Christmas - Carmen Fox

December 15, 2014 The Write Path 2 Comments

THE WRITE PATH with Jennifer Bernard

THe Write Path

Jennifer Bernard

In my series The Write Path, my guests talk to me about their books. Today I welcome author Jennifer Bernard, who will discuss It’s a Wonderful Fireman, her Christmas novella and the last book in the Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriel series.

Let me hand over my mic. The next voice you’ll hear will be Jennifer’s.

1. What is your book about?

Jenny Bernard

It’s a Wonderful Fireman is the last book in the Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriel series. It’s a novella about Dean Mulligan, a firefighter who falls through a collapsing roof into a Christmas store. As the rest of the crew works on rescuing him, he experiences a sort of dream/hallucination in which Lizzie Breen, the girl he’s in love with, takes him back to his past to convince him that he’s worthy of her love. There’s a bit of It’s a Wonderful Life and a bit of Ladder 49 in this story. Not only that, but all the heroes of the previous books in the series make cameo appearances as they call come together to try to save Mulligan.

2. What do you think attracts readers to your main characters?

Since I write about firemen, my male (and sometimes female) protagonists have a natural, built-in heroism that I think appeals to readers. What I find special about firefighters is their blend of ordinary and extraordinary. They consider danger and risk part of the job, and are quite down-to-earth about it. I find that combination very attractive. I struggle much more with my female characters. I myself am an introspective person who lives a lot in my own head. When it comes to writing my heroines, they tend to have a lot of doubts and insecurities, which they’ve no doubt inherited from their creator. But those qualities can come across as whiny and … well, boring. So I have to work harder on my heroines to keep them from being annoying.

3. What message do you hope the reader takes away from your book?

I hope readers come away from It’s a Wonderful Fireman with a warm, hopeful, inspired feeling. Dean Mulligan is a Scrooge when it comes to Christmas because he’s had a rough road in life. He’s not able to see his own worth, which is something I think many people struggle with. What he experiences through the course of the book enables him to see inside his own soul to the light that lives there. And he’s able to allow himself to let Lizzie in, which he was never quite able to do before. And he can finally appreciate the magic of Christmas.

4. What was it about your book that made it so easy to attract your editor?

Since this book is part of a series, I was lucky that I didn’t have to go through the submission process with it. We’ve already released 6 full-length books and 2 novellas in the Bachelor Firemen series, and with this book, I really wanted to wrap everything up with a big Christmas bow. I sent my editor an email saying, “What would you think of the last book being a Christmas novella called “It’s a Wonderful Fireman.” She loved the idea and that was that. I wish it was always that easy!

5. Comparing the ideas you had before writing the book with the finished product, would you change anything if you could travel back in time?

Wow, how did you know that I originally wrote something completely different, then travelled back in time several times to do revisions? I thought it was my little secret! I did actually have an early version of a fireman Christmas novella that involved a road trip, a fire at a baseball stadium and a different love interest. I’d written about half of it, but it just felt wrong. I took a break to brainstorm titles when “It’s a Wonderful Fireman” popped into my head, along with the kernel of the idea (the trapped fireman dreaming of his beloved.) But it was a different heroine who showed up in my head — the little sister of the hero of a previous book! So I salvaged what I could from the first version and went with the new one, and everything flowed so easily after that. It’s my belief that nothing ever wasted in writing. It took slogging through that first version to come up with the right one.

About the Author

Jenny Bernard

Jennifer Bernard is the USA Today bestselling author of the Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriels series. She is a graduate of Harvard and a former news promo producer. The child of academics, she confounded her family by preferring romance novels to … well, any other books. She left big city life for true love in Alaska, where she now lives with her husband and stepdaughters. She’s no stranger to book success, as she also writes erotic novellas under a naughty secret name not to be mentioned at family gatherings.

Visit her on the Web at www.JenniferBernard.net.

Jennifer’S Links

Jennifer’s Website JenniferBernard.net

Facebook

Twitter @Jen_Bernard

Amazon Author Page

Goodreads

About the Book

Hard-edged fireman Dean Mulligan has never been a big fan of Christmas. Twinkle lights and sparkly tinsel can’t brighten the memories of too many years spent in ramshackle foster homes. Although he’s established himself as one of the top firefighters at San Gabriel Station 1, he doesn’t think he’s good enough for someone like gorgeous Lizzie.

Lizzie Breen is used to fighting—from her alpha male brothers who try to smother in the name of safety to the childhood life-threatening illness she overcame. She knows what she and Mulligan feel for each other is a lot more than a fling, but she can’t get him to see that. The only gift Lizzie wants to give him this season is her love, but he’s not willing to accept it.

When Mulligan is trapped in the burning wreckage of a holiday store, a Christmas angel arrives to open his eyes. But is it too late? This Christmas, it’ll take an angel, a determined woman in love, and the entire Bachelor Firemen crew to make him believe … it is indeed a wonderful life.

Piqued your interest? You can buy the book here.

December 3, 2014 Interests and hobbies Post a Comment

BEAT CHRISTMAS STRESS

SWAP STRESSMAS FOR CHRISTMAS

Every Christmas Eve, sixteen people, aka my closest family, sit with sparkling eyes around the festive tree, wondering what Father Christmas (as Santa is known in the UK) brought for them this year.

Christmas stress

Shipping sackfuls of presents from London to North Germany takes some organization, but instead of reindeer, we rely on UPS. Actually, my mother arranges delivery and collection. I only need to fill the parcels.

No surprise, then, that I have to look for what I call goldilocks presents. Not too big, not too small; not too fragile; not too cheap and certainly not too expensive. They have to be just right. To stand any chance of getting the goods bought, wrapped and shipped in time, I begin my Christmas shop in August.

After twenty years, I buy presents like a pro. Mostly, I use the Internet, and since I give myself nearly four months to tick every name off my list, I get to take advantage of some fantastic bargains. Using cash-back sites also makes a difference. But more than anything, buying presents has become a joy.

Rushing to supermarkets on Christmas Eve to pick up a shower gel gift box is so not my thing. No wonder people are tired come mid December. To most, getting hold of something, anything, has become a chore. It doesn’t have to be like that. You can beat Christmas stress.

I no longer set out with the mandate to find something for my mother. If I do, great. If not, I’ll see what next week’s offers bring. Since I continuously check offer sites and gadget sites and clothes sites, I have the luxury of selecting just the right winter coat and a matching hat for half the price. Last month, I got 70% off a bobble-head figure, which I had made for and in the likeness of my stepdad. Totally cool. My family no longer find socks, shower gel, tins of cookies and other last-minute disasters under the tree, but unique items that I know will make them happy.

Yes, there’ll be plenty of work, plenty of chores to do before the big day. But at least my efforts will be worth it. By giving presents they will treasure, I have given myself a payoff for all my efforts. A reason to smile through the manic panic. A sure-fire way to beat stress.

Is it too late for you? Not at all. There are plenty of offers on all the time. Shops are bending over backward to make you part with your money, even if they have to give you huge discounts. And every present you buy now will save you a headache later on.

One more tip. Forget wrapping paper.
Roll the presents up in face cloths, towels, or T-shirts, which become part of the present. Tie the string directly around the bottle. Stick a bow smack on top of the CD. And use Christmas bags for at least some of your gifts. Bags can be recycled next year, and the area under the tree still looks festive.

What about you? Are you a Santa-in-training, or a Christmas stresser?

November 13, 2014 The Write Path 12 Comments

THE WRITE PATH with Anna J. Stewart

THe Write Path

Anna J. Stewart

In my series The Write Path, my guests talk to me about their books. Today I welcome author Anna J. Stewart, who will be discussing her story The Christmas Wish in the anthology Christmas, Actually with me. Anna is a truly wonderful person and has had a stellar year. She’s also very generous, so don’t forget to check out her giveaway.

Let me hand over my mic. The next voice you’ll hear will be Anna’s.

Hi everyone–and a special shout out to Carmen for hosting me today. I’m so excited to be here and to “meet” all of you. The Christmas Wish (included in Christmas, Actually) is the culmination of a dream true for me…this is the story that made me a Harlequin author, a life-long ambition that’s finally here. Please comment, ask questions, do a little holiday dance if you want (I don’t judge!) and let’s have some fun!

1. So, Anna, what is your book about?

The Christmas Wish, which is part of Harlequin Heartwarming’s Christmas, Actually anthology, focuses on teacher Callie Banning, whose newest student has some serious issues with Christmas. As a perpetual people pleaser who loves the holiday season, Callie is determined to help little Eliza–and her widowed father–rediscover the magic of the season. This is the second story in the collection of novellas featuring the Banning siblings and while each story stands on its own (The Christmas Gift by Anna Adams and The Christmas Date by Melinda Curtis), all three stories are tied up in a big bow at the end.

2. What do you think attracts readers to your main characters?

I think (I hope) readers will connect to Callie through her desire to please everyone and not let anyone down–and teachers especially do this (it’s why they are truly the backbone of our society). Most women I know tend to put everyone ahead of ourselves and we want to think we can do it all, but at some point, something has to give and the word “no” has to be spoken. There’s an empowerment in that word that Callie comes to understand and it ends up opening more doors than it closes. As far as Dean Galloway, the Irish accent doesn’t hurt (ha!)–nor does his overwhelming love for his daughter. There’s nothing in the world he wants more than to see his little girl happy and there’s something incredibly sexy and appealing about that in a man.

For me, it was writing my way through Dean’s journey that struck a chord. His progression through grief and acceptance is something most everyone can identify with and it’s an experience that always makes us stronger. Callie’s gentle guiding hand, her willingness to work with him and Eliza in an effort to help them move on with their lives feels like a gift of a story I was given. Plus, writing a mischievous little girl was more than fun. Not that I have any experience with that at all.

3. What message do you hope the reader takes away from your book?

In this story, the message kind of presented itself about half-way through. I always head into a story thinking it’s one person’s story, only to discover it ends up being 50/50. As I said earlier, I’ve had my own issues with not saying “no” and putting my own life on the back burner and honestly, I thought that’s what the main theme of The Christmas Wish would be. But the deeper I delved into Dean’s character, learning that in a way, he had never taken the time to properly grieve and accept the loss of his wife and the true effect his decision to become nomadic had on his daughter, I think that’s the heartbeat of the story. Also, I think it’s important, especially for children, to know that they can love someone else without having to say goodbye completely to who they’ve lost. That goes for Dean as well and Callie embracing the memory of his wife, of letting him and Eliza know that she would always be a part of them, was like the final balm on an open wound.

4. What was it about your book that attracted your editor?

I’m about to be very annoying and say this book was a pretty easy sell. We came up with the concept as a team, and had everything locked down (yet open to suggestions of course) and knew the stories we wanted to tell. Not to read their minds, but I think Harlequin liked the mingling of three siblings into three separate stories that all come together in the end. The three of us (Melinda Curtis and Anna Adams and I) worked really hard to bring a feeling of community and continuity throughout the three novellas. Creating one town, where you see all the characters in each of the stories, knowing that town square and grounding the reader in Christmas Town, Maine early on, was something new and different for each of us. I can’t speak for my fellow authors, but it made the story (for me at least) fun to write. As writers, we’re often told to find a fresh spin on a tried and true idea and I think we did that and that made it an easier sell. Even better, they kept our title–I can’t tell you how happy that made us.

5. Comparing the ideas you had before writing the book with the finished product with where you are now, would you change anything if you could travel back in time?

Yet again, I’ll be irritating and say in all honesty, I don’t think there’s anything I’d change about it. This was one of the easiest stories I’ve ever written, which is ironic given I never thought I could write a novella. I tend to write very long books (I have one book–not published–that ended up being almost 700 pages). The idea of writing short was almost paralyzing yet it ended up being one of the best experiences of my writing life (as well as my first sale!). Once I got a handle on Callie and Dean (and Eliza, who was inclined to take over every scene she popped in to), it was just there–like a gift and I’m so grateful Melinda approached me about contributing to it. So no need to travel back in time and change anything.

However, if I could, I hear the Tardis is an excellent transportation device (I really need to start watching Doctor Who), but I think books are the magic device when it comes to time travel–we can go anywhere and anytime we want just by flipping (or clicking) a page. Which reminds me, I’ll be choosing one random commenter to receive a copy of Christmas, Actually (print or e, their choice). My first giveaway! So excited…and thanks, Carmen, for hosting me today. I’m thrilled to be here.

Anna’s bio:

Anna J. Stewart can’t remember a time she didn’t have a book in her hands or a story in her head.
Early obsessions with Star Wars, Star Trek and Wonder Woman set her on the path to creating fun, funny, and family rich stories with happy endings for her independent heroines. Anna lives in Northern California where she deals with a serious Supernatural & Sherlock addiction, surrounds herself with friends and family and tolerates an overly affectionate cat named Snickers (or perhaps it’s Snickers who tolerates her). Visit Anna online at www.authorannastewart.com, where you can find her links to Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and, if you like giveaways, sign up for her newsletter~you never know what you might win just by subscribing!