Friday, December 14, 2012

Day 1: Jean Joachim: 12 Authors of Christmas


CHRISTMAS MEMORIES
Christmas has always been about giving for me. Even as a little kid, I was into the “what to buy for Mom” mentality. Our local high school had a Christmas Fair every year. It was the time when an eight-year-old could fill her Christmas list with craft items and other gems available for sale for a low price.
With a few dollars from dad, I could buy an apron for mom, something for him and still have enough left over to get a record album for my brother. The excitement of being like one of the adults, with delightful secrets to keep for a week or two, I’d skip home, elated, to hide my treasures in my closet or under the bed until dawn on Christmas morning. I rise before the others, wrap my gifts and put them with the rest, feeling proud I stepped out of true childhood and did something meaningful, I thought, for my beloved family.
Wind the clock up to when my boys were children. I still had, and do to this day, the thrill of giving on Christmas. I’d start early when the boys were young, sitting down late at night with a glass of wine and the Lego catalog. I’d page through, turning down the corners of the Lego kits I most wanted for my kids. Then I’d go back over it again and again until I had whittled it down to what was best for them and what we could afford.
A trip to the remainder store brought either unexpected treasures or nothing at all. One year my best gift was found there. My younger son, Steve, just turned nine had had a beloved Packman frog that had died. He had adored Packy, his frog and was inconsolable for weeks. I remember turning the corner of an aisle and bam! There in front of me was a whole bin of stuffed “Packys”, frogs without the cute, smiling faces others probably wanted. These stuffed frogs had the dour look of a real frog, a real Packman frog. I scooped it up, elated to have found an almost-replacement that wouldn’t die. Stuffed Packy is still in our home, though Steve has just turned twenty-one.
This year I’m ready to give again. My first gifts are to my readers as I have two contemporary romance novellas gone permanently free on Amazon: Moonlight and Roses, a sweet and Now and Forever, Callie’s Story, a spicy romance.
I hope you enjoy giving as much as I do and have a joyous holiday season filled with love and laughter.

Visit my website to learn more about my books: http://www.jeanjoachimbooks.com

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.



Enjoy your free gifts here!!!




GIVEAWAY!!!
Champagne for Christmas

Can a craving for mint chip ice cream and a passion for the theater turn a summer romance into everlasting love? Clint is a high school English teacher and a budding playwright. Nina is a former actress, now a beautiful and wealthy widow...who is more than a little lonely. A chance meeting over mint chip ice cream brings them together. Their love of the theater keeps them meeting while their love blossoms despite a gap in their ages. But ultimately, the theater may present the one hurdle they can’t clear.Take the journey with Nina and Clint through their discovery of each other, their joy and the ultimate compromise they must make live their dream of footlights, fame and love.







3 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for having me on your blog today. It's always fun to share holiday memories.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice story Jean. Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!

    ReplyDelete

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Emily, AKA Mrs. Mommy Booknerd

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