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 Stinger and I are in New York this week, celebrating the holidays with some of our nearest and dearest, so my blogging will be sporadic. Which it would've been anyway, since I'm also under deadline and writing like a fiend every day we're here! Except yesterday, when I finished going over the page proofs for On the Steamy Side, the second of the Recipe for Love novels, which will be out in March 2010.
You guys! I *may* have teared up in the middle of the coffeeshop where I was doing the read-through. I was supposed to be looking for typos, and I found some, but mostly what I found was that I still love that story and am happy with the way it turned out, so that was a huge Christmas gift! It can be so difficult, when you're in the midst of writing the story, to really tell how it's going. Page proofs are make-or-break time, where you finally get to read over the entire thing after having had enough time off from it to almost be a fresh pair of eyes. My main reaction after reading is that I can't wait to share Lilah and Devon's story with all of you! Also, relief that I finished the proofs a day early and could get back to writing the third book. LOL
If you're still looking for holiday baking ideas, the New York Times posted this page full of reader-submitted recipes and photos. I would give anything for a fully stocked kitchen and the time to mix up a dozen batches of cookies right now!
What are you guys baking? Let me live vicariously through you as I sit at my desk in my hotel room, dreaming of creaming butter and sugar together...
 [This is reposted with permission from Marley Gibson.]
Now looking for submissions for The Christmas Spirit, the sequel to the wildly successful " Christmas Miracles" book. This new project is a book that we have contracted with St. Martin’s Press for the fall of 2011. However, the completed manuscript is due in the spring of 2010. Bestselling author, Debbie Macomber, has agreed to write the foreword. We seek true stories that emphasize the significance of the Christmas season. So often, we get caught up in the busy-ness of the season—the shopping, the family drama, and the event planning—that we lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas. Sometimes, through God's grace or what some call a twist of fate, we're able to step back and grasp the real meaning of Christmas and our lives are enriched. These are the kind of stories we are seeking.
Thanks so much! Marley = ) ***Louisa's note: You will find the story submission guidelines here.***
We've talked movies and baking, but another way I like to get into the holiday spirit is by reading holiday-themed stories. My mom started this tradition when I was little by having us all read Charles Dickens's Christmas Carol aloud as a family, and to this day, when December rolls around I start getting the itch for books featuring miracles, mistletoe kisses, and holiday cheer.
I've seen several people asking for recommendations of favorite holiday-themed romances lately, so I thought I'd share a few of mine! Weirdly, they're all historical--but that's purely a coincidence. I'm sure there are some great Christmas contemporaries, and if you know of one, I'd love to hear about it!
The Shadow and the Star by Laura Kinsale
Strictly speaking, not a holiday-themed romance, but a large, important stretch of the book takes place at a Christmas house party. There are surprisingly intoxicating brandied cherries, a game of Victorian-era Secret Santa that goes horribly wrong--or right?, and basically it's one of the best books ever. It was the first big historical romance I read, and it hooked me on romance for life. I even made brandied cherries last year! If you haven't read this yet, you're missing out. It's a classic for a reason.
An Affair Before Christmas by Eloisa James 
This was one of James's Desperate Duchesses novels, and I enjoyed it immensely. It gave a real sense of the time period, down to some of the less pleasant details most historicals gloss right over, and in fact, those details were pivotal to the characters and the plot. Highly unique and very satisfying.
This Wicked Gift by Courtney Milan
A novella in the Heart of Christmas anthology, this is Courtney Milan's debut. Her first full length novel, Proof by Seduction, will be out January 1st, and based on this novella? I'm pre-ordering that sucker. Milan is good! This not your standard bored society lady/ravishing rake/Almack's-and-Hyde-Park historicals. The lack of wealthy dukes is enough to make this book stand out, but what really affected me was the amount of sensual detail. The prose appeals to every single one of the reader's senses, and it's enough to make you feel like you're right there. I loved it.
What are some of your favorite holiday romances?
On some level, I feel like wish lists are cheating. Whenever I ask someone I love to tell me what he or she wants for a birthday or for Christmas, I feel guilty--shouldn't I know what my best friend/sister/parent/husband wants without being told? I get a huge charge out of flying blind and finding that perfect gift I know, without asking, will make someone happy. It's satisfying, the way I imagine deer hunting must be for some: the tension of the search, the thrill of the chase, the eureka moment of discovery, all culminating in the glory of hauling home the prize.
And yet, I recognize that isn't always practical or possible. We aren't mind readers, most of us, and I truly believe it's a courtesy to others to provide a wish list in gift-giving situations, to relieve the pressure of having to hunt down the perfect gift, and the stress of wondering if you're duplicating something your giftee already owns.
I was having a hard time coming up with a list of my own this year. Or even one single thing, when individual people would ask me what I want! After all, my birthday wasn't that long ago, and I got the two cookbooks I'd been lusting after (Ad Hoc at Home and Momofuku) and I couldn't think of anything else I wanted.
Until I started shopping for my friends and family. Now? I'm ready with my list! So here it is. Go nuts.
*Le Creuset Heritage Oval Cocotte-how many recipes call for a covered casserole? SO many, and I usually just use my Dutch oven. Which works okay, I guess, but this thing is sooo pretty. * Bundt pan - It's crazy, I know, but somehow in all my many bakeware shopping sprees, I've never picked up a Bundt pan. I have a tube pan, and round cake pans, and loaf pans, but no Bundt. Clearly, an oversight. This one is pretty! * Top Chef ANYTHING - I'm obsessed. I admit that. But how cool is this stuff? There's a whole Top Chef Cookbook AND a Quickfire cookbook! And a game? How did I not know about this stuff? I also think I might like to have Tom Colicchio's Think Like a Chef. Could be interesting for research.
Does that help? I can't think of anything else right now. Maybe some dangly earrings, and the special edition DVD of the new Star Trek movie. I don't know. I'd actually be pretty happy with donations made in my honor to Equality Federation, Heifer International, or the Metropolitan Opera. Oh, and if you could get Gourmet Magazine started back up, that would be nifty!
Happy shopping. : )
 I know I said baking was the thing that most got me into the holiday spirit, and that's true--but music and movies help, too! My family and I have a somewhat eclectic collection of Christmas classics (at least, they're classics as far as we're concerned) that we watch every year. Some of them you might watch, too--some are so weird, you might never have tried them! But all of them are fun, so I'm listing my favorites for you.
It's a Wonderful Life - Still one of the best movies ever made, and egregious overplaying of it all through December can't change that.
The Ref - Possibly the most profane of our holiday faves, Denis Leary is hysterical as a thief who takes the world's most contentious couple hostage. This is a GREAT movie, and almost no one has ever heard of it.
Miracle on 34th St. - The old one, with Maureen O'Hara. It's lovely! Baby Natalie Wood will break your heart. Christmas in Connecticut - Barbara Stanwyck and a memorable cast of secondary characters make this cute romantic comedy about a Martha Stewart-esque writer who doesn't actually know how to cook sparkle! Trapped in Paradise - Nicolas Cage, Jon Lovitz and Dana Carvey are brothers--and it just gets less plausible from there. Tons of fun!
Scrooged - Of course. Bill Murray? Stapling antlers to mice heads? David Johansen of the New York Dolls as the Ghost of Christmas Past screaming "It's a BONE!" at a dog in a children's show? I'm there.
The Grinch Who Stole Christmas - Both the cartoon and the Jim Carrey version. I love them.
Mixed Nuts - Steve Martin heads up this incredibly wacky, sweet, slightly sicko movie about a band of do-gooders, a pregnant Juliette Lewis, a cross-dressing Liev Schrieber, and a serial killer. It's a comedy. I swear!
Love Actually - One of our newest additions, and I can't wait to watch it every year. Probably my favorite storyline is Liam Neeson and the adorable little boy who's in love for the first time. But Bill Nighy as the aging rockstar is a close second. Oh, they're all good!
Die Hard - A holiday tradition in my family that I've since found in other families, and it's one of those things that lets me know right away that we can be close friends. Like choosing Pride & Prejudice over Wuthering Heights, or football over baseball. If you watch Die Hard at Christmas, you're my kind of people.
So what are your favorite holiday movies? Anything weird I might not have seen? I love to discover new xmas faves, but I warn you now, anything with stop-animation creeps me out, so I won't be watching that one where Santa is a young Dutchman, or whatever.
 Never say Twitter is a pointless waste of time! Without it, I might never have found out about eHarlequin.com's brilliant idea of selling stationary featuring some of their fabulous, wacky, yet somehow chic classic romance covers.
I absolutely adore these! Especially the spiral-bound notebooks and composition books. How could looking at these not inspire you? It's wild how many of them feature guns. In one of them, the heroine appears to be throwing the gun at the hero? Villain? Who knows!
People on my gift list: Be prepared to see a few these again come Christmas morning. I bet the postcard tins make awesome stocking stuffers.
Do you ever get your holiday shopping done early? Or are you more like me, scrambling at the last minute and paying through the nose for rush shipping?
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Stinger and I are in New York this week, celebrating the holidays with some of our nearest and dearest, so my blogging will be sporadic. Which it would've been anyway, since I'm also under deadline and writing like a fiend every day we're here! Except yesterday, when I finished going over the page proofs for On the Steamy Side, the second of the Recipe for Love novels, which will be out in March 2010.
