Blog
Not only is Brenda Novak a bestselling, award-winning author, she’s also a first-rate fundraiser. Her latest book, THE HEART OF CHRISTMAS, is the seventh in her popular Whiskey Creek series and brings us back to the small Gold Country town just in time for some Christmas magic. In her Holiday Author Blog, Brenda shares a lesson she learned from her son when he was only six years old: Magic can be anywhere, so long as we choose to see it.
Caroline L. Arnold has been a technology leader on Wall Street for more than a decade, leading software development teams as large as 500 technologists. It’s a good thing, then, that she knows a thing or two about goal-oriented behavior. Her book SMALL MOVE, BIG CHANGE is all about how creating and sticking to “microresolutions” are the key to personal success. Here, Caroline talks about the book that changed her entire perception of cause and effect --- and the way history is driven by the actions of individuals, not impersonal, abstract forces. It’s a timely lesson we could all bear to learn as the new year fast approaches!
Debut author Scott Cheshire boasts an impressive resume. In addition to his job as interview editor at the Tottenville Review, he teaches writing at the Sackett Street Writers' Workshop, and his work has been published in Slice, AGNI, Guernica and the Picador anthology THE BOOK OF MEN. HIGH AS THE HORSES' BRIDLES is his vivid first novel about a father and son divided by a dangerous prophecy. It was published just this summer, and here Scott describes another first: the first time he celebrated Christmas at the not-so-tender age of 32.
Bestselling superstar author Debbie Macomber’s latest book, MR. MIRACLE, is the perfect holiday story. When guardian angel Harry Mills is tasked with helping 24-year-old Addie Folsom get her life back on track, not even he can predict the surprises that lay in store when Addie and her polar-opposite neighbor, Erich, are forced to spend Christmas together. Debbie also knows a thing or two about the perfect holiday gift. Here, she shares the books she’s giving to her granddaughters this Christmas, and how she went above and beyond to make them extra special. Just call her Mrs. Miracle!
Author Lauren Francis-Sharma already had a long career as an attorney before she began writing 'TIL THE WELL RUNS DRY, a remarkable novel about a young woman's secret that is loosely based on Lauren's own grandmother's story. The child of Trinidadian immigrants, Lauren received her bachelor’s degree in English literature before attending law school. Though she did not take the path she once had planned, she now intends to pen as many novels as possible. Here, Lauren writes about her most memorable professor, and how her words became a secret gift that she still holds dear today.
It’s easy to take for granted the impact a gift you give will have on its recipient. Ann Mah, journalist and author, most recently of MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH EATING, can trace how her own writing --- and the way she hopes to raise her daughter --- was influenced by a beloved childhood book, given to her by a grownup she’d never even met. So while you’re doing your last-minute holiday gift shopping, remember that a really good book can change someone’s life.
December 17, 2014
How The Adolescent Stole The Grinch: Christopher Scotton on the Joys of Reading Books Aloud
Despite being new on the scene, debut author Christopher Scotton is already receiving tons of buzz in the publishing world for THE SECRET WISDOM OF THE EARTH. It's hard to believe that Christopher, a tech-savvy CEO, wrote this impressive book in stolen minutes between managing several successful companies and a family. This isn't the first time he has found fame and glory through a book, however, as he explains in his Holiday Author Blog.
Sarah Jio is the internationally bestselling author of seven novels, including most recently THE LOOK OF LOVE. It’s the story of Jane Williams, who was born during a Christmas blizzard with a rare gift: the ability to see true love. It’s a magical story, if slightly implausible. Here, Sarah shares a story about another kind of magic --- the magic of the perfect book in the perfect place at just the right moment in time.
Tim Johnston wasn't always going to be an author. He had drawing in his blood --- doodling, sketching and wiling away the hours over his sketchpad as a boy. But when his mother gave him DRAWING THE HUMAN FIGURE, a book of figure studies, she inadvertently set him down another path. He discovered the artistic potential in the collision of image and text, which eventually would lead him to pursue an MFA in Creative Writing. This January, his circuitous path comes to fruition with the publication of his first novel, DESCENT. Enjoy his musings on that process below.
Award-winning journalist Joanne Huist Smith began writing short stories and journaling when she was only nine years old. Like all good bookworms, she was inspired to write (and shorten her first name) by Jo March, the heroine of Louisa May Alcott’s LITTLE WOMEN. Jo’s memoir, THE 13TH GIFT, is about how she and her family pulled together after the unexpected death of her husband with a little help from friends. Here, Jo shares how one good friend (and two amazing poems) moved her to pursue her passion for writing.
