Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Deep In December, It's Nice To Remember

Kathleen here, wishing you Happy December!

There's no holiday greeting card quite like a a love story, straight from the heart of writer to reader. Granted, there's a bit of a reversal of fortune--from reader's pocket to writer's--but with the cost of greeting cards these days and the discounts at online retailers like Amazon, you can almost get a book for the price of a card. And the writer worked really hard to give the reader a truly delicious experience.

I'm really proud of this particular package. So Happy, happy holidays! ONE COWBOY, ONE CHRISTMAS officially goes on sale today. (Since there are already a couple of reviews available at Amazon, I guess it's been available for a week or more.)

Just look at him--the down-and-out cowboy on the outside looking in. Zach Beaudry is the quintessential rolling stone. He's the adventurer, the rebel without a cause. The younger brother of responsible, dependable Sheriff Sam (IN CARE OF SAM BEAUDRY), Zach has pushed his body just past the limit by the time he literally stumbles onto Ann Drexler's porch. See the woman in the window? That's Ann. Zach thinks he's about to meet her for the first time, but he's wrong about that. And Ann remembers their first meeting all too well. You can sample the first few pages of this tasty holiday package at my website.

I didn't set out to write connected books, but Zach popped up in his brother's story, and I had to find out what happened to him. By the time I finished Zach's story, I had another character who deserved a happily-ever-after on my hands, which comes at the hand of COOL HAND HANK in February. And I'm working on a fourth. I do love those horses and cowboys and Indians and the rugged beauty of the Dakotas

And I love good Christmas stories. One of the most romantic stories ever written is "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry. That first Christmas together is magical for a young couple. I thought maybe we could share some of those stories. Remember the first Christmas you spent with the love of your life?

Here's my story. Clyde was drafted and shipped out a month after we were married. A little over a year later he was due to come back and be reassigned, but the Army couldn't quite make up its mind when that would happen. The all-volunteer Army was coming down the pike, and nobody knew what they were going to do with the draftees who were "short-timers." We thought we'd be spending Christmas apart. I was rooming with another dewy-eyed second-year teacher from the East, (gone West to the Dakotas to save the world) in what was called the Employees' Club--basically a dorm for teachers on the reservation, which is ever short of housing. Everyone had gone home for Christmas except me. I was waiting for a call that might not come. I had a sad little tree decorated with my homemade ornaments, and I can still see it in my mind's eye and hear the phone ringing late that Christmas Eve. Clyde was in Seattle. His name had been called to get on the next plane, and hadn't had time to call before he left Korea. I picked him up at the airport on Christmas morning. Quite a Christmas present. (Well, I was, too. I was wearing the cutest miniskirt!) And we had the whole Employees' Club to ourselves for Christmas break.

Got a bit of true holiday romance to share with us? Yours or your mom's, sister's or best friend's. An autographed copy of IN CARE OF SAM BEAUDRY is waiting for one of you. A comment will do, too. I'll choose a random commenter. Let's share some holiday treats!

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a lovely story ! Don't have one to tell myself, unfortunatly. But thanks for sharing yours ! Definitly romance novel material ;-)

Candace said...

Joe and I got engaged on our first Christmas together. We’d met the previous spring. Our first date was a lunch that turned into dinner that turned into breakfast, and we’d moved in together just a few weeks later. So, anyway, we’d spent Christmas Eve with his family and were spending Christmas Day with mine. His Christmas gift to me was a white teddy bear with an engagement ring. It’s been 37 years since that Christmas and I still have the ring. And Joe. Don’t know what happened to the bear, though.

Cindy Gerard said...

Congrats on the new release Kathy. LOVE all 3 covers!!

KylieBrant said...

Awww, that's a romantic story, Kathleen! I don't have one...seems like I've known my husband forever! I do love all the covers, though. They took special care of your stories!

Pamela Keener said...

I love a gr8 Christmas story this time of year. Good Luck with your release.
Love & Hugs,
Pam

Kathleen Eagle said...

Hi, Candace! Joe and the ring are both lovely keepers. You can always Build another Bear. (I have Build-Bear on the brain. The grands are into B-A-B, so I'm shopping for clothes. Got a great deal on e-bay.) What a nice time to get engaged, too.

Kathleen Eagle said...

I should add that my story is about our second married Christmas, but the first one wasn't romantic at all. We'd only been married a month when he shipped out. A month later I had emergency surgery for a kidney problem, and the Army flew him to my bedside just before Christmas. Story for another day.

Virginia C said...

Hello, Kathleen! Your story lines and book covers are wonderful! Santa, please send me my very own Cowboy for Christmas : )

My mother and stepfather only had one Christmas together before he passed away. He loved my mother with all his heart, and he would have done anything in the world to please her. He gave me money to buy her all kinds of nice gifts (from him) so that there would be lots of presents under the tree. What gift did she like the best? The old china cabinet that they had seen at a thrift shop. My stepfather secretly bought it and painstakingly restored it by hand. My mother cried and cried. They are both gone, and I am looking at the china cabinet right now as I wipe away my tears with a smile : )

gcwhiskas at aol dot com

Helen Brenna said...

Kathy, what a lovely story. I don't have one either, unfortunately. I remember the first Christmas with kids better.

Love all your covers. They look great together!

CrystalGB said...

What a wonderful story. I don't have a story either. My nephew was born on Christmas eve.

Kathleen O said...

That is a beautiful Story Kathleen..
I always went with my Dad to buy my Mom's Christmas present. The last Christmas present she got from him, he was not even aware he bought it.. He was in hospital and very ill. So I just went ahead and bought a gift and put it under the tree from him for my mom. She was cried when she opened it and she knew who bought it.. But they never forgot each other at Christmas time.. He passed away two weeks later..

Unknown said...

very touching everyone. thanx. beautiful story,K.

LSUReader said...

What a great, romantic story. I don't have anything to compare to that!

Kathleen Eagle said...

Virginia, Kathleen, I love the stories of the gifts from Dad to Mom. I'm trying to remember some of those right now. Daddy died when he was 48--3 years after I was married--and he loved Christmas. I remember is favorite Christmas song--Nat King Cole's "A Christmas Song"--but Mama did most of the shopping. Their gifts to each other tended to be household stuff.

Debra Dixon said...

I LOVE Christmas books.

ONE CHRISTMAS is now a proud resident on my Kindle. :) :) :)

I'm rushing out the door for a speaking gig, but I paused long enough to snag me some Christmas Cheer from Kathy.

catslady said...

After being married 25 years I was raking leaves up on our hillside so he could watch a football game. I lost the stone to my wedding ring. Try finding it in 3 feet of leaves :( In hindsight I remember hitting my hand when getting into our shed but there was no finding it. Obviously I was sick about it. That Christmas he presented me with a beautiful ring - made special for me. We've been married over 40 years now and I tell him I should rake some leave when we're married 50 years roflmao.

Anonymous said...

Loved your posting...don't have any 'romantic posting' to share today...but I do enjoy the magic of the season.

karenk
kmkuka(at)yahoo(dot)com

Kathleen Eagle said...

Catslady, we just celebrated anniversary #39. And Candace and Joe are at 37 and counting. That's a lot of Christmas memories stored up!

Christie Ridgway said...

Kathleen, that story is wonderful! I remember the first Christmas Surfer Guy and I spent as a married couple we drove up to my mom's in Northern Califnornia. Christmas morning we exchanged gifts but the special one to me...something I'd never gotten before...in a tube was a picture of the shiny red mountain bike waiting for me at our home in SoCal.

Unknown said...

Hi Kathleen :)
Thank you for sharing here today.
I surprised my fiance with a weekend getaway one Christmas and it was so romantic... our first daughter was born 9 months later.
:)
Are you on Twitter? I searched but could not find you.
:)
Love & Best Wishes to you & yours,
RKCharron
PS - email's in Blogger Profile
PPS - posted about this on my blog

Unknown said...

Hi Kathleen, I love Christmas books so congrats on your new release! Don't enter me because I have already read In Care of Sam Beaudry and it was a fantastic read.

mslizalou said...

No romantic Christmas stories for me, but I loved reading yours.

Linda Henderson said...

I really don't have a romantic holiday story to tell, but I have kind of a funny one. The second year my first husband and I celebrated Christmas I wanted a pair of boots. He took my best friend to try them on so he would know they would fit. He was very secretive about this. Well about a week before Christmas my friend was over and started talking about how the salesclerk looked at her so funny when she was there with my husband trying on boots for me. Well, there went the surprise. I thought it was rather funny though.

Mitzi H. said...

Christmas time in our household is to hectic to be romantic, but my fondest memories are of me and my hubby (been married 36 years) laying in bed and listening to the children as they awoke and talk about whether Santa came or not...and daring each other to go look...Then listening to them whisper loudly..."Do you think we can wake up mom and dad and tell them"?.

I love Christmas and the joy it brings!!!

Congrats on the new release and I look forward to reading it.

mitzihinkey at sbcglobal dot net

Kathleen Eagle said...

Linda, have you heard the one about Ole and Lena and the motorcycle and Ole's boots? It's one of Clyde's favorites. I can't tell a joke worth beans, and you can't tell it without a pair of boots.

Kathleen Eagle said...

Mitzi, those are some of my favorite memories, too. The kind that never change from one generation to the next...those "tiny tots with their eyes all aglow..."

Laney4 said...

Kathleen,
Congrats on #39! That's truly an accomplishment! DH & I celebrated our #28 this year. We are so very fortunate that each year gets better and better -- well ... to be honest we had some rough spots when the kids were small, but I imagine most people do at that stage -- and we persevered to feel extremely blessed.
As for a story, I CAN tell you that I started dating DH on Labor Day weekend (although he had been a friend of the family for a year or two before that too), he bought my ring in October, and he invited himself to my family Christmas 2 hours away, sleeping overnight. Sis & I were in caftans (oh ... those were the years!) when I got to my last gift -- an engagement ring! He asked me to marry him, I hesitated (because I was shocked since we had dated only 3.5 months and I was only 21 years of age while he was 31 years old), and MY MOM said yes for me!!! Can you imagine? Then I had to follow it up by saying that I didn't know; it was too soon; I'd think about it. Jeesh!
I am a list person, so I wrote a list with four columns: why I wanted to marry DH; why I didn't want to marry DH; why I wanted to be married; and why I didn't want to be married. The reasons to NOT get married were about four times longer than the reasons to GET married, but I rationalized that it was the quality of my answers rather than the quantity of them, and I said yes two days later.
We were wed in July of the following year. (And they lived happily ever after....)

Kathleen Eagle said...

Laney4, congrats on 28 happy years. Yeah, those rough patches are part of the deal, aren't they? Love the engagement ring for Christmas. And the lists. And Mom! Sounds like destiny.

Milka said...

Well, this actually happened at the beginnning of december 2 years ago. I was studying in United States and there was this boy at my school who had tried to ask me out for many times since September. I just did not react to him at all, I really thought that he is pretty annoying. Then one day at school he asked could I go somewhere with him. He said that it is really important to him. He had rented a whole iceskating rink for us, he knew that I love to skate and he himself played hockey. We had so much fun and eventually he told me that he likes me a lot and would like to take me to dinner. After that we were together for 8 months and would probably still be if I wouldn't have moved away from US.

milkavainamo@lyseo.edu.ouka.fi