Blog
In her first Holiday Author Blog for Bookreporter.com, Sukey Forbes (author of THE ANGEL IN MY POCKET: A Story of Love, Loss, and Life After Death) meditates on the power of a single book --- THE GIVING TREE. How does this children's book continue to surprise, teach and inspire over the course of a lifetime? Can we really learn something as complex as selflessness from a few dozen hallowed pages and pictures? Sukey's experience says yes.
Sheila Roberts is the bestselling author of 13 books. THE LODGE ON HOLLY ROAD --- the sixth installment in her fan-favorite Life in Icicle Falls series --- is about a recent widower and a single mom who get dragged to Olivia Wallace’s lodge on Holly Road, where unexpected romance is around every corner. Sheila’s granddaughters may still be too young to enjoy her fiction, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t already voracious readers! Here, Sheila talks about her little “book bugs” and the joy reading has brought to her life and theirs.
Cara Putman is the award-winning author of 19 books, including the acclaimed SHADOWED BY GRACE. In her latest, WHERE TREETOPS GLISTEN --- co-authored with Tricia Goyer and Sarah Sundin --- three stories chart the path of romance through one Christmas season during 1940s wartime. It comes as no surprise that Cara has a deep appreciation for the holiday season. Here, she shares what Christmas means to her family and why traditions are so important, no matter how you celebrate.
Besides being a bestselling author, Regina Calcaterra has many impressive titles: lawyer, state official and adoption/foster care activist. She grew up in foster care and on the streets of Long Island, surviving a painful childhood to become a driven, generous adult. Last year, her memoir ETCHED IN SAND was published, but she was no rookie when it came to telling the story of a life. More than a decade earlier, Regina helped trailblazing politician Geraldine Ferraro write FRAMING A LIFE, and that experience gave her the tools to frame her own life.
Actor, cook and author Tess Masters comes from a family of storytellers and book lovers. Today, Tess shares some of these stories on her popular BlenderGirl blog, where she offers countless fun and healthy recipes for life on-the-go. Her first book, THE BLENDER GIRL, is a cookbook full of some of her favorite recipes for meals, snacks and desserts. In her Holiday Author Blog, Tess describes her long relationship with Jane Austen's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and how it helped mend her broken heart.
In Ellen Meister’s most recent book, FAREWELL, DOROTHY PARKER, protagonist Violet Epps idolizes notorious literary firecracker Dorothy Parker, and gets more than she bargained for when Parker’s feisty spirit materializes from an ancient guestbook in the Algonquin Hotel and hitches a ride onto Violet’s life. Here, Ellen abandons Parker for Poe, in a spirited and wildly funny post-Christmas poem. Halloween is clearly not the only holiday that inspired horror!
Who actually reads THE ILIAD and THE ODYSSEY anymore, much less as a measles-ridden 10-year-old? Kim Wright, that's who! Though, as she tells us in her Holiday Author Blog post, little Kim didn't have much of a choice in the matter. She was itchy, sore and desperate for entertainment, turning begrudgingly to her aunt's Homeric Christmas gift. Luckily, the difficult reading proved worthwhile --- Kim has grown up seeing the epic underpinnings in so many stories, including her own novels, LOVE IN MID AIR and THE UNEXPECTED WALTZ (the latter of which will be available in paperback on December 30th).
Although Walter Mosley is best known for his Easy Rawlins mystery series --- the latest, ROSE GOLD, has Easy facing off against a revolutionary ex-boxer --- he has written books in pretty much every genre in between, from science fiction to nonfiction. His versatility is astounding, so it comes as no surprise that his love of storytelling was cultivated at a young age, when he received what seemed like a lifetime supply of clothbound volumes of fairy tales for Christmas.
Priya Parmar’s latest novel, VANESSA AND HER SISTER, is already topping the 2015 recommended reading lists. Set in the exhilarating days of prewar London, it tells the extraordinary tale of two gifted artists: Vanessa Bell and her sister, Virginia Woolf. But literary pursuits did not always come easy to Priya; as a young girl, she struggled to read. Here, she recounts the panic she felt each Christmas when she was presented with new books, as well as the wondrous relief at finally learning the notes.
Charles Blackstone, managing editor of Bookslut, is known for his experimental and avant-garde fiction. His most recent work, VINTAGE ATTRACTION, is the semi-autobiographical story of academia, celebrity and fine wine culture. Though Charles is now a respected figure in the literary world, he is not ashamed to admit that he was not much of a reader before the age of 15. It was at this time that he discovered Bret Easton Ellis' THE RULES OF ATTRACTION, a novel that gave Charles just the push he needed...plus the guts to pursue his own "vintage attraction."
