Welcome! Oh, you all look so cheerful and festive in your hats and scarves. (Yes, it is snowing, and yes, you've been out in the cold for a long time. Forget October. It's Christmas at the Inkwell!)
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| Come on in! There's a party inside! (don't slip on the snowy stairs...) |
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| Available here! |
Now that you're inside, move closer to the fire and warm your hands with a nice cup of wassail (old family recipe). And since we're wassailing, how about a sing-a-long? Click play and sing (lyrics provided) or just enjoy the music while you mill about the party.
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| Yum! |
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| One of the Inkies is eyeing the presents. But there's no peeking until Christmas! |
Here We Come A-Wassailing has just as much holiday heart as this party. A young woman heads home through rural North Dakota for Christmas, but her solitary trek turns into an adventure as she picks up an assortment of folks. The crazy detours along the way prove to be a Christmas miracle.
I loved the story, and I'm sure you will, too! So heartwarming. So festive. Just what a Christmas story should be.
I'm so excited for Anita! Lift high your cup of wassail and join me in a toast.
To Anita and her new release! To the blessings of friendship! To Christmas miracles, especially the One who came to save us!
Anita Mae is graciously giving away A Cup of Christmas Cheer Volume 3 & 4 to one randomly-chosen commenter. Be sure to leave a comment with a way to contact you to be entered! The drawing ends Monday, Oct 20, 11:59 EDT.
Feel free to enjoy more treats from the buffet. Goodies will be available all day! Be sure to say hi to Anita in the comments!
Good morning! Congratulations Anita!
ReplyDeleteAnother super heartwarming story and I couldn't be happier for you. What a great get-together Susie. Yummy!
Thank you for the congrats, Deb.
DeleteAnd a second thank you for being one of my awesome critique partners and helping to bring this story the publishing stage. :)
I wish we had a "like" button, a la Facebook! I am so happy for you, too, Anita!
DeleteThanks, Susie. And I'm sending a bouquet right back to you for being another awesome critique partner. :)
DeleteAbout that LIKE button... I just went to see if I could add one to our posts and while it is possible, it seems to be beyond my techie skills. :(
Thanks for hosting this delightful party. :)
Woo hoo! I love Christimas stories and I look forward to the new Cup of Christmas Cheer. Congrats to all of the contributing authors.
ReplyDeletecampbellamyd at gmail dot com
Thanks, Amy. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoyed the journey of writing them. :)
DeleteYay for Anita Mae! Yay for Christmas! Yay for A Cup of Christmas Cheer!
ReplyDeleteThank you! You're a great cheerleader! :)
DeleteYum, I can smell that punch from here. Serve me up a cup! Congratulations, Anita :)
ReplyDeleteYou got it! Since Susie won't arrive for a bit, I'll CHEERFULLY hand you a cup. :)
DeleteSo I tried to witty and write 'cheerfully' with only the CHEER in bold, but our lovely auto-correct kept changing the whole thing to lower case. Ha!
Thanks, Dina. :)
Hello, friends, and huzzah for Anita!
ReplyDeleteI wore a Christmas sweater for the occasion. And jingle bell shoes. I've also had a few cookies already.
One thing I forgot to add to the post is there is a bit of ROMANCE in Anita's story. ooh la la!
Well, yes, there has to be romance, and although my sweet editor downplayed it a bit, there's enough to spur your imagination. Especially if you think of the cold outside... the blazing fireplace... the waiting mistletoe...
Delete:D
Congratulations Anita! So very happy for you on this 2nd publication. I must admit though, on this beautiful, warm fall day, that I am not ready to think about Christmas. I'm sure reading your story (and the other stories in the books) would help put me in a Christmas-y mood.
ReplyDeleteelaineking1 at hotmail dot com
HI Elaine! Yes, this story will definitely get you into the Christmas mood. I love stories like Anita's!
DeleteThanks for coming by. You're entered into the drawing!
Well, hello there, Elaine. And what do you mean about a beautiful, warm fall day? Yes, it's beautiful fall colors, but surely you're joking about the warmth as it's only 11C/55F outside. I had to put my sweater on this morning.
DeleteActually, I wasn't much in the Christmas mood until I started working on my Pinterest boards last week. Next thing I knew, I not only had one done up for my Here We Come A-Wassailing story, but I had created 10 other Christmas boards, and 2 for Fall & Thanksgiving. NOW I'm in the mood. :D
Haha! The forecast for today is 15C and yesterday was over 20. Both great temperatures for mid-October in Saskatchewan! I did wear my jacket to work but hope to carry it home today.
DeleteHi Elaine,
ReplyDeleteThe covers of your new books are just beautiful. I love Christmas!
I would love to read both of your newest books and add them to my book collection.
oh.hello.hiya@gmail.com
I ment Anita sorry
DeleteNo problem, Danie. Since we're at a party, I'll just put it down to excitement. :D
Deleteway to go Anita ,its so neat to know an author personally. Karen
ReplyDeleteKaren, I'm so glad you stopped in today. Being a writer is frightening at times, and then friends like you come along and give your support and it gives us the courage to go on. Thank you.
DeleteYAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY ANITA!
ReplyDeleteI was thrilled when you first told me the good news and still thrilled now that the time of delivery/arrival draws near. I look forward to reading your story along with the others. I like the covers, but somehow I still like last year's covers better - maybe 'cuz they held your debut.
Anyway, it's awesome to celebrate you today - especially because it also happens to be Guppy's 5th birthday. He likes books and Christmas (not necessarily in that order *heh*).
Can we order them now? I remember last year extra printing had to be done. (nice "problem" to have...)
Hey there, DebH! Yes, last year's covers were special, but I find it easier to remember the theme of each one this year because of the cover. I mean Christmas Past and nostalgic toy window; Christmas Present and a gift under the tree. Very simple.
DeleteHAPPY BIRTHDAY to Guppy! Just the other day I saw you talk about your 4 yr old and thought that he should be having a birthday soon. Smart kid to like books. Can't wait to read his review of your Love Inspired Suspense. :D
And thanks for asking about the ordering status. Last year the 2nd printing almost came too late for Christmas, so here's the link to order this year's A Cup of Christmas Cheer.
DebH, thank you for all the support you've given me.
Hooray for Anita! I'm happy for you!
ReplyDeleteWe're having Colorado's weird bi-polar fall weather: Freezing at night and in the 60s or 70s (F, not C) during the day. So at night it feels like Christmas and in the afternoon it feels like summer. Color me confused.
What goes in wassail, BTW?
Umm... it depends who you are. If you're a sailor, well... ahem. LOL (And DebH, no disrespect to Boats, but a generalization of sailors in history.)
DeleteThe image of a Wassail Bowl that appears in the post is similar to the one on my Pinterest Board" except I have all the ingredients shown.
As for the weather, bi-polar... yuk, yuk... good one. Or am I the only one who hasn't heard that before?
Yummy! I think I'll try making that this year, instead of our usual Russian tea mix. :)
DeleteWassail is similar to mulled cider--or not, depending on the recipe. I googled and found one that's basically mulled cider, and another one that's made of hard apple cider, eggs, sugar, brandy, and a lot of spices. Sounds potent.
DeleteI've made one on the stove similar to the one on my Pinterest board, but like their idea of using a crockpot to keep it heated.
DeleteLast year I discovered the Spiced Apple Cider for my Keurig and enjoyed having a steaming cup as I watched TV on a cold winter eve. :)
I'll have to check out that recipe, Anita. I love to make warm apple cider in my crockpot. Good apple cider, and then I put whole cloves, allspice, and broken cinnamon sticks into a steeping ball. Yum.
DeleteThat's very similar to the one I've done on the stovetop, Susie. Yum is right. :)
DeleteCongratulations, Anita! Can't wait to read your new story, and aren't those books lovely?
ReplyDeleteYou're all making me feel so ready for Christmas! :D
Oh good, DeAnna, they're supposed to make you feel Christmassy and maybe if we started now, we'd actually be ready in time, eh.
DeleteThank you. :)
I always want to make a lot of handmade gifts (quilts and stuff) for Christmas. Usually I run out of time. :(
DeleteI used to make presents throughout the year and then leave Nov-Dec for baking. Then I had to stop the handcrafts. And then NaNoWriMo took over Nov. Next thing I knew, my Christmas cards were going out during the holidays and not before. So I dropped the Nanowrimo and now it's better. :)
DeleteI'm sorry I'm late to the party, but I couldn't miss out on the fun. Not only that, but I want to join the other guests in congratulating the woman of hour: Anita, the Author.
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy for you, Anita! You've worked hard for this, and I couldn't be happier for you.
I'm off to sample a cup of that wassail. It smells delicious.
You're right on time, Keli, because with all the guests, Susie had to make another batch of Wassail and the flavors are melding together nicely. And this would be a good time to remind everyone that with all the participating time zones, this Come-and Go won't end until we do the draw on Monday night.
DeleteKeli, congrats to you too, for being another CoCC author. I'm very much looking forward to your Volume 3 story, A Father's Gift set in 1866 in Meadow Lake.
Thanks for taking time out of your own promotion schedule to join us. :)
And somehow my editing deleted California after your Meadow Lake location, Keli.
DeleteProbably because we have a Meadow Lake up here in Saskatchewan and my fingers wanted to go one way and my memory another. Ha!
Congratulations, Anita! I adore Christmas stories and can't wait to read these wonderful collections!
ReplyDeletetexaggs2000 at gmail dot com
Thanks, Britney. And, it's a good thing you're here to enter the draw then, because this truly is a great collection. :)
DeleteI would love to read these Christmas stories :)
ReplyDeletedkstevensne at outlook dotcom
Well, it's a random draw, so perhaps you will. Thanks for stopping by. :)
DeleteI've tallied the names from this blog on the 15th until midnight on the 20th, converted the names to numbers, and let random.org choose a number.
ReplyDeleteAnd the winner of a copy of A Cup of Christmas Cheer Vol 3&4 is... ELAINE K!