christmasreading2 Having devoted the month of November to NaNoWriMo, I found myself facing several incomplete and postponed projects that needed immediate attention. I’ve been playing catch-up this month and spending fewer hours reading novels–one of my favorite pastimes.

To get into the mood of the season, I decided to search for Christmas novellas that could be easily read in one sitting.

I didn’t have to look too far.

Four author friends–two Canadian and two American–have released Christmas novellas. I treated myself to four delightful reads that transported me from the west coast of Canada, across the American southwest, to New York.

Enjoy!

biggarnovella Will a Christmas wish give a lonely author a family?

Mystery writer, Joel Carpenter, has no time for romance. He has a deadline to meet, and too many skeletons in his closet to trust the slightly spinny artist renting his house.

Christy Taylor has her hands full dealing with an ailing business and a diabetic daughter, she doesn’t need the temptation that is her landlord, Joel Carpenter.

Can a Christmas wish bring two stubborn souls together and give a little girl the gift she wants most?

carsonchristmasnovella Jilted by her fiancé, librarian Maddy Jacobson is nursing a broken heart, when her best friend gives her an early Christmas present. Intended to be a fun, psychic reading in a spooky, tea house, the gift turns out to be life changing. Maddy becomes haunted by a mischievous, Highland ghost.

Ruggedly handsome, Cullen Macfie, the Highlander, has been dead for over three centuries, and never in all those years has he been so attracted to a woman, as he is to Maddy. He falls hopelessly in love and decides to woo her.

Can there be a future for a librarian and a naughty, Highland ghost?

A Highland Ghost for Christmas is a sweet, romantic comedy guaranteed to warm the cockles of your heart, make you laugh out loud and leave you craving a man in a kilt … and shortbread, of course.

jaegernovella With Christmas just a few weeks away, Gia San Valentino, the baby in her large, loud, and loving Italian family, yearns for a life and home of her own with a husband and bambini she can love and spoil. The single scene doesn’t interest her, and the men her well-meaning family introduce her to aren’t exactly the happily-ever-after kind. Tim Santini believes he’s finally found the woman for him, but Gia will take some convincing she’s that girl. A misunderstanding has her thinking he’s something he’s not. Can a kiss stolen under the Christmas lights persuade her to spend the rest of her life with him?

hallnovella This romantic thriller is a steamy way to warm up your winter. Perfect for holiday reading, this Christmas novella will keep you on the edge of your seat.

I’m happy to welcome back author Jo-Ann Carson. Today, Jo-Ann is sharing her top ten craft books and her latest release, A Highland Ghost for Christmas. I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend this delightful novella.

Here’s Jo-Ann!

I love craft books on writing, so today I thought I would share with you my ten favorites. Easier said than done!

Whittling my list down to ten, seemed impossible. I went to my shelf and made a stack of ten tossing one aside for another, shuffling them, and starting over again and again as the list didn’t seem quite right.

It was difficult to choose only ten.

Finally, I decided to look at it differently. I’ll be teaching a course on self-publishing soon and I want to have a basic list of ten books I would recommend to a new writer. That helped a bit.

Here’s my ten, ranked by the number of times I go back to them. I’d love to hear yours.

One – The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi

“One of the biggest problem areas for writers is conveying a character’s emotions to the reader in a unique, compelling way. This book comes to the rescue by highlighting 75 emotions and listing the possible body language cues, thoughts, and visceral responses for each…. ” (Amazon)

Two – The Complete Writer’s Guide to Heroes & Heroines by Tamu D. Cowden, Caro LaFever, and Sue Viders

“All fiction writers want to write stories with great heroes and heroines–characters who leap off the page and capture the reader’s imagination. Heroic characters can be broken into sixteen archetypes …” (Back blurb) Amazon

Three – Save the Cat by Blake Snyder

“This ultimate insider’s guide reveals the secrets that none dare admit, told by a show biz veteran who’s proven that you can sell your script if you can save the cat!” (Amazon)

Four – On Writing by Stephen King

“… It starts with this: put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isn’t in the middle of the room. Life isn’t a support-system for art. It’s the other way around. (back blurb) Amazon

Five – Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t by Steven Pressfield

“There’s a mantra that real writers know but wannabe writers don’t. And the secret phrase is this: NOBODY WANTS TO READ YOUR SH*T. Recognizing this painful truth is the first step in the writer’s transformation from amateur to professional.” (Amazon)

Six – Write. Publish. Repeat. by Platt Truant and Wright

” Write. Publish. Repeat is publishing for beginners and experienced writers alike. In 2013, Johnny B. Truant and Sean Platt published 1.5 million words and made their full-time livings as indie authors. In Write. Publish. Repeat., they tell you exactly how they did it: how they created over 15 independent franchises across six publishing imprints and 100+ published works, how they turned their art into a logical, sustainable business, and how any author interested in indie publishing can do the same to build a sustainable, profitable career with their writing ….” (Amazon)

Seven – Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

“A warm, generous and hilarious guide through the writer’s world and its treacherous swamps.” —Los Angeles Times (Amazon)

Eight – The Right to Write by Julia Cameron

“What if everything we have been taught about learning to write was wrong? In The Right to Write, Julia Cameron‘s most revolutionary book, the author of the bestselling self-help guide The Artist’s Way, asserts that conventional writing wisdom would have you believe in a false doctrine that stifles creativity.” (Amazon)

Nine –Stein on Writing by Sol Stein

“This is not a book of theory. It is a book of useable solutions– how to fix writing that is flawed, how to improve writing that is good, how to create interesting writing in the first place.” (Amazon)

Ten – The Chicago Manual of Style

This is the industry bible.

“… the authoritative, trusted source that writers, editors, and publishers turn to for guidance on style and process….” (Amazon)

A Highland Ghost for Christmas

Jilted by her fiancé, librarian Maddy Jacobson is nursing a broken heart, when her best friend gives her an early Christmas present. Intended to be a fun, psychic reading in a spooky, tea house, the gift turns out to be life changing. Maddy becomes haunted by a mischievous, Highland ghost.

Ruggedly handsome, Cullen Macfie, the Highlander, has been dead for over three centuries, and never in all those years has he been as attracted to a woman, as he is to Maddy. He falls hopelessly in love and decides to woo her.

Can there be a future for a librarian and a naughty, Highland ghost?

A Highland Ghost for Christmas is a sweet, romantic comedy guaranteed to warm the cockles of your heart, make you laugh out loud and leave you craving a man in a kilt … and shortbread, of course.

Buy Link

Jo-Ann Carson writes romance twisted with suspense and polished with humor. Her strong characters take you on a fast and fun ride. Currently she’s writing the Gambling Ghost series, a collection of sweet, paranormal romances guaranteed to warm your heart, make you laugh out loud and leaving your craving a ghost of your own.