’t afford.

The plan, originally, was that none of the adults in the family would exchange gifts, and instead of spending lots of money on things, we’d give each other the gift of quality family time. We—their children—were asked to honor that request by not purchasing gifts for them. And my husband and I have been prepared to honor that.

Unfortunately, it appears we were the only ones. Now, granted, as far as I know, none of my siblings have gone all out and spent lots of money on parent gifts, but everyone bought something. Which, I think, defeats the purpose of the original plan. Not that I don’t have an urge to buy gifts for my parents as well, but I really, truly hoped that for the first time in years, Christmas would stop being so much about the presents we give and receive, and more about relationships. Sadly, even our parents have succumbed. Other than a family get-together last week, there has been little or no relationship building time. And when we go to my mom’s house for Christmas dinner, once again, gifts will be exchanged all around.

Whatever happened to presents not mattering? What happened to family time? I’m not complaining, really. I enjoy giving gifts to people I love, people who matter. And even though I didn’t add extra gifts into my budget, and wasn’t able to plan far in advance for a thoughtful gift, I’ll find something inexpensive, yet nice for both sets of parents. And I’m okay with that.

But I’m saddened exponentially by the loss of a valuable lesson for us all. Christmas isn’t about the presents, what we give, get, pay for, make, buy, order and wrap. It’s about a gift given us over 2000 years ago, the birth of our Savior. Remember that Guy?

Everything else is irrelevant. And the best thing we can do to honor that sacrifice is to give of ourselves (not our wallets) to spend time with those we love, and those who need us, and to remember why this holiday even exists. More family time, fewer presents.

Don’t you think? The worst thing we could possibly do is turn Christmas into just another day, and yet, that’s where it’s headed. What it’s becoming more and more as the years pass. I don’t have all the answers, but it seems to me like trying something new, something different, might help us remember why we celebrate in the first place. Not because I don’t want to give gifts to people. I absolutely do. I guess I’m just at a point where I feel it’s more important to teach our children about the important things in life—the things which have nothing to do with presents.

And so, four days before Christmas, I find myself in a great internal tug-of-war. Do I buy gifts for my parents—as all my siblings have, and as my parents have given into—or do I stand my ground, stick with our original plan and look like the Grinch? Not that it matters if people see me in a poor light, just…well, you all know. It’s not easy being green. And I’ve never liked the idea of living in a cave. How best am I to honor the original request, while still going with the family flow?

What would you do?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!