Okay, and now we come to Second Breakfast, in honor of our Hobbit Friends, and also our rascally writer brunch host, who was out of town last week. This is the second edition of Sunday Brunch with Friends.

Today we’re talking about winter holidays. I know, I know. You all understand that I come to winter from a completely different perspective. We have a mediterranean climate where I live, and there really isn’t any winter to speak of. I can go to the beach to surf (in a wetsuit) or the mountains to ski today. That’s how we roll. Where I live it’s between 60 degrees and 90 degrees 80% of the year.

Last Sunday Brunch Winner: Kate!

Not really all that excited to have no seasons, but I was born here. There are wintertime activities though, all over (besides holiday shopping) and today my pals answer the question:

What’s your favorite winter pastime?

Share your own favorite winter pastimes in the comments for a chance to win ebooks from these lovely authors. Just comment for a chance to win!

Snowfall.

At a time when most of the country has been inside shivering and cursing Jack Frost due to the mysterious (and apparently imaginary) phenomenon of the polar vortex, winter, for some of us living in bi-seasonal California, still holds its glittery appeal.

When ZAM posed this question I was suddenly sucked through time, experiencing a shuffling of memories, all variations of me walking down snowy roads, in either the soft lux of daylight or in the pitch of a blanketed night…but in every scene, my head is thrown back, arms flung wide, my tongue stretched painfully past the point of resistance, straining to catch each fat goose-downy flake drifting by.

It doesn’t matter if the memory is from a frosty Salt Lake City night at age five when the snow was so high that the paths we wore through the backyard banked at our shoulders; or when my own girl was three—swimming in an outdoor heated pool at Lake Tahoe in early February, the snow falling in our hair.

Snowfall is Magic.

I don’t care how paltry the winter offering is; just standing outside in the drifting silence is enough to make my spirit soar.

On the ground, snow becomes the material of adventure or exertion—depending on age, inclination, and responsibility…but the stuff fresh from the sky is a wonder and I would give almost anything to be there in those moments with you, my frozen US friends—catching snowflakes. – Author LE Bryce

Thank you Zam for including me in another Sunday Blog. My current release is Snow Globe, a short about an artist looking for his own piece of winter magic. [Editor’s Note: I can’t tell you how much I LOVE that cover. I just want to feed them hot soup!]

You can find it at  Dream Spinner Press or  Amazon.com.

~*~

Winter. Ahhh. You know what the most awesome thing to do in the winter is? Not be hot. Now, before you all say, oh K.A., you’re always hot—and thank you very much, but that’s just the writing talking—I’m really talking about the outside temperature. I love being bundled in warm clothes, snuggling down under the weight of blankets with a good book or with someone to inspire a good book in me. Err, with me?

And I love the muffling, insulation of snow. I love to stand in the woods and watch it fall, listen to the whispers of it as it deadens sound and makes everything a beautiful black and white picture with only evergreens and cardinals for splashes of color. I could stand there until I freeze.

Oops, I think I may be channeling Wallace Stevens there.

So then it’s back into the house under the fluffy, fuzzy blankets with tea and a good book. You know what else is awesome about winter? No one ever says, “You’re going to stay inside and read on a day like this?”

Yeah, so come on do it with me. Comfy surface? Check. Blankets? Check. Hot beverage? Check. Book? You don’t have one? Well, leave a comment with your favorite winter activity and one will be randomly selected for a ten dollar Amazon gift card. Now, go forth and snuggle. [Editor’s Note: COOL! A Givaway. Go forth and Comment!]

Bad Attitude is available at  Samhain  Amazon   ARE   B&N

[Editor’s second note: Check out what’s coming April 15th, one reason to LOVE Tax day this year:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~*~

Winter?

We have winter in So. Cal?

Seriously, I was riding around with the top down and wearing short sleeves on Christmas Eve. The week of New Years, I sweated through my leathers when I rode my Harley to the office. Winter around these parts means it just gets a little rainier.

So, not so much winter, but the holidays in general. I love gearing up for them. Thanksgiving and Christmas and then on to New Years. Walking through the stores with all the snowy displays that are so out of place when it’s 80 degrees outside. Watching a Charlie Brown Christmas for the 10,000^th time. Putting up all three trees (yes we have three full-sized trees throughout the house). Holiday meals. Get togethers. Finally, chowing down on LA Street Dogs while standing on Colorado Blvd. watching and smelling the floats of the Rose Parade as the punctuation mark at the end of that festive rollercoaster.

If it rains, well then that’s an excuse to huddle inside with the dogs, cats and kids and watch movies. We play a lot more poker, having friends over for that, since it’s in between sports seasons – which everyone’s kids are involved in.

The weather is similar, but “winter” does have a different vibe than spring or fall. ~~Author James Buchanan

Purchase Laying Ghosts  Amazon   ARE   B&N

 

I’m just going to admit something here: Lately I’ve had a LOT of balls in the air. Last year I had several book releases: Grime And Punishment, My Cowboy Heart, Grime Doesn’t Pay and Lost and Found. I also wrote two more books, My Heartache Cowboy and a new one no one has even heard about yet, tentatively titled Home The Hard Way, which I finished on New Year’s Day (and totaled 90,000 words) when I typed in the last period.

On top of that, I’m really not writing in a vacuum. It seems I have a home and a husband and four kids, without whom none of this is meaningful at all… I have friends. I also have a rich and vibrant fantasy life. I dunno. Sometimes I drop the ball. Last year I failed to post things when I was supposed to, which is why sometimes you get more than one Tuesday Teaser at a time, or more than one Sunday Brunch Question. (Like today.)

And I’ve been unforgivably slow to post prizes in the mail. (I even found one of them in my car this week, because I had forgotten to post it at all.) I’ve been lax in keeping up cherished correspondences. I’ve given close local friends the impression I can’t be bothered to be social…

So, I think since this week’s first question is:

“What are your New Year’s Resolutions and which one do you think you’ll break first.”

I will answer with my New Year’s Resolutions first:

I ZAM, will cherish my friends and family even more this year.

I will not be as much of a hermit.

I will brave the post office, even in the holiday season (or I will get everything out way ahead) Or I will send gift cards through the World Wide Web and you will not be disappointed by me ever again.

I will set aside one day each week to create blog posts and stick to that schedule.

I will not procrastinate.

Those are mine, and I would say procrastination and schedules are the ones I’m likely to break first. ~~Author Z.A Maxfield

You can give Z.A. Maxfield Holy Hell if she forgets any of these things, at her email address zamaxfield at zamaxfield dot com.

Leave me your New Years’ Resolutions in the comment section below, please, I’m sure we’ll all enjoy looking back with the contentment of a job well done at the end of the year… OR NOT. *blushes*

~*~

My New Year’s resolution was going to be not to commit to so much, because I’m exhausted!  But I broke that last night when I started writing a short story for a charity anthology at the urging of two (*aherm*) friends.   It was also going to be to make the diet stick– and I can honestly say I’ve been doing that.  Of course I’ve been sick and generally disgusting, and even fudge is unappetizing, so I’ve sort of had some help on that front.  And I was going to keep my business matters more in check, but then a credit card got pirated and I still need to buy plane tickets to Florida.  But I definitely need to find my lost Kindle.  This year.  I can only read so much on my phone.

~~Author Amy Lane

Purchase Behind the Curtain   Dreamspinner   Amazon   ARE

~*~

First of all, hiya Zam! I so love coming over to hang out with you. The camaraderie, the cupcakes, the prospect of sighting one of your many vintage and uber-nerd-girl cool lunch boxes… well, I gotta admit it give me happy clappy hands. [Editor’s Note: YOU ARE SO SWEET]

Every. Single. Time.

No fooling.

Now that that is our of the way, I want to say hello to my fellow New Year’s Resolvers…

*psst. Zam. Is that a word? Resolver? Eh, I think the readers will get what I mean. Or, you know, point and laugh. That’s good too.* [Editor’s Note: I like to think of myself as a *Resolutionary* Vive la Resolution]

Right. Resolutions? Let me lay them out for you. Because hey, when I started thinking about New Year’s Resolutions, I started thinking about the changes I want to see in my life this year, the ones that I want to be an embodiment of, and the ones whose glory I want to bask in.

*Oh. Didja see that? I’m pretty sure I just dangled a participle. Quick, scope out the room, Zam… Are there any editors whimpering and clutching their red pens? Wincing and cuddling up to their laptops or tablets? Ouch.*

Ahem. Right. On to the resolve. Resolutely forward.

1) Plan stuff and things out better. Seriously. Backwards planning. How long it takes to do such and such. When it needs to be done. When I need to start… yeah, already blew that one to hell and gone. Moving right along, then, nothing to see here, nothing to see. What? The woman flying by the seat of her pants and making it up as she goes? Seriously, nothing to see here. Ahem.

2) Lose weight. Mainly for my health, but also because I am vain. No, really. And I have extreme shoe envy. Yes, yes, Marie Sexton, I am talking about your divine shoe collection. *salivates* Because I wanna wear my sexy shoes again, and at this weight my back won’t take the added stress. But if I slim down, I can *likely* wear heels for short bursts of time. Just long enough to make me happy and feed my sexy shoe fetish.

3) Exercise more. Health, and did I mention I’m just a wee bit vain? I want to look and feel my best. Plus, when I exercise I have so much more energy to write with! That right there is winning with a side of win.

4) Write more. ‘Nuff said.

5) Study harder *eh, or smarter, whichever comes first* in school. Yes, I’m back in school. Business major. Because there is just so much of this authoring that is all about the business aspects, and I figure I need to get myself rocking in that arena. The creativity? Got it. The writing skills? I learn a little more every day, and hope that every single book I put out is a little better than the one before. One day I want to hear folk say… “Do you see how much she grew as a writer over the course of her career?” And then of course, they can launch into a lovely soliloquy about how very brilliant my later works are. That would be awesome.

6) Spend more time with my kidlet. Structured time. With body armor, a whip and a chair, because… sheesh. Have you seen a teenager lately? They are scary beasts, I tell you what. Yes. I—no, I am not joking about the whip and chair. Okay, maybe a little bit joking. But only literally. There is no joking about needing all three of those things figuratively when dealing with the dreaded teen beast. So, this leads me directly to my next resolution.

7) Receive a Presidential Medal of Courage in Parenting. *see above*

8) Be more organized and stuff. *hmm. I may have mentioned this already. Lists are good. I like lists. And color coding them. Never mind.*

9) Write every day. This one? Is the realio dealio, I am pushing to make this a reality. Because writing every day leads to writing better prose every day. Which in turn will spur me to be more organized, which will free up time to spend with the dreaded teen *cracking of whip sounds*, leading to being nominated for that Presidential award, freeing up time to exercise, which in turn leads to the weight loss and my ultimate goal of affording *via scads of book sales* the sexy shoes which my new, strongly muscled and svelte figure will enable me to do more than gaze at longingly.

10) Possibly swear less, drink less coffee and give up chocolate. *bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha*
Everything hinges on the whole writing every day thing.

Well, everything hinges on daily writing except for number ten. That one’s fucking impossible. Especially without fortifying myself with coffee and chocolate first. So I’ll go right ahead and plan to break #10 at every given opportunity, because if I managed to fulfill all ten resolutions… well, you’d be obligated to go find the freaky space pod that ate my brains and produced the false, caffeine and chocolate free Cherie

*Oh dear, I can’t even say that without weeping just a little.*

I have been writing every day. Writing my fingers and toes off since the first of the year, that’s what I’ve been doing. In fact I even started earlier. November… yep, that’s when I started the current push to be better about writing, editing, blog posting and hosting and promo, oh my… all the bits and bobs that go with being an author… November and December were a wee bit rocky for various reasons, but every single day since the first of the year I’ve been right on target. I can feel those sexy shoes getting closer and closer every day. My first product of this improved organization and stuff is the Big Bone Lick Anthology, which publishes January 24th. Kendall McKenna, Jambrea Jo Jones and I all wrote a story for the anthology set in and around Big Bone Lick Park.

I could not make up a name like that. It’s a real place. True story. Here’s the smexy cover for the story, and a wee little blurb.

Blurb: Welcome to the Big Bone Lick Pack: A more friendly and hospitable group of werewolves you’ll never meet! Visit with; ‘Devil Dog & Bad Wolf’, a ‘Big Bad Bear’ and enjoy some ‘Shifty Fox Shenanigans’. Watch yourself, ’round the state park, ’cause we had a grizzly on the loose, just a bit ago. Our brave men and woman of the Boone County Sheriff’s Department have everything under control. (Except maybe their own love lives!) But if you find yourself needing a doctor, head on down to Rabbit Hash clinic, or St. Elizabeth’s Hospital is just up the road a piece. We hope you enjoy your stay.

If you want more info on the silly behind the scenes shenanigans that went into creating the Big Bone Lick Pack, or the chance to win some fun prizes like the sweet fox pictured here, catch us on tour. Here’s the link:

TALES FROM THE WRITING CAVE

Again, thanks for having me over for brunch, Zam!

 ~*~

I have a funny relationship with New Year’s resolutions. I’m generally against them. For starters, new year’s day is an entirely arbitrary date on the calendar with no relation whatsoever to any celestial phenomenon. Seriously, it’s what? Roughly a week and a half past the winter solstice? I realize the calendar is a mess to begin with, but that would actually make sense for the end of one year and start of the new one. Think of it—the day of the solstice is the rebirth of the sun after the longest night, so why not make it the start of the new year? It’s perfect!

Quixotic calls for calendar reform aside, I also think that if something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing when you think of it. Why wait for an artificial date on a calendar? Plan to do something improving in the new year? Great! Why not start now? In my case I wanted to get back in shape before the DSP Authors Weekend in Portland in April, so I hit returned to the gym in the middle of December instead of joining the new year’s resolutionaries on January 1^st. [Editor’s Note: See? And I didn’t even read this before and I coined that phrase above. Proof we share a brain. I think you got all the best parts though. Just saying’]

That said, I do make one resolution every year. It’s the same resolution every year, and I blow that sucker out of the water before lunch. I resolve not to mock the deeply-held beliefs of others.

Well, what did you expect? It’s like you don’t even know me. Oh well, as Sue Brown remarked, my head would explode if I tried to keep that one.

You can find me online at christopherkoehler.net/blog, on Facebook, or on Twitter @christopherink.

Settling the Score is the fourth book in the CalPac Crew series, all available at Dreamspinner Press. It was released on December 16, 2013.

Purchase Settling the Score  Dreamspinner  Amazon   ARE