In Search of the Perfect Gift

With the holiday season coming up, I thought I'd share a short story I wrote a few years ago. As I read back through it, I can see some things haven't changed. We still need to believe and have hope! And, if you're looking for a little romance or a "feel good" holiday story, look no further. "If Wishes Were Magic" and "Always Believe" are available from Books We Love and Amazon.com and this year they're both in print as well as ebook.
Here's wishing you all the wonderful things the Christmas season brings.
Barb

As numerous people converged on the single checkout lane, Carolyn began putting her purchases on the counter.

“Oh, dear,” she mumbled, realizing she was missing a key item on her list.
She didn’t notice that Holly, the only cashier, was anxiously looking back at the line of people behind her.

“Ma’am, if you forgot something, perhaps we can put your other purchases aside so I can help the next person in line.”

Carolyn looked around, unaware that she had been holding everyone up. “Of course.” She rapidly scooped the glittering boxes back into her basket. “I’ll just go see if I can find that one last thing. I simply can’t do without it.”

She turned her cart around and headed toward the back of the store. She glimpsed the line of customers. It would seem a tremendous number of people had found this unique store, which specialized in all things happy and joyous for the holiday season.
Carolyn glanced at the shoppers’ carts as she hurried along the line. Almost everyone had a twinkling box that contained just what she was looking for. In this day and economy, she supposed it wasn’t unusual for people to buy a little extra portion for the holidays when they could find it. This particular store, tucked in a small strip mall at the edge of town, was the only place she knew that had all the items she wanted for her Christmas gifts.

She slowed as she came to the "cherish" aisle. Among the different size boxes of affection, a small television advertised "cherish" with a short video of an older couple, celebrating their 75th anniversary. How many people could cherish and hold each other in reverence for that length of time?

Next to "cherish" was a whole section of "belief"; more than should be there at this time of the shopping season. The aisle was almost dark; the boxes dull and lifeless on the shelves. Didn’t people believe anymore?

Thinking over the latest news and the stories her friends had told her, she understood how hard it was to believe. One friend and her family had lost their house; another had lost a job and still another had recently lost a parent to a crippling disease. It was no wonder people quit believing in good things happening. Even though she already had a box of "belief", Carolyn put another in her shopping cart. Her friends needed it.

She turned down the next aisle, not because she needed anything but she couldn’t resist the children she heard. As she walked slowly among the happiness and laughter holograms, she was caught up in their merriment. Regardless of where they were from -- and it looked like there were children from all over the world -- they played as if they had not a care in the world. Perhaps it was a case of innocence; that small children could forget about the cares of the world and be themselves – happy and carefree, if only for a short time.

Finally Carolyn came to the aisle containing the item she had forgotten, although how she could have, she really didn’t know. As she gathered up box after box of "hope", she counted her blessings. "Hope" contained the joy and faith of the season. When mixed with love and the belief of good things to come, "hope" made a powerful mixture that could not be denied.

"Hope" helped people survive the day to day trauma that at times was overwhelming. They found hope in family ties, church and community efforts.

As Carolyn hurried back into line, she realized she wasn’t the only one hoping for the best. Glittering and twinkling boxes of love and faith, among other wishes, had brought these customers to this magical store and each and every basket glowed with light.

Customers had a special look about them. Eyes twinkled and lips tipped up in various stages of smiles. Every person’s face held a memory from some past, happy holiday.
Carolyn wished, that regardless of the problems people faced, her small gifts would help them have a better holiday.

Along with Carolyn, I wish you and your family the best of the holidays with gifts of...

 

Belief
 Happiness
 Laughter
 Blessings 
Joy
 Love
 Merriment 
Faith
 Cherish  and Hope
 

A Time Travel Extravaganza

If you've yet to read a time travel, you're in for a treat because it combines the best of two worlds. And, for a limited time in July, Books We Love is placing my 3 Time Travels on sale on Amazon. But first, here's what I love about writing time travel.

I can have a modern, independent, free loving heroine and still have an alpha type hero who’s possessive, self-made, and believes women should be protected and revered. Even those of us growing up in the era of “women’s lib” really, if we’re truthful, don’t mind being taken care of at times.

 I like to take the heroine back in time. Whether she is stuck there, or can bounce back and forth, depends on the story. But the fact that she knows things the hero doesn’t can lead to some interesting conversations.

For example, in SPINNING THROUGH TIME, Jaci makes Nicholas and his niece a pizza, which they eat with their hands. Nicholas comments that it’s not bad tasting, but it will never catch on as a dinner dish.

Some of the challenges inherent to writing time travel are: (1) the methods I use to get the heroine back in time, (2) what can or can’t be transported with her when she goes, and (3) how and when she has an opportunity to return to her own time. I can have different rules for different books, but the rules have to be established before I start writing and then they cannot be broken. I can’t decide half way through the book that Brianna needs her car keys to convince Jake she’s from the future, so she miraculously finds them under a rock somewhere. (LOST KNIGHT OF ARABIA).

Things that haven’t been invented yet or have particular significance in one century or the other, are always fun to incorporate into a story. Ellie, in PROSPECTING FOR LOVE, is discovered with nail polish on her toes, which only the “working girls” at the salon would do. She finds “real junk food” in the form of potato chips and Van Camp’s Pork and Beans in the general store in 1850, believing things like that had only been invented in her lifetime. The opposite side of the coin is that she doesn’t know how to cook without a microwave or start a fire in the stove. 

The real climax for a time travel romance isn’t finding the treasure or solving the mystery, but it’s whether the heroine and hero stay together. Since my heroine didn’t have a choice when she accidently went through time, I do give her a choice as to whether she stays. There has to be a point where either the opportunity or the threat of “transportation” exists, so my heroine has a free choice in her future. Whether she takes it, and whether the hero can stay with her, either in his time or hers, would be giving away the endings! I hope, instead, that you grab a time travel and stay up late reading to find out.

ON SALE  for just 99cents each AT AMAZON:

Prospecting for Love -- July 8-15

Lost Knight of Arabia -- July 10-17

Spinning Through Time -- July 18-25

Feeling Love in February

February has always been associated with Valentine's Day, love and romance. It seems prophetic that I had just recently blogged about my historical romance, "Song of My Heart" and now Samhain Publishing has it, along with all their ebook romances, on sale for 40% off.

So treat yourself to fun and laughter, mystery and romance by downloading a Samhain ebook today. The sale is only from February 7th-15th!

Love to all my readers,  Barb

Feeling Nostalgic

I'm getting ready to settle down to a good, possibly great book, but since I haven't written it yet, I can't tell you much about it, and of course you don't have the opportunity to read it right now.  

So before I get lost to that world, let me tell you about another of my favorites -- SONG OF MY HEART, which came out with Samhain Publishing and is still available in both print and ebook. 

Since I’m a product of ‘women’s lib’, I love independent, strong heroines. What I didn’t realize until Abigail O’Brien kept quoting them in SONG OF MY HEART was how many women from the nineteenth century were just as vocal about their rights as we were in the 1970s. Mary Wollstonecraft, Susan B. Anthony and Kate Nye-Starr were a few of Abby’s favorites and I really enjoyed the part they played in Abby and Max’s story.

Abby and Max -- two stubborn, independent people who found love hard to resist – after several shootings, high stakes poker games, robberies, and incidents where Max had to rescue Abby from trouble. 

Of course, Maxwell Grant isn’t the easiest man to get along with, either, because he constantly changes disguises and Abby isn’t sure who she likes more – Donal O’Flagherty, a rogue Irishman who flirts outrageously; Reverend Jonas Fishbone, who although very considerate is far too pious; or Jeffery Markham, the suave southern gentleman and expert poker player.

Max and Abby’s story begins at a Harvey House restaurant in Topeka, Kansas and sweeps westward aboard the transcontinental railroad, through Denver and on to San Francisco. The ride is full of mysterious characters, intrigue and romance.