Today I am so pleased to welcome the authors of the Wish Come True anthology to Joyfully Jay. The authors are sharing their thoughts on holiday traditions and have also brought along a great tourwide giveaway.  Please join me in giving all these folks a big welcome!

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Question – Do you have any holiday traditions?

Keira Andrews – So many. Food definitely plays a huge role, so baking is a big tradition in my family. Since I’m Canadian, we also celebrate Boxing Day, which is a holiday Americans are really missing out on. We have another big dinner on Boxing Day (usually pork roast), so starting with Christmas Eve, it’s a three-day extravaganza.

Joanna Chambers – Every year we visit a really cute food market in Stockbridge (a really nice little part of Edinburgh). We try to go as close to Christmas as we can. There are wonderful stalls (the kids particularly love one where the woman sells home made marshmallow – the key lime pie one is amazing) and fab street food and drink from all over. Last year we had paella and  Japanese dumplings followed by little shots of thick melted chocolate. We usually visit Mellis’ the cheese shop at the same time and look in on the Spanish deli and a couple of wine shops. It’s always a great day.

Amy Jo Cousins – So many! One of my favorites is a tradition started by my mom. When we were growing up, my brother and sister and I got to pick out a new ornament each every year. My mom told me that when she moved out on her own and put up that first Christmas tree, it was so disappointing to her to have only store-bought ornaments after growing up with family heirlooms and ornaments that meant something special. So every year we got to pick out a new ornament that belonged to us, because she wanted us all to have a bunch of ornaments to take with us when we moved into our own apartments, so our first Christmas trees would still be special and full of memories. And mine was! I loved hanging my ornaments from childhood on my first adult Christmas tree, and I’ve continue this tradition with my son. Picking out our ornaments every year (yes, I still get myself one!) is part of our tradition, as is oohing and ahhing over the years of memories that are evoked whenever we decorate our tree. It’s the best.

Megan Erickson – With our kids, my husband and I put out cookies and milk for Santa. We throw in some carrots for the reindeer, too. And every year we take the kids to go see this light show at a local park.

Suki Fleet – Listening to Christmas carols. Watching Polar Express on Christmas Eve. Mince pies for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Mulled wine all the time.

Kaje Harper – Absolutely – dozens. For me, that’s what holidays are for – reaffirming the connections to our past, our families and our friends, and the roots of the season. One Christmas tradition I follow, that friends in the US are sometimes surprised by, is that we always wait and set up our Christmas tree early on December 24th. We listen to carols, eat cookies, and hang ornaments. (And we have a lot – we save them and add one or two new ones each year. Many are handmade; all have history.) For me, doing this makes the tree special and new and glorious when we turn on the lights for the first time on Christmas Eve, instead of a familiar background to the celebration. In my mother’s European traditions, Christmas Eve is the heart of the holiday. We keep the tree up for the holiday season, taking it down on New Year’s Day. (I had Aunt Jo, in my story, borrow this tradition.) 🙂

Anyta Sunday – Holiday traditions. Not really. My only request is that on Christmas Eve, when kids open their presents, they do it one at a time and thank the person that gave them the present. Otherwise . . . just being around family and eating well.

Kanaxa (cover artist) – The menfolk and I sit around the tree in our pyjamas come Christmas morning, and we each take a turn at opening presents. When it’s my turn, I invariably prod it, shake it, turn it around, guesstimate what it is…drives the men crazy.

Lenore DiTrani (editor) – We play board games and watch films like Coming To America and Trading Places back-to-back on Christmas Day.


Blurb

Wish Come TrueFirst love. Young love. Holiday love…

Wish Come True is a collection of contemporary, new adult, holiday short stories by some of our favorite authors!

Included in this anthology:

  • “A Very English Christmas” by Keira Andrews
  • “Mr. Perfect’s Christmas” by Joanna Chambers
  • “The Christmas Ship” by Amy Jo Cousins
  • “That Thing” by Megan Erickson
  • “Just Like Heaven” by Suki Fleet
  • “Not Your Grandfather’s Magic” by Kaje Harper
  • “Bottle Boys” by Anyta Sunday

Proceeds will be donated to Lost-N-Found Youth , an Atlanta-based nonprofit corporation whose mission is to take homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youths to age 26 off the street and transition them into more permanent housing.


Giveaway

The authors have brought a tour wide giveaway for one lucky winner. It includes ebook copies from each of the participating authors’ backslists (7 in total) AND a $50 All Romance Ebooks gift certificate!  Follow the Rafflecopter link below to enter.

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