"GOOD TIDINGS & TRIMMINGS" CHRISTMAS INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR, ALLISON CHASE
Thank you again for donating a book for our 1st annual "Good Tidings & Trimmings" e-book Giveaway! What book or books did you donate, tell us more about them.
I've donated RECKLESSLY YOURS, which releases on Dec. 6th. This book is the third and (for now) final book in my Victorian series, Her Majesty's Secret Servants, about sisters who were the childhood friends of Princess Victoria, and are now her secret task force. They handle matters the young queen would rather her ministers and the public not know about, and the Sutherland Sisters are willing to risk their lives, hearts, and sometimes even their virtue in the service of queen and country. Think James Bond Meets Charlie's Angels, Victorian Style!
In RECKLESSLY YOURS, the queen implores Holly Sutherland to recover a valuable Thoroughbred that's been stolen from the royal stables. Holly, always the impulsive sister, must put on her best manners and mingle with Ascot racing society, but soon finds herself entangled in an ancient Celtic curse and caught in the arms of the thief himself!
Readers will have met the hero, Colin Ashworth, in book 2: OUTRAGEOUSLY YOURS, where he was a man of science at Cambridge University. In Recklessly Yours you'll see another side to him as well—a dashing, outdoorsy side, and a nobleman with a tortured past and burdened by heavy responsibilities. Holly has the power to save him from his demons, but first he has to trust that redemption is possible.
What is your favorite thing about the holiday season and what does Christmas mean to you?
Christmas to me is synonymous with family and friends. It's putting aside all the worries life throws at us and enjoying being together. Christmas Eve at our house is a time for friends and Wassail – hot, spiced apple cider and port, my own nod toward a Victorian Christmas. We don't open the presents until Christmas Day, because I like Christmas Eve to be a time of expectations and possibilities. It's a time to relax, enjoy the decorations and indulge in the warmth of the season.
What is your favorite holiday memory?
That would be the first year my husband and I got to put the "Our Baby" ornament on our Christmas tree. It's a tiny needlepoint Christmas stocking that I made. Our first daughter was ten months old, and we had a beautiful little green velvet Christmas dress for her to wear that day. That was the year I realized my husband and I were now a proper little family, and that we were about to embark on new holiday traditions all our own.
Do you still have any of the toys you got when you were a kid?
No, I don't, and now that you ask, I think I'm going to cry.
How do you celebrate the holidays?
As stress-free as possible! I always cook lasagna ahead of time because I don't believe in working much on Christmas day. We always start off the morning with coffee and gooey, delicious cinnamon buns – the one day of the year mom doesn't try to push a healthy breakfast. Then we gather around the tree. Later in the day the grandparents arrive and it's present time again. Grandma's a champion antique/vintage shopper, and we never know what treasures she'll bring. The next day is what I call Pajama Day – my very own declared holiday. It's when I lounge around in a new pair of PJs long into the day, eating Christmas chocolates, watching favorite movies, checking out the things we got the day before, and generally being very lazy. I really feel this should be a national holiday.
Do you still believe in Santa Claus?
Absolutely, and I don't understand what you're implying by that question. I mean, NORAD uses satellites to track Santa's progress around the world every Christmas Eve. Surely they wouldn't do that if he weren't real, right?
A lot of people get that warm, fuzzy feeling around this time of year, are you one of those people?
Guilty! I'm a huge sap around the holidays. I feel sorry for anyone who isn't. For most of the year we take ourselves much too seriously, sweating the small stuff and forgetting what's really important. So the holidays are the perfect excuse to feel younger, freer, happier and…this is important here…more loving and patient. Sounds hokey? Well, sure, we're talking about warm and fuzzy, aren't we? If I'm having trouble getting into that mood, I'll just pop It's A Wonderful Life or The Bishop's Wife or Scrooged or A Charlie Brown Christmas into the DVD player – no one explains the meaning of Christmas better than Linus. Or I'll turn off the TV altogether and suggest we all go out to look at Christmas lights in the neighborhood, or attend a Christmas concert.
Have you ever gone caroling or wanted to?
Yes, I wanted to as a child, but eek – my singing is not for public consumption!
If you had a choice of the perfect weather for Christmas would it be cold and snowy, or warm and sunny?
I live in South Florida – land of eternal heat and sunshine, but we still always hope for cold weather for Christmas. Sometimes we get it, and sometimes we need the AC on. While that might not sound very Christmasy, the really great thing is seeing the neighborhood kids out the next day playing with their new toys, riding their new bikes, skateboards, roller skates, etc. Kids up north can't do that in the dead of winter. It's a happy time here!
Give us your links! Tell us where to find your books and more information about you!
Thank you so much for having me! You'll be able to find Recklessly Yours at bookstores on Dec. 6, and online at Amazon, B&N, Bamm.com, etc. It's available in print and as an ebook. For more about the books and me, you visit the links below.
http://allisonchase.com
http://allisonchase.wordpress.com
http://facebook.com/allisonchaseauthor
http://twitter.com/allisonchase
Read more: http://www.greatmindsthinkaloud.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=interviews&thread=886#ixzz1fsCmgwNE
Thank you again for donating a book for our 1st annual "Good Tidings & Trimmings" e-book Giveaway! What book or books did you donate, tell us more about them.
I've donated RECKLESSLY YOURS, which releases on Dec. 6th. This book is the third and (for now) final book in my Victorian series, Her Majesty's Secret Servants, about sisters who were the childhood friends of Princess Victoria, and are now her secret task force. They handle matters the young queen would rather her ministers and the public not know about, and the Sutherland Sisters are willing to risk their lives, hearts, and sometimes even their virtue in the service of queen and country. Think James Bond Meets Charlie's Angels, Victorian Style!
In RECKLESSLY YOURS, the queen implores Holly Sutherland to recover a valuable Thoroughbred that's been stolen from the royal stables. Holly, always the impulsive sister, must put on her best manners and mingle with Ascot racing society, but soon finds herself entangled in an ancient Celtic curse and caught in the arms of the thief himself!
Readers will have met the hero, Colin Ashworth, in book 2: OUTRAGEOUSLY YOURS, where he was a man of science at Cambridge University. In Recklessly Yours you'll see another side to him as well—a dashing, outdoorsy side, and a nobleman with a tortured past and burdened by heavy responsibilities. Holly has the power to save him from his demons, but first he has to trust that redemption is possible.
What is your favorite thing about the holiday season and what does Christmas mean to you?
Christmas to me is synonymous with family and friends. It's putting aside all the worries life throws at us and enjoying being together. Christmas Eve at our house is a time for friends and Wassail – hot, spiced apple cider and port, my own nod toward a Victorian Christmas. We don't open the presents until Christmas Day, because I like Christmas Eve to be a time of expectations and possibilities. It's a time to relax, enjoy the decorations and indulge in the warmth of the season.
What is your favorite holiday memory?
That would be the first year my husband and I got to put the "Our Baby" ornament on our Christmas tree. It's a tiny needlepoint Christmas stocking that I made. Our first daughter was ten months old, and we had a beautiful little green velvet Christmas dress for her to wear that day. That was the year I realized my husband and I were now a proper little family, and that we were about to embark on new holiday traditions all our own.
Do you still have any of the toys you got when you were a kid?
No, I don't, and now that you ask, I think I'm going to cry.
How do you celebrate the holidays?
As stress-free as possible! I always cook lasagna ahead of time because I don't believe in working much on Christmas day. We always start off the morning with coffee and gooey, delicious cinnamon buns – the one day of the year mom doesn't try to push a healthy breakfast. Then we gather around the tree. Later in the day the grandparents arrive and it's present time again. Grandma's a champion antique/vintage shopper, and we never know what treasures she'll bring. The next day is what I call Pajama Day – my very own declared holiday. It's when I lounge around in a new pair of PJs long into the day, eating Christmas chocolates, watching favorite movies, checking out the things we got the day before, and generally being very lazy. I really feel this should be a national holiday.
Do you still believe in Santa Claus?
Absolutely, and I don't understand what you're implying by that question. I mean, NORAD uses satellites to track Santa's progress around the world every Christmas Eve. Surely they wouldn't do that if he weren't real, right?
A lot of people get that warm, fuzzy feeling around this time of year, are you one of those people?
Guilty! I'm a huge sap around the holidays. I feel sorry for anyone who isn't. For most of the year we take ourselves much too seriously, sweating the small stuff and forgetting what's really important. So the holidays are the perfect excuse to feel younger, freer, happier and…this is important here…more loving and patient. Sounds hokey? Well, sure, we're talking about warm and fuzzy, aren't we? If I'm having trouble getting into that mood, I'll just pop It's A Wonderful Life or The Bishop's Wife or Scrooged or A Charlie Brown Christmas into the DVD player – no one explains the meaning of Christmas better than Linus. Or I'll turn off the TV altogether and suggest we all go out to look at Christmas lights in the neighborhood, or attend a Christmas concert.
Have you ever gone caroling or wanted to?
Yes, I wanted to as a child, but eek – my singing is not for public consumption!
If you had a choice of the perfect weather for Christmas would it be cold and snowy, or warm and sunny?
I live in South Florida – land of eternal heat and sunshine, but we still always hope for cold weather for Christmas. Sometimes we get it, and sometimes we need the AC on. While that might not sound very Christmasy, the really great thing is seeing the neighborhood kids out the next day playing with their new toys, riding their new bikes, skateboards, roller skates, etc. Kids up north can't do that in the dead of winter. It's a happy time here!
Give us your links! Tell us where to find your books and more information about you!
Thank you so much for having me! You'll be able to find Recklessly Yours at bookstores on Dec. 6, and online at Amazon, B&N, Bamm.com, etc. It's available in print and as an ebook. For more about the books and me, you visit the links below.
http://allisonchase.com
http://allisonchase.wordpress.com
http://facebook.com/allisonchaseauthor
http://twitter.com/allisonchase
Read more: http://www.greatmindsthinkaloud.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=interviews&thread=886#ixzz1fsCmgwNE
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