Thanks to everyone who came by to discuss telegraphy with me – enjoyed reading each and every comment. I threw all the names in a cyber-hat and pulled out the following three:
Thank you for inviting me back to Pistols and Petticoats. It’s been a full year since I last visited to promote my second contemporary Love Inspired book, A Faithful Guardian, and I’m so happy to visit you again. I never tire of talking about our favorite genre: western romances. At the risk of repeating myself, I’ll just say I love to cheer for our heroes and heroines as they work through conflicts and adversities on their way to earning their happily-ever-after. Today I want to talk about my brand new release, Feuding with the Cowboy, the third book in my series about the Mattson family of New Mexico cattle ranchers.
True confession: Sometimes I fear I’m committing cultural appropriation when I write about cowboys. Like Nan Reinhardt wrote on this blog the other day (January 6, 2026), I don’t know any real, actual cowboys. It doesn’t count that many, many years ago, I went to high school with some cowboys and cowgirls in my southern Colorado high school. Or that my late sister owned a small ranch in New Mexico that served as my original inspiration for this series. Still, like Nan, I have watched countless cowboy movies and television shows and rodeos. And several years ago, my granddaughter was a rodeo queen, Junior Miss Silver Spurs, in Kissimmee, Florida, and is still a champion horsewoman in college. Those are my only cowboy credentials.
Still, the allure of the cowboy mystique is strong, and I can’t resist visiting my imaginary ranches and creating fictional versions of those real life hardworking, rugged individuals who helped build this amazing country I’m blessed to live in.
Now, about Feuding with the Cowboy and my Mattson family of cowboys and ranchers. In the historical novels I wrote about the beginnings of this family dynasty, I included a feud with another family, one of the staples of Old West stories. Just for fun, I brought that feud forward to the modern day, which of course meant I had to create a Romeo and Juliet story. I mean, if two families have been feuding for over a hundred and fifty years, how could it fail to happen that two young people from those opposing families would fall in love? Here’s the story:
He once defied his family for love. Can he risk it again?
Despite the generations-old vendetta between their families, Sam Mattson fell for Juliet Sizemore in high school—only to have his heart broken and his trust betrayed. And now, ten years later and a single mom, she reappears, asking for his help to gain custody of her troubled half brother. Sam knows he’s wading into dangerous territory, but he can’t bring himself to turn his back on Juliet. Yet old emotions don’t always fade, and Sam’s fractured cowboy heart is already feeling more than it should. Especially when Juliet’s hiding a secret that will transform their lives forever…
Learn more on Amazon or Harlequin.
I’m delighted to share one print copy of Feuding with the Cowboy to a U. S. resident. Please leave a comment below and answer one of these questions: Do you know any cowboys? If so, what’s your connection to them? If not, why do you love cowboys?
South Carolina author Louise M. Gouge writes contemporary and historical romance fiction, winning the prestigious IRCA in 2006 and placing as a finalist in 2011, 2015, 2016, and 2017. She was also a finalist in the American Christian Fiction Writers Carol Awards in 2005, 2007, and 2008, and placed in the Laurel Wreath contest in 2012. Most recently, she was a finalist in the 2023 and 2024 Selah Awards. A former college English and humanities professor, Louise is a 25 year member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Faith, Hope, and Love Christian Writers. Married for fifty-four happy years to her beloved husband, David, Louise is now widowed and spends her days researching and writing her next novel.
You can find her complete Booklist and more info about her writing at her website.
Join Louise on Facebook
Follow Louise on BookBub.
The Winner of a
$25 Amazon Gift Card
is
Deb Volkman
Deb, I will email you to make sure the email I have from this website works
Then get your card sent.
Ambush of the Heart is available now from pre-order
Research done nearly a year ago…becomes a book.
I traveled to Fort Smith Arkansas…and the fact it was February and warm enough for my husband to play golf…well, that’s not why i went, but it’s why he cooperated.
There was so much to see. Fort Smith has really done a great job of preserving it’s history. At it’s most basic…Fort Smith was the gateway to Indian Territory…and outlaws treated Indian Territory like base in a gun-slinging game of tag.
They’d run across the border into Indian Territory and local law enforcement couldn’t follow. Once they were in there, they were safe from capture.
Remember True Grit? I’m thinking of the original with John Wayne.John Wayne was a US Marshal. That picture is photos of movies featuring US Marshals. Here is a collection of some of the more famous movies.
When Rooster Cogburn went hunting Lucky Ned Pepper…he rode into Indian Territory…and Kim Darby wanting to go along was outrageous. it was a lawless (except for the marshals) dangerous place…worse than the usual western landscape.
Assigning the US Marshals Service to go in there, that was federal. However, Fort Smith, Arkansas was a place of corruption. Even with the Marshals going in and arresting them, those outlaws would bribe the judge and walk right back into Indian Territory…until they assigned Judge Parker to the court there.
He was a hangin’ judge for a fact. Honestly most of the history of the city is about him more than the marshals…except for the Marshals Museum. And he was so quick and ruthless to sentence everyone to hanging that is caused some trouble.
Some pictures from my trip:
A list of the men Judge Parker hung
They rebuilt the gallows for a display…a little grim.
A replica of Judge Parker’s Courtroom
A quote from Judge Parker. What can I say?
They sent him in to clean things up…and he took his job seriously.
Fort Smith’s efforts to … ahem … soften? Redeem? Whitewash?
His image pretty much boiled down to …they all had it coming.
Get a load of the fees!!
$2 for a prisoner brought in. This could take days or weeks and you were risking your LIFE, for $2.
NOTHING if you brought him in dead.
75 cents to feed the prisoners. You could get reimbursed for mileage. Your posse earned money.
This is Bass Reeves. A black US Marshal. There is a show about him on Paramount +. Very cool dude. Some of what I read said they based the Lone Ranger on him…simply because, in that day and age, a seemingly wandering black man would come into your town and suddenly a bad guy disappeared. Few people connected the outlaw’s disappearance to Bass Reeves. He caught (it’s said) 3,000 outlaws and worked as a marshal for 32 years.
This is Phoebe Couzins, the first female US Marshal…she was also one of the first licensed attorneys in the United States.
Sign at the entrance to the US Marshals Museum.
Some political strife, huh?
All this research is in an effort to write a series we’re calling Rocky Mountain Marshals. book #1 is Ambush of the Heart. Yes, Fort Smith is in Arkansas but my Marshals are in Colorado.
Leave a comment about trips that took you by surprise. I’m a big museum girl but you can talk about anywhere. One lucky winner will get a $25 Amazon gift card…in time for CHRISTMAS!!!
AVAILABLE NOW FOR PRE-ORDER.
RELEASING FEBRUARY 3, 2026.
Saddle Up for Christmas Grace:
Finding a Place to Belong on the Western Frontier
When we picture Christmas in the Old West, we often think of snow-covered barns, handmade gifts, and sleigh rides over open prairie. But what strikes me most is how the season pressed people together—whether or not they wanted it. The frontier had a way of stripping life down to the essentials: warmth, food, shelter… and people. Even strangers could become kin if the wind blew hard enough.
In A Place to Belong, Josephine Blake arrives in Shumard Oak Bend with nothing but a suitcase, a secret, and a baby about to be born. She doesn’t come looking for family. She doesn’t come expecting grace. But both find her anyway.
“You’ve done plenty,” Josephine whispered, though she wasn’t sure she believed it. The townsfolk had offered soup and shelter. But offering something and meaning it were not the same.
Josephine’s journey isn’t about holiday cheer—it’s about the quiet miracle of being welcomed when you don’t feel worthy. And isn’t that, in a way, the most honest kind of Christmas story? One where belonging isn’t earned by lineage or land, but gifted by love?
In the West, people had to choose each other. There wasn’t always a blood relation nearby. Or a preacher. Or a proper house to call home. Community meant making room, even when your own hands were full. That’s the redemption that threads through Josephine’s story—not just salvation, but restoration through the kindness of others.
“Christmas has a way of finding the cracks,” Pastor Korhonen said. “And pouring in just enough light to remind us we were never alone.”
I’ve often thought about what it meant to be a woman on the frontier. There were expectations, sure. But also, survival left little space for gossip or pettiness. A baby’s cry or a fevered brow had a way of softening hard edges. Josephine doesn’t arrive in Shumard Oak Bend ready to be loved. She comes prepared to run. But grace is relentless. It catches up to her as townsfolk who meet her needs in practical ways.
It’s easy to romanticize the West, just like we do Christmas. But I hope A Place to Belong captures something real—the ache and beauty of finding a home not because you fit in, but because someone opened the door.
This season, if you long for a reminder that redemption doesn’t come wrapped in tidy packages—or if you’ve ever felt like an outsider looking in—I hope Josephine’s story speaks to you. She didn’t expect a place at the table. She just needed somewhere to sit.
And she found it.
I’m giving away a signed print copy of A Place to Belong to one person who leaves a comment on today’s post.
What does belonging mean to you this season?
Have you ever been surprised by grace in an unexpected place?
Come say hello in the comments below. I’ll be popping in throughout the day and would love to chat!
And if you’d like to sample my writing, I have a Christmas short story to share with you when you sign up for my newsletter. Before We Belong is a tender tale of grace, hope, and fresh beginnings—available exclusively to my Reader Family. It’s my gift to you this season, and I hope it brings a bit of warmth to your heart. You can sign up right here and start reading today.
Wishing you a warm fire, a full heart, and a Christmas that finds the cracks and pours in light.
Hi! Nancy Fraser here! I’m so pleased to return to Petticoats & Pistols for another visit. Just last week, I uploaded my final book for 2025 and now I’m going to take a much needed few week’s off before I begin again working on 2026. Hard to believe we’ve almost reached another year-end, isn’t it?
Today, though, I want to talk about western research. There is a definite skill required to organize the information needed to accurately portray the wild west in the 1800s. So much we take for granted now, or assume is correct, wasn’t even heard of in the 1880s or before.
My favorite searches revolve around the following:
• When did my story’s location ceased to become a territory and attain statehood?
• When did my location first get a railroad? Iceboxes? Dare I say it… electricity?
• How far is my fictitious location from a larger city? (Of course that’s my decision, but I like to find a similar real location and pretend it’s my fake town for distance purposes.)
• What was the population of the territory in 1885?
All of the above are fun and often necessary searches. By far my favorites are these:
• What’s the old west slang word for “a handsome man”? (Answer: Belvidere)
• How would my crusty character say, “the end” or “closed”? (Answer: Eventuate)
I keep an ongoing list of western slang that I’ve sorted three ways: alphabetically, by subject, and by first-used date. Yes, I sometimes over-organize. At the moment, my list is over 150 words long.
I thought it might be fun to share thirty of my favorites in a Word Search. Go ahead and give it a try. Feel free to share your results in the comments below.
OLD WEST SLANG WORD SEARCH
Clothing styles are another fun search. The array of references out there is sometimes overwhelming (and not always accurate). Given I write mostly small-town settings with everyday characters, it’s hard to go wrong with a simple skirt and plain blouse, or a calico dress. Trousers (not jeans) for the men and a gray or off-white shirt. Jeans (specifically Levis) are okay if we’re into the mid to late 1870s. Even though plaid/flannel was created by the Welsh in the 17th century, the fabric didn’t become popular in the western U.S. until the late 19th century.
Because I also create a lot of my own covers, as well as covers for several multi-author series books, one of my biggest frustrations is finding the perfect outfit, but realizing the model is wearing far too much makeup for the time period. I’ve become an expert in removing telltale signs of red lipstick and eyeliner. Still, making that cover perfect is all part of what I consider research.
In this final quarter of the year, I’ve released two sweet, historical romances. Both books required extensive research, and both include a few of those colorful slang words or phrases. (What’s a long list if you don’t use it?”)
I’d love to give you a peek at both of my accomplished and feisty heroines, and the men who fall in love with them.
Addie: Mackinac Bride (National Park Brides Series)
Other than two years of college in Big Rapids, Adelaide (Addie) MacDonald has spent her entire life on Mackinac Island in northern Michigan. Just a child when President Grant designated Mackinac as a National Park in 1875, she and her family were at the dedication.
In the years since, many have left the island for bigger and better things, yet Addie stayed behind as one of the few civilian employees. It’s been her dream to someday leave the island and finish her degree in agriculture and one day own her own farm.
When Jonathan (Jon) Ferris first met Addie, she was only twelve, he was eighteen, and on his way to college. After graduation, his plan was to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the military. Now, ten years later, he’s returning to Mackinac to take over command of the fort and the park. When he first sees Addie again, he can’t believe his eyes. Gone are the freckles and bright red ponytail. In their place is a beautiful and confident young woman.
Will returning to the park be the permanence he wants for his career and for his life? Will verbally sparring with the opinionated Addie lead to something infinitely more interesting? More importantly, will Addie find a way to fulfil her dreams while keeping those she loves close?
You can find Addie and Jon’s story on #KindleUnlimited.
Dumplings by Daria (Old Timey Holiday Kitchen Series)
Doctor Daria Keller arrives in Whistler Falls Montana at the height of their first winter storm. With barely enough time to drop off her luggage, she finds herself whisked off to the clinic to help set broken arms and treat frostbite.
When Rancher Finn MacIsaac arrives at the clinic to claim his injured son, he mistakes Daria for a nurse and dismisses her instructions out of hand, preferring to wait for the doctor. When she informs him that she is a doctor, he still insists on waiting until he can speak to a man. Pegging him as a chauvinist, Daria rushes off to help other patients.
It’s inevitable that they’ll cross paths, especially when Daria and Finn’s housekeeper become fast friends. Daria settles into her new position as head of the town’s clinic and small hospital and earns the respect of all those around her. The only person she’s not become friends with is Finn.
As winter takes a firm hold on the area, Daria must make a house call north of town. A buggy accident causes her and Finn to be trapped in snowbound cabin with only their wits and Finn’s skill with an axe to keep them warm. They do their best to avoid one another until they realize they’re both hiding hurt from their past. Over a tin of beans, they finally open up and share their secrets.
Can two people who started off at odds make up for lost time? Or are they destined to be nothing more than friends?
Finn and Daria’s romance is also available on #KindleUnlimited.
With the holidays fast approaching, I’d love to know your go-to holiday side dish or your family’s favorite activity. I’m also giving away one eBook copy of each of my featured books. Just comment below for your chance to win.
Until next time, I wish you happiness, good health, time to read, and a joyous holiday season!
Nancy
NANCY FRASER is a bestselling and award-winning author who can’t seem to decide which romance genre suits her best. So, she writes them all.
Her preferred genres are sweet western historical and sweet small-town contemporary. However, she has been known to dabble in the most unusual settings.
When not writing (which is almost never), Nancy dotes on her five wonderful grandchildren and looks forward to traveling and reading when time permits. Nancy lives in Atlantic Canada where she enjoys the relaxed pace and colorful people.
You can follow Nancy here:
The Winner
of a
$25 Amazon Gift Card
is
Laura Michelle Delgado
Ambush of the Heart
is available for Preorder
And it’s on a VERY good sale at Baker Book House—Click Here
Whispers of Fortune
Legends of Gold
Riches Beyond Measure
You know…I’ve ended up really liking this lost treasure series.
It’s all released now. Sometimes, from the author’s perspective, it’s a little hard to see the whole thing while you’re in the middle of writing it.
Trust me…sometimes its hard.
The Golden State Treasure Series is in the rear-view mirror and NEXT UP
Rocky Mountain Marshals Series
Book #1 coming in February
It’s about my favorite cover EVER
It’s about three US Marshals driven into the mountains to escape a band of outlaws who want to break the prisoner free who they are transporting.
And the rest of the book is running, shooting, getting so so so lost. And of course…falling in love.
Ambush of the Heart
About a year ago, I started kicking around the idea for a new holiday series. The notion of it having something to do with silver bells got stuck in my head.
So I asked my hubby, Captain Cavedweller, to brainstorm some ideas with me.
By the time we’d finished, I had pages of notes, a fictional town named Lovely (that was going to be anything but lovely, at least in the first book), and the plans for a four-book series that followed a family of silversmiths.
I didn’t know anything about silversmith work, but I sure enjoyed learning enough to write the stories.
I knew even less what someone would do in 1876 when they wanted to work with silver but were too poor to acquire any that was “clean.”
In the first book, A Joyful Ring, Gunder Burke leaves behind the big city of Pittsburgh after finding an advertisement for a silver mine in the new town of Lovely, Oregon. He sets on out a journey, determined to build a good life for himself. A life that will allow him to move his parents and sisters to Oregon as well.
Gunder arrives and Lovely is nothing like it was advertised. He gets a job at the silver mine, but is still determined to turn silver into something more. His father’s ancestors were bell makers and his mother’s family were known for making jewelry in their home country of Sweden.
It was fascinating to learn how Gunder could scrape up the tiny bits of silver from beneath the wagons that transported it, clean it, then melt it. In the story, Gunder struggles to figure out how to get the fire hot enough to melt the silver.
Here’s a little scene from the story.
Gunder watched her go, then returned to pumping the bellows until the fire burned so hot that he couldn’t stand to sit there any longer.
He stood and moved back, waiting as the blaze dropped below the rock rim of the pit he’d built. Assured it wouldn’t burst back to roaring flames and catch anything on fire, he returned his box to the hiding spot beneath his cot, washed up at the pump by the cookshack, and joined the other mine employees for Jed’s supper of ham, potatoes, and soggy green beans. For dessert, they had slabs of apple cake that were actually tasty, and not a crumb of it remained when the meal was finished.
Gunder hurried back to his tent, full and content. Although the sun had set, there was still enough light remaining in the sky for him to see. When he scooted the coals off the pot in his pit and lifted the lid, he saw that the silver had melted.
It had finally melted!
“Hurrah!” Gunder shouted and raised both hands to the sky in victory.
“What happened?” Risa asked, suddenly appearing at his side. Her presence was so welcome, he didn’t bother to wonder why she was there.
“It melted! My silver finally melted!” he said, swinging her into his arms and dancing her in a lively jig around the fire pit until she was laughing so much she could hardly stand upright. Her hair slipped from her pins, and the shawl she wore was askew, but he thought she looked utterly enticing. He’d never seen her hair down, not that it all was now, but the strands that had escaped looked like shimmering ribbons of silk. His hands itched to reach out and finger one of the waves.
“Congratulations, Gunder.” She gave him a hug and kissed his cheek, then stepped back and looked at the silver that was already beginning to harden back into a solid form. “You can melt it again, can’t you?”
“I certainly can. I’m going to need more oak wood, though.”
Four generations of Birke family silversmiths find joy and love during the holidays.
In 1876, Gunder Birke leaves the daily struggle of Pittsburgh behind, determined to build a better life in the rough-and-tumble mining town of Lovely, Oregon. Hired as a freighter to haul dangerous explosives for the local mine, Gunder faces ongoing danger—but nothing as treacherous as the risk to his heart when he meets the beautiful and spirited Risa Hoffman.
After losing her mother and siblings, Risa has spent most of her life on the move with her father, never knowing what it means to have a real home. When she convinces him to settle in Lovely, the remote, uninviting town is far from the idyllic refuge she imagined. Still, Risa pours her hopes into building a future, working at the boardinghouse while dreaming of a finding a husband who can offer stability and comfort.
But when Gunder’s steady kindness and quiet strength awaken feelings she never expected, Risa must choose between the security she’s always longed for and the love that rings true in her heart.
As snow begins to fall across the rugged Oregon landscape, two souls discover that sometimes the most beautiful gifts come wrapped in hope, faith, and the promise of love.
A Joyful Ring is the first book in the wholesome holiday Silver Bell Sweethearts series.
A Joyful Love (releasing tomorrow!)
Caleb Birke once believed adventure waited somewhere beyond the horizon. But after wandering the world, he discovers the one place his heart longs to be is right where he began—home in Lovely, Oregon. Now devoted to preserving his family’s legacy of fine silverwork, Caleb lovingly crafts everything from heirloom sleigh bells to western saddle silver, each piece carrying stories of the past and hope for the future.
A routine delivery trip to Baker City becomes anything but ordinary when he meets Laramee Scott—a lively, sharp-witted horse trainer who steals his breath and quickly claims his heart.
After fleeing a scandal in Texas, Laramee is grateful to find refuge with her aunt and uncle in Eastern Oregon. The land, the horses she loves, and the freedom to rebuild her life are exactly what she needs—until one unexpected encounter with Caleb makes her wonder if she wasn’t running from her past, but being led toward her future.
As Christmas draws near and snow begins to fall on the high desert, Caleb and Laramee discover that love—like silver—can be shaped, refined, and polished into something lasting. But only if they are willing to trust their hearts… and believe that sometimes the greatest gift of all is the courage to love.
A tender, heartfelt holiday romance, A Joyful Love is filled with family legacies, jingling sleigh bells, and the timeless hope Christmas brings.
A Joyful Promise (November 27)
Baylor Birke has always known where he belongs—at the silver bench in his family’s shop in Eastern Oregon, crafting Western heirlooms that honor a legacy that is generations strong. Spurs that jangle, bridles that shine, and saddle silver that elevates cowboys into kings makes his work feel both satisfying and meaningful as he labors in the place he loves. But when a shy, talented young woman arrives in Lovely, Baylor begins to wonder if life has more to offer than tradition… perhaps even a joyful promise he never expected.
Bonnie McClure has spent her life preparing to take over her family’s department store in Heppner, but the world of inventories and invoices has never stirred her passion. Her true calling is in the artistry of embroidery, turning simple cloth into something beautiful with every graceful stitch. Sent to Lovely to care for her injured aunt, Bonnie anticipates a quiet holiday season … until she crosses paths with the handsome cowboy who caught her eye in Pendleton at the rodeo.
As Christmas approaches and they are thrust into helping with the church program, Baylor and Bonnie find themselves caught between obligation and longing, expectations and dreams. The magic of the season whispers of possibility— but only if they dare to follow their hearts.
Will the holidays bring them a joyful promise of love and a future stitched together with hope?
Discover a wholesome holiday romance filled with small-town charm, heartfelt tradition, and the timeless magic of Christmas.
A Joyful Home (December 4)
Silver artist Bo Birke has crisscrossed the globe showcasing her award-winning work, but the only place that truly feels like hers is Lovely, Oregon—the quiet Eastern Oregon town where generations of Birkes have crafted heirloom treasures. Time with her beloved grandpa Baylor and her Birke cousins restores her spirit, while the call to protect her family’s legacy grows stronger every time she steps into her workshop. Bo thinks she knows exactly what her future holds… until a chance encounter introduces her to the one thing she didn’t realize she was missing.
Rafe Judson lives for the rhythm of working with horses. When his parents buy a ranch outside Lovely, they tempt him to move there with wide-open pastures and the freedom to train equines the way he prefers. He’s not convinced this small town is where he belongs—until he bumps into a gorgeous, spirited woman in the local convenience store. Suddenly, staying doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.
As the holiday season arrives, Bo and Rafe are drawn together by shared dreams, unexpected laughter, and a growing sense that home isn’t a place—it’s a person.
Will they discover that the joyful home they’ve both been searching for is waiting for them to take a leap of faith?
A wholesome, holiday romance filled with hope and Christmas-kissed nights, A Joyful Home is perfect for readers who love heartfelt family legacies, tender love stories, and happily-ever-afters wrapped in the sparkle of the season.
Be sure you enter the big The Bridge giveaway!
Then come back here and share if you’ve started reading Christmas stories yet, and if not, when you crack open that first book full of holiday magic.
Hello! MK McClintock here. As the air turns crisp and the scents of spices and pine fill the house, I am drawn every year to one of my favorite traditions — pulling out my “A Home for Christmas” story collection. It’s become as much a part of my holiday season as decorating the tree or baking delicious treats — sometimes old favorites that remind me of the stories, or from newly discovered recipes that someone else has thoughtfully shared. But for me, it’s not just a collection of stories — the stories are a piece of my heart.
When I first began writing Christmas stories, I had no idea how deeply I would come to feel about them. I simply wanted to capture the feelings of the season — the quiet hush of a snowy evening, the golden glow of lights against a dark sky, the simple warmth of love and belonging. I lost myself in the characters’ stories, as authors do, often with a mug of something hot by my side, trying to translate that sense of comfort and wonder onto the page.
Now, every December (sometimes sooner), when I pull the collection from the shelf, it is like a homecoming. Each story 
carries with it a little echo of the time in which it was written — the mood I was in, the people I loved, the memories I wanted to hold on to.
There’s something so special about rereading my own words year after year. I can see the journey I’ve taken as a writer — the early stories that are simple and sincere, and the later ones that weave in more depth, more reflection. But above all, I can feel the same heartbeat running through them all: a deep affection for the season and what it represents.
Christmas has always had a way of slowing me down and reminding me what really matters, going so far as to trade in abundant gift-giving for simple presents only given to the children in the family, to better remember what the season means (stockings are still fair game). Writing these stories helped me put that feeling into something lasting — something I could share. And every time a reader tells me one of my books has become part of their own holiday tradition, I am truly touched. 
When I pull out all the Christmas books – mine and those of other authors’ I’ve come to love to read – and set them out on shelves, tables, and by my bedside, surrounded by twinkling lights and soft music, I am overcome with gratitude for the stories themselves, for the people who read them, and for the way writing them has deepened my love for this beautiful season.
As I wait to decorate the house and trim the tree in the days after Thanksgiving, I’ll once again pour a cup of tea, settle by the fire, and open those familiar pages. And just like that, Christmas will have arrived — in both the world outside and in my heart, where these stories first began.
How do you read your favorite Christmas stories? By the fire? In your favorite reading nook? Any special hot drinks to go with your reading? Coffee, tea, hot chocolate, cider? I’m giving away one copy of A Home for Christmas (ebook or print) to one lucky commenter.
