Day 7: Karen McQuestion: 12 Authors of Christmas

By  Karen McQuestion

When my kids were little, my favorite family tradition was our Christmas card photo.  Since I hate getting my picture taken, the photo was always of our three kids, Charlie, Maria, and Jack, and there was always a theme. One year they were elves, another time they wore Santa hats, a third time I lassoed them with Christmas lights. Each year I tried to outdo the last, or at least come out with a shot where they were all looking at the camera with a halfway-decent expression on their faces.

My favorite Christmas card photo was taken the year Jack was born. With the addition of a third kid, a boy no less, I now had the right combination of children to create the perfect nativity scene. Six-year-old Charlie was cast as Joseph, Maria, age three as Mary, and Jack, six months, became baby Jesus.  Their costumes were swaths of fabric held in place by decorative cording, and baby Jesus sat in a bouncy chair covered with a white tablecloth.

Between my sister, who provided the studio space and took the photo, my husband, and myself, there were three adults in attendance, but still it was bedlam. At one point, while the lighting was being adjusted, Joseph decided it would be fun to chase a shrieking Mary while brandishing his walking stick as a weapon. They ran around the backdrop and then Mary tripped over an electrical cord and bumped her head. As a result, there was much screaming and crying, most of it from me. At about the same time, we got a whiff of an authentic stable odor and discovered that baby Jesus needed his diaper changed. Eventually we got everyone in place, and then one kid suddenly had to go to the bathroom, while another complained that the fabric was itchy and she didn’t want to wear it anymore. The afternoon went on forever. I thought we’d never get a good shot.

But we persevered, and when the photos came back and I saw how adorable my three looked, I knew it had been worth the drama.

Today, my kids are grown. The baby in that picture graduated from high school recently and is a foot taller than me. At the time the photo was taken I despaired of ever having time to write--now I have eight books in print, ebook, and audio, and am published in multiple languages. My life is completely different. I have more time to myself than ever before. I’m proud of the people my children have become, but every now and then, at this time of year, I find myself looking at old Christmas card photos and wishing I could relive one of those days just one more time.   

Four women bound by chance take the trip of a lifetime in Karen McQuestion's fifth novel The Long Way Home. For Wisconsinites Marnie, Laverne and Rita, life isn't working out so well. Each is biding time, waiting for something better, something to transport them out of what their lives have recently become. And then there's Jazzy: bubbly, positive, and happy even though she hears voices of the departed. Brought together by a chance meeting, the women decide to join Marnie on a road trip from Wisconsin to Las Vegas where she intends to reunite with Troy, the boy she raised as her own ? and who she's been separated from since her boyfriend's death. Little do they know that as the road trip unfolds, so will their lives ? in directions they never anticipated. Humorous, heartwarming, and bittersweet, the journey has something special in store for each woman.

From bestselling author Karen McQuestion—a brand new, spellbinding novel.

The night Russ Becker witnesses a strange astronomical event, his world changes forever. Before long Russ discovers he's developed incredible superpowers, and he’s not the only one. Three other young people—beautiful Mallory, arrogant Jameson, and mysterious Nadia—have had the same experience and all of them now have powers of their own. Mallory can control peoples’ minds, Jameson moves objects with his thoughts, and Nadia has empathic abilities.

At first the four relish their newfound gifts, but things become serious when they learn they are being hunted by an organization that wants them for its own nefarious purposes. When Russ’s family is threatened, he’s forced into action. What transpires will change all of them in ways they never imagined.


“An amazing book that will have readers eagerly turning pages… EDGEWOOD is a thrill ride with heart.”

“I devoured it in one sitting!” New York Times Bestselling Author Lesley Kagen.

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