Another year is over! Can you believe it? Well we authors, readers, and bloggers sure can’t. And to celebrate the New Year with bang, we’re going crazy and sending out so many prizes, fun parties, experiences, and other goodies, that it’s a bit scary. Each author has a favorite New Year memory, book, idea, or way to party and we’re going to show you! Can’t wait to see you January 1st – 6th!

And while we do that, we are EACH doing a giveaway. Yep. There will be over 200 giveaways, each hosted by that Author or Blogger.

But that’s not all….

We have THREE grand prizes. You as a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, you can enter over 200 times!

 Now what are those prizes?

 1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet

2nd Grand Prize: A $300 Amazon or B&N Gift Card

3rd Grand Prize: A Swag Pack that contains paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more!

 I’ll be giving away two $5 gift cards to Amazon or All Romance eBooks – winner’s choice! Just answer my question and leave your e-mail address for entries to my contest and for chances at the Grand Prizes! All prizes except the swag pack are International!  🙂

Happy New Year!

The holidays are a time to get together with family and friends, to celebrate the ties that bind us all together.  I don’t have a large family, and we’re spread out far and wide, but the branch I’ve always identified with the most has an origin story, so I thought I’d share some of it with you.

My grandmother’s grandmother was born in Quebec in the mid-nineteenth century, and to protect the guilty (me) I’ll call her Marie.  For reasons I doubt anyone really knows (although many have speculated), Marie didn’t want to stay in Quebec.  So, strong French Canadian woman that she was, she walked away from it.  Literally.  She ended up in village in Upstate New York, where some of her descendants still live (which is the only reason I’m not naming it—to spare them the knowledge that another of her descendants is a shameless smut-pusher ;)).  She ended up working for a Mohawk family—which, if she was anything at all like me, amused her greatly—and married one of the sons.

By the time my Grammie was raising my mom and her siblings, speaking French in this village meant you were from the wrong side of the tracks.  Since she’d descended from Marie, Grammie’s only choices were to keep her children from learning French or personally smack down everyone who called them trash.  Even though I’m sure she could’ve managed it quite well (as a few Catholic school nuns could attest) she just didn’t have the time, so they were only allowed to speak English.

One of the main characters in my novella Comfort and Joy, Sam, is part Mohawk, but he and much of his family actually look it.  I’m pretty sure the only place I show any of my Mohawk blood is on my face—my nose to be precise—so I didn’t write much about Sam’s family for a long time, except through the eyes of his blond and blue-eyed mother.  But the older I get the less I care whether someone thinks I have the right to tell a particular story.  It also took me many years to accept my Mohawk nose but now I dig it, partly because my Grammie had one just like it but also because it ties me to Marie.  I love my badass ancestor—she could’ve stayed where she was and made the best of whatever situation she found herself in, but she made her own way.  And so, with ever-changing levels of success, am I.

That’s my origin story, what’s yours?

This isn’t Sam’s origin story, but it’s shorter and much sexier.

Comfort and Joy by Charley Descoteaux

How much love does it take to heal the wounds of hate?

Sam and Charlie have been together over a decade, and their commitment to each other has only grown stronger through the years. But love isn’t always easy, and eighteen months after a violent assault, their fairy-tale relationship is still struggling. Charlie can’t shake the lingering fear of attracting more violence by displaying affection, and he’s angry at himself for not getting past it. Sam would do anything to help Charlie feel better—if only he knew what that was.

The century-old farmhouse in Northwest Oregon is the perfect place to spend the holidays with Sam’s family, but it was their refuge after the attack, and it still holds painful memories of those difficult first months. Christmas should be a joyful time, but even being surrounded by people who love him isn’t enough to make Charlie feel safe. He could try to keep to himself, but even if Sam agreed to give him the space he needs, Sam’s warm and loving family might not. And even though they agreed not to exchange gifts, Sam has a surprise up his sleeve that he hopes will make everything merry and bright. But he may end up more surprised than Charlie before the week is out…

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure and comment for a chance at all the fabulous prizes and the click the pic below to keep hopping! #2013Hop

Happy New Year!