Just a short message to all who celebrate Christmas (and those who don’t, but like the decorations, lol). I love seeing my tree up and take far too many pictures of it. I have nearly 12 years represented here, although I’m missing a couple years.
2008-2012 (mysteriously missing 2009)
I’m an ornament collector (I can stop any time, I swear). Every year I either buy new ones or my kids buy me one or two. And don’t even get me started on the socks they give me. Last year was doughnuts & llamas (not on the same socks, however).
2013-2016 (cameo appearances by Tenka & Zak)
This year I went a little crazy buying sea life ornaments. If you look close enough at 2021, you’ll see a couple jelly fish, a crab, a seahorse, a sea turtle, and a couple of flamingos, one dressed as a mail carrier and one as Santa.
2017-2021 (2018 MIA, photo bomb by Tenka)
I hope you have a lovely end of 2021, no matter what holidays you celebrate.
With the November and December holidays approaching, I’ve been thinking back to how we celebrated in the past. As I was growing up, every holiday get together took place at Grandma’s house. From New Year’s Day through New Year’s Eve (including all the birthdays), everyone gathered at Grandma’s for too much food and drink, and sometimes way too many presents. After dinner, we’d often crowd around the dining room table for a poker game.
How I learned the crucial life skill of playing poker
By the time I had my first son, my mom and stepdad had bought a restaurant overlooking Mono Lake, and Grandma moved up there with them. After that, we celebrated at least Thanksgiving and Christmas in the dining room of the Mono Inn. It was a long drive (7 hours) with a toddler and a baby, but so beautiful once we were there.
Left, the family restaurant, middle, the restaurant dining room with all of us crowded around the table, right, Mono Lake CA
All those years that Grandma hosted the holidays, she did all the cooking. When I was old enough, she’d let me do the relish tray, but other than that, it was all on her: the turkey (for Thanksgiving and Christmas) or ham (for New Years and Easter), the mashed potatoes or potato salad, the yams or her incredible baked beans. She did it all. Amazing.
The dessert table, as if we had room after a huge Easter dinner. It’s possible I made the bunny cake.
How do you do your holidays? Always in the same place, or do members of the family trade off? Let me know in the comments. It would be great to share stories.
I’ve done a fair number of book signings, sometimes alone, sometimes with other authors. I’ve done them in bookstores, at libraries, and outdoors. I’ve done talks and then signed my books, or just sat at a table with my books piled high, watching folks avoid eye contact with me as they passed me on their way to the cookbook or self-help section. 🙂
Usually I’m indoors. Or when I am outdoors, it’s in a lovely, temperate season (such as the springtime book signings I did at a lovely daylily farm). I’ve had signing where I’ve sold many books, a few books, one book, and zero books. I always start my signings full of hope, but while I do my best to pitch my books to passersby, it’s considered bad form to tackle them and force it into their hands.
Always handy to have a few cowboys at your side.
My most recent signing was a real adventure in that it was outdoors and it was freaking cold. Combine Placerville’s nearly 2000 foot elevation with the first official day of winter, add in me standing in the shade along a section of street with a wind tunnel effect, and you have one mighty cold writer. It didn’t help that I hadn’t brought a jacket. By the end of the three hours I stood behind my table, I was a Popsicle.
I do learn something at every book signing I do. Here are a few new tips in no particular order:
This pair of Standardbred horses pulling the stagecoach are 28 years old and former harness racers. When they trot up the alley, you’d better get out of their way.
Make sure you understand the terms
I’d arranged with Placerville News to do the book signing, but I’d brought my own copies. I’d expected to sell the books myself from my table. The store expected that customers would bring the books inside to purchase them and the store would take a cut. I was able to negotiate the split with the store, but I should have gotten that worked out before signing day.
For outdoor signings, be prepared for the weather
I shoulda known better. I’d brought a heavy coat the year before, but I didn’t want to wear wear it this year because it was kinda ugly. I suffered for that decision. Did I mention how cold I was?
Stand behind the table rather than sit
Click on cover to buy CLEAN BURN
I’ve actually been following this tip for quite a while. If you stand, you’re at eye level with your potential readers. It’s much easier to engage with them. You’re able to at least say hi as they pass by, and maybe they’ll get curious enough to stop and check out your books. Of course if you’re physically unable to stand all that time, you’ll have to sit. But you’ll still want to say hi and smile, smile, smile.
Stay off your cell phone
I was a little naughty in ignoring this tip. I was pretty discouraged at first with how my signing was going. I texted a pity-me message to my husband, then got preoccupied with checking for his response. But for the most part, I left that distracting device in my pocket. It’s too hard to engage with potential buyers if you’re texting or playing Words with Friends.
Click on cover to buy AWAKENING
Don’t eat popcorn during a signing
Yes, I munched a box of popcorn during the signing. And was horrified afterward when I saw my teeth. Ugh. Very embarrassing. My only excuse is that because the signing started at noon, I hadn’t had lunch beforehand. I was starving. People kept coming out of the store with popcorn and I just couldn’t resist. Now I understand why kids who wear braces aren’t allowed to eat popcorn. That stuff sticks everywhere. Double ugh.
Have fun
It’s tough sometimes when you’ve stood there for what seems like an eternity and you haven’t sold even one book. But you never know if the person you engage in conversation during a book signing will later check out your books online and become one of your biggest fans. That memory of meeting you will stick with them, and you want to leave them with a positive impression.
Anyone have any tips of your own? Experiences (or horror stories) that you’d like to share? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
That’s me, front left, 7 months pregnant with son number 2, ladling some of my grandmother’s fabulous gravy.
In my family, any holiday was an excuse for a party, and usually included a table full of food. New Year’s Day was ham and potato salad, Easter featured deviled eggs and bunny cakes (and plenty of candy since Lent had ended), there were special meals for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, barbecues for Memorial Day, softball games in the park for 4th of July and fireworks and hot dogs after, Labor Day was a last hurrah after summer, we all dressed up in costumes and ate more candy for Halloween, and the table would groan with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberries and pumpkin pie for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. If any month didn’t have a holiday (or even if it did), we celebrated birthdays, lots and lots of birthday, each one with its own cake and party.
So it’s no surprise that when some author friends suggested we do a joint holiday anthology, I jumped at the chance. Five of us contributed lovely, happily-ever-after stories to the Celebrate! anthology (buy it here), spanning five holidays throughout the year. Since they’re short stories between about 30 and 60 pages each, they’re quick reads, but each one is long enough to feature a satisfying romance. They’re kind of like little, bite-sized romance novels, like that gooey Cadbury egg you might savor at Easter or a luscious truffle you enjoy at Christmas.
Here’s the lineup of authors in Celebrate!:
Linda Barrett, “Man of the House,” Mother’s/Father’s Day
Rogenna Brewer, “One Star-Spangled Night,” Independence Day
Barbara McMahon, “Love and all the Trimmings,” Thanksgiving
Karen Sandler (moi!), “The 8th Gift,” Hanukkah
Debra Salonen, “My Christmas Angel,” Christmas
Take a taste of the holidays with Celebrate! Buy it here.
This week, YA Highway’s Road Trip Wednesday asks the question, How do you balance hectic times like the holidays with your writing schedule?
Um, yeah. How do you do that?
I’m not sure I’ve entirely figured that one out. The good news is, I’ve been under contract with a publishing house nearly every holiday season for the past dozen or so years. The bad news is, that means I’ve got a deadline staring me in the face every year all through the holidays.
Which means I have to stay focused and on task in November and December. Yes, I’m longing to go Christmas shopping (or Hanukkah shopping–our family goes both ways). I’m dreaming of baking Christmas (or Hanukkah) cookies. I’m jonesing to go up the hill to one of the local tree farms to cut down my tree. But I can’t just take off all the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas (much as I might wish it) because that darn book isn’t going to write itself.
So what do I do? I do cut myself some slack. I choose a day or afternoon for the tree cutting, for the baking, for the decorating. I work hard on the days when I don’t have holiday festivities planned and get as much written as I can. I tend to do the Christmas shopping in one fell swoop, demanding a list from everyone, and storm the stores on a weekday when they’re less busy. And I keep an eye on my word count and the number of days remaining until the deadline.
I do find it annoying to have to write during the holidays. Even worse, my birthday is smack dab in the middle of the holiday season, so there’s another distraction. But I also know that I’m very lucky to be working under contract, to have that deadline, so who am I to gripe?
How about you? How do you keep working during the holidays? Christmas carols on or off? Christmas cookies stacked on your desk? Is your office decorated? I wanna know how the rest of you do it.
