Happy Fourth of July!

Hope your weekend is filled with friends, family, fun...

and cake!

Happy Independence Day, America!

Friday Feature: SWEET CHRISTMAS KISSES 2 ~ available for pre-order

Too early for Christmas stories? Never!

Welcome in the holiday season with 19 heartwarming and wholesome novellas from New York Times, USA Today, national bestselling, and award-winning authors. 

Sweet Christmas Kisses 2 takes you from the Smoky Mountains to Florida’s sun-drenched beaches, from the Italian Alps to Paris, France, and even to a quirky little town in Arizona. The Sweet Christmas Kisses 2 bundle features all-new, stand-alone stories that are sure to make you laugh, sometimes bring tears to your eyes, but always put you in the Christmas spirit. Foreword by New York Times bestselling author, RaeAnne Thayne. 

 On sale September 29, but available NOW for pre-order for ONLY 99 CENTS!

Amazon: http://indi.uno/1i9UeJv

B&N: http://indi.uno/1JsnLXM

Kobo: http://indi.uno/1ErAkUy

iTunes: http://indi.uno/1NFPAA5

Google: http://indi.uno/1Ep9cp2

 About the stories...

Christmas Papa by Mona Risk, New York Times, USA Today, National bestselling and Award-winning author. With twin toddlers to care for, she can’t forget her past until a playboy’s kisses challenge her to believe in herself. 

Gingerbread Kisses by Beate Boeker, USA Today and National bestselling author. A cookie specialist finds sweet romance in the snowy Alps of Italy. 

Boycotting Christmas by Melinda Curtis, USA Today, National bestselling and Award-winning author. A bachelor seeks Christmas magic from a woman who’s boycotting Christmas. 

A Christmas to Remember by Denise Devine, USA Today, National bestselling and Award-winning author. Stranded together in a blizzard, Katie and Ryan discover the true meaning of Christmas. 

An Angel for Christmas by Raine English, USA Today, National bestselling and Award-winning author. A down-on-her-luck single mom finds love at Christmas. 

The Cowboy’s Christmas Bride by Aileen Fish, USA Today and National bestselling author. A snowstorm and a cow in distress bring a rancher and a veterinary student together for the holidays. 

Lucky Break Christmas: Second Honeymoon by Patricia Forsythe, USA Today, National bestselling and Award-winning author. Christmas is the perfect time to try and make a failed honeymoon go right. 

Beach Walk by Grace Greene, USA Today, National bestselling and Award-winning author. An oceanfront cottage—Kelli lives there; Dylan wants to. Will Christmas give them a do-over at finding happiness? 

An Irish Christmas Blessing by Roxanne Rustand, USA Today, National bestselling and Award-winning author. Eve goes to Ireland to run a quaint village bookshop and meets a stranger who just might steal her heart. 

Christmas Wedding by Magdalena Scott, USA Today and National bestselling author. Second chance love, and a designer dress, in a Christmas card setting. 

Finding You at Christmas by Kristin Wallace, USA Today, National bestselling and Award-winning author. She’s going to find her destiny this Christmas. 

Christmas Laurel by Christine Bush. Can a female army veteran find healing and love with the magic of Christmas? 

Country Christmas by Lois Greiman, Award-winning author. Heartbreak turns to happiness in the healing splendor of the Black Hills of South Dakota. 

The Christmas Crusade by Shanna Hatfield, National bestselling author. Two old flames reunite with a little holiday magic. 

The Christmas Charm by Susan R. Hughes, National bestselling author. Can childhood friendship blossom into love? 

Evergreen Romance by Julie Jarnagin. A couple reunites while working together at a Christmas tree lot. 

My Christmas Cupcake by Shaleen Kapil. A last minute Christmas Eve errand to the bakery cooks up romance. 

A Christmas Spark by Ciara Knight, National bestselling author. An abandoned cabin becomes a healing home for the holidays. 

Sweet Blizzard by Milou Koenings. He saves her life, she could make or break his; will the gift of love come in time for Christmas? 

* * * * *

My review coming soon! And yeah, I realize it's not even Halloween yet, but who can resist a good Christmas romance? 

Holiday Guest Blogging and Prizes!

My chair is empty today, as I've traveled over to Kate Evangelista's blog to talk about all things Christmas! Well, maybe not all things, but you know what I mean ;-)

Kate is a fellow Crescent Moon Press author, whose YA novel TASTE was one of the reasons I queried CMP in the first place!

Kate has been celebrating the Holiday Season all month with a series of guests and a ton of prizes and giveaways. If you haven't been over to her blog to check it out yet... you're missing out! GO! NOW!

Come visit me over there today at www.kateevangelista.com and be sure to leave a comment! I'm talking about my most memorable Christmas - and invite you to share a Christmas memory or two. There are 24 of us authors participating, and each of us is giving away some great stuff.

I'm giving away a paperback copy of my first novel, UNFOLDING THE SHADOWS, because it JUST CAME OUT IN PAPERBACK IN NOVEMBER! *yea*

The Holidays are On Their Way...

Can you believe Thanksgiving is next week? And Hanukkah starts soon after that... and then, before you know it...Christmas.

I've been working with Christmas and Holiday themed articles and stories for the last two months as we put together the Holiday issue of CapeWomenOnline magazine. We should be launching the magazine online this weekend (if there are no major snafus) but I've been thinking about the nature of this issue. It doesn't seem as "jolly" as previous years, or as glittery and over-the-top as the word "Holiday" seems to demand. Nor does it seem to me that people are withdrawing to curl up next to the fireplace and only focus on their own close-knit family. The feeling in the air is different this year.

And I don't think it's just me.

Maybe I'm just being the eternal optimist, but it seems like people are reaching out more. The actual "Spirit of Christmas" is alive and well, even if it isn't dusted with quite as much glitter and shiny toys.

Yes, the economy is still struggling, but people are refocusing on buying smaller and buying local to keep their local shops alive. Not a day has gone by in the last month that I haven't gotten a Facebook notice about another fundraiser for a good cause, or another collection for the victims of Hurricane Sandy who lost it all in the storm. People are looking outward, to help others in need,

Small things and simple acts are taking on more importance. The spirit of giving and volunteering seems  popular again - and even "cool" among students.

As I struggle to wrap my mind around holiday shopping, it occurs to me that my kids aren't asking for much this year. Maybe that's normal as they turn into teens and young adults, that they realize they don't need every shiny toy advertised on television. They are happy with what they have, and are more focused on what to give others.

How about you - have you noticed a downward shift in the "holiday frenzy," or am I just being optimistic?

Perfect for post-Thanksgiving reading: The Holiday Issue of CWO

)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! And hope that - like me - you're avoiding the "Black Friday" madness by staying home and hanging out with family and friends for this long holiday weekend.

If you find yourself needing a break from all that togetherness - which you must be if you're reading this - I've got the perfect solution:

The Holiday Issue of CapeWomenOnline magazine is online! Ready to warm your heart, make you think, and inspire you to new creative heights ;-)

...Or at least bring you back down from family-stress-mountain! If that's the place you find yourself, check out our new Department of Meditation columnist, Constance Wilkinson. Her frank tone and cheerful voice will have you breathing more easily in no time.

The Life Stories section is filled with holiday tales that will make you smile, as well as a few recipes - don't miss Gail Nickerson's authentic Glogg recipe, which really needs to be made this weekend to ferment in time to celebrate Christmas Eve in Swedish style!

Our Creative Women section introduces you to some wonderful Cape artists, including one group show that plans to use their exhibit to collect donations of care package items to send overseas to a platoon of New England Marines. In Community Action, check out the article that my Girl Scouts wrote to advertise their service project for the local animal shelter (I'm so proud of their efforts and told them if they wrote it, I'd make sure it got published. They did, and I did.)

If you've just spent Thanksgiving arguing about food with your conservative Uncle Frank, check out my article on Food Labeling in our Environment section. Did you know that 70% of all processed food products in the U.S. are made with genetically engineered ingredients? And they don't have to put any of that on the labels? Follow the link in the article to the Just Label It website and sign the petition to make the FDA require companies to tell us what's in our food.

Enough of me rambling - click on over to the magazine and see what's going on for the holidays on Cape Cod. And while you're there, sign up to receive our announcements - we only publish 5 times a year, so I promise we don't send many emails. No worries about a flooded inbox (like mine this Black Friday - is everyone getting all these email notices - I mean, how many times can the stores send out the same message with a different header?)

Happy Thanksgiving!

While the Macy's Day Parade might be the biggest Thanksgiving Day parade going, the annual Thanksgiving parade held in Plymouth, Massachusetts bills itself as "America's Biggest Hometown Parade."

There aren't any Broadway performers, but there are floats and marchers representing every stage of American History, from the Plimoth Wampanoag Natives through the Revolutionary War, the turn of the century, and Civil War soldier re-enactors. The State Police Marching Band is there, as well as the Highland bagpipe group from Cape Cod, kilts and all despite the chill wind.

There are marching bands and fife and drum corps from up and down the East Coast, only one of which is a high school band (from Plymouth High.) Restored antique cars of every era are represented, and there are several groups on horseback - including a team of giant Clydesdales pulling their wagon! The parade winds its way through Plymouth's streets and waterfront district for more than 2 hours.

Vendors hawk their wares to the crows lined along the sidewalks... cotton candy, balloons, hats, mittens, scarfs, plastic toys and noisemakers of every description... including knockoffs of the annoying horns that became so infamous at this summer's World Cup matches.
There are even parade balloons! Not quite the size of the ones in New York City, but impressive nonetheless.
And what Thanksgiving Day parade would be complete without Santa riding near the end of it all?

Wishing you and yours a happy, healthy, and safe Thanksgiving Day!