Christmas Memories with Deborah Hale with giveaway

Please welcome Deborah Hale back to my blog to talk about Christmas. 

1.   What do you most associate with Christmas where you live?

Three things -- family, food and faith!  Nova Scotia is pretty far north, but coastal, so we often have a white Christmas, but other times it can be mild or rainy.  But we ALWAYS celebrate with our extended family, festive meals and special church services. (Jenny here for me going to church on Christmas is central to the celebration)

 2.   Do you have any special family traditions you do at Christmas time?

One I used to do when my kids were little was an advent tree, where each day there would be a special activity like mailing our Christmas cards, baking cookies, seeing a Christmas movie, going for a walk to see the lights.  They kind of outgrew that, but I hope I'll be able to resurrect it when I have grandchildren.

 3.   Do you have a favourite Christmas Carol and if so do you know why?

It's really hard to choose!  I've been singing in church choirs since I was 7 years old, and I love almost every Christmas carol out there. One of my recent favourites is The Boar's Head Carol, because of it's history and wonderful harmonies.

  

 4.   If you could spend Christmas anyway you could how would you celebrate?

Exactly the way we do now.  It's the continuity from year to year that appeal to me so much in a fast-changing world.

 5.   Do you have any special memories of Christmas?

Tons, beginning from the Christmas I was four-years-old and we got stormed in.  We were supposed to go to my great-grandmother's place for a big Christmas dinner, but the roads were impassable, so my Mum, Dad and two little sisters hunkered down at home and had tomato soup for Christmas dinner!  I also have a very vivid memory of sitting between my grandmother and great-uncle Chester on the piano bench while they played and sang Away in a Manger -- I can hear their voices whenever I sing it now.

 6.   What is a typical Christmas eve and or Christmas day for you?

Christmas Eve is actually the best part of the holidays for me.  The morning is usually spent cooking and cleaning while I listen to Patrick Stewart's "A Christmas Carol."  Some time in the early afternoon, the extended family gathers at either my house or my sister Pat's for a big

buffet. We talk, admire the tree, sing carols, take pictures and nosh. Later we go to church (some of us are usually singing in the choir). After we get home in the evening, we usually open our gifts.

On Christmas Day everybody sleeps in.  I have a baked French toast ready to slide into the oven and fry up some bacon.  Later we go to my sister Ivy's and have a big turkey dinner with all the trimmings.  In recent years, we get on Skype to talk to my sister Cyndi in Calgary and

my brother Graham in Ontario. In the evening we might watch a Christmas DVD, play boardgames or work on a jigsaw puzzle together.

 7.   Do you have any Christmas movies or Christmas books you like to see or read each year?

We always watch Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas. Every year during advent, I read Norah Lofts' How Far to Bethlehem.

 8.   Do you have a Christmas message for my readers?

This Christmas, may you experience the joy of giving, the peace of simple things, the hope of a bright new year and the love of God in your heart.

 Thanks to e-books, this book is available in Australia

 http://www.millsandboon.com.au/product/9781460823477

Giveaway
Deborah is giving one commenter a chance to receive The Captains Christmas Family.
To enter please comment on the interview with either a comment or question and a way to contact you if you win. (comments with looks good enter me with no other comment will be excluded). You have till 13 Dec Thursday 6.pm Australia time.

Getting to Know you Thursdays with Deborah Hale with giveaway

Please welcome Deborah Hale to my blog today. Deborah writes Love Insipred Historicals and I have gotten to know her at the LIH Goodreads site and also She and the fellow LIH goodreads authors and members have been supporting me with prayers etc during my recovery.

1.      Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I’m a Canadian author and mother of four, three of whom are still living at home attending post secondary school.  My husband and I have been happily married for over thirty years. Before becoming a writer, I was trained and worked as a special education teacher.

2. When you were a child did you have a favourite book or books?

Hands down the Lucy Maud Montgomery books.  My grandmother was a skinny, freckled red-head whose ancestors came from PEI, so she was a devoted Montgomery reader.  She used to buy me some of those books for birthdays and Christmas or lend me her hardcover copies.  My favourite of all Montgomery’s books is Jane of Lantern Hill because of Jane’s wonderful character growth over the course of the story.

3. Do you have a favourite Genre to both read and right write?

Anything historical.  I’ve written secular historical, inspirational historical, historical fiction and fantasy in an imaginary world that was basically medieval.  Historicals are also what I love to read.  One of my favourite series is the Brother Cadfael medieval mysteries.

4. Did you have favourite authors growing up who have influenced you?

Again, definitely Montgomery.  Being a scribbler, I loved Emily of New Moon. The story of how long it took Emily to get published helped prepare me for some of the ups and downs on the road to publication.

5. When did you know you wanted to be an author?

I’ve been telling stories ever since before I knew what an author was, but somehow I never thought I could get my work published until I had finished my first novel, almost twenty years ago, and joined Romance Writers of America.

6. How did you go about becoming an author?

For years I would start stories and never finish them because I was so discouraged by the quality gap between what I was writing and what I was reading.  But when I got the idea for the story that became My Lord Protector, I sent chapters in the mail (snail mail, that was pre-Internet) to a friend of mine who would give me feedback.  Her encouragement helped keep me going.  After I finished the book, I started trying to find a publisher and got rejected.  Then I discovered RWA, and began the five year process of learning how to write a book people would pay to read.  I rewrote that first story six or seven times, took out huge chunks, changed the point of view and changed the last quarter of the book entirely. I entered the Golden Heart three years in a row with that rewritten story and climbed from the bottom half to the top half, then to the finals and won, to my astonishment. That exposure helped me get an agent then I got rejected by a bunch more publishers until Harlequin Historical bought my book.  Since then I’ve written over twenty-five more novels, novellas and shorter works for Harlequin.

7. If you were not a writer what would you like to be?

I love performing, singing and acting, and I love working with young children, especially those with special needs.

8. Outside reading and writing what do you like to do?

I sing in a small Celtic choir, dabble in genealogy and practice tai-chi. I also love playing board games with my family.

9. Do you have a place you love to visit or would love to visit?

I am blessed to live in a very beautiful place that many people come to visit, so I don’t have too many other places I want to go.  I would love to visit Australia and New Zealand because everyone I know who has been there raves about them. I’d also like to go to the UK someday for a good long stay and visit some of the historic places I’ve researched for my books and places where my ancestors lived. (Jenny here it would be great to see you visit Australia it is a lovely country just like Canada is)

10. If you could have a meal with 3 living people who would you choose and why?

J.K. Rowling, because I love her Harry Potter series and there are so many questions I’d like to ask her about that imaginary world and how she writes.  Harold Ramis, who made one of my all-time favourite films, Groundhog Day, because he’s so versatile and funny.  Finally Sir Patrick Stewart so I could thank him for inspiring my first romance hero…and so I could listen to his wonderful voice.  (Would be an interesting meal. I love Sir Patrick Stewart in his Star Trek role.)

Finally can you tell us about your current books and/or any that will
be coming out soon. Also where we can find you on the web.

My most recent book is The Baron’s Governess Bride (out in June 2012) which is the third story in my Glass Slipper Brides series for Love Inspired Historical.  Some of the reviewers on Amazon have called it “Jane Eyre meets Cinderella.”  It’s about Grace Ellerby, a governess who hides her beauty because it has made her the victim of unwanted advances in her previous positions.  Rupert Kendrick, Lord Steadwell hires her because he thinks she’s unmarriageable.  His daughters’ last governess abandoned them to elope and he doesn’t want it to happen again.  Grace and Rupert don’t realize they’re beginning to fall for each other until one evening at a masked ball they begin to see each other with fresh eyes!  Readers can find me through my website www.deborahhale.com, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDeborahHale or Goodreads at the Love Inspired Historical Group http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/24770.Love_Inspired_Historicals.  I love how the Internet has opened up ways for readers and writers to connect with each other!

Giveaway
Deborah has offered a giveaway to one commenter. To enter answer the question did you have a favourite fairy tale. You have til Thursday 16 August, 6pm Aussie time to enter. Please leave a way to contact you and any entries that just say enter me will be null and void.

Book Review The Baron's Governess Bride by Deborah Hale

The Baron's Governess Bride

Lord Steadwell's three motherless daughters were heartbroken when their last governess ran off to elope. In her dowdy cap and spectacles, Grace Ellerby seems an ideal replacement—a nurturing, intelligent woman uninterested in marriage. No wonder Rupert doesn't recognize Grace as the golden-haired vision at a masked ball, who slips away before midnight….

Frightened by the unwanted attentions of previous employers, Grace resolved to hide her beauty…and her growing feelings for Rupert. One enchanted evening changes everything. For with Grace's three adorable charges playing fairy godmother, Rupert may discover his happy ending is closer than he thinks.

My Review:

Thank to Haliquin and Netgalley for my review copy.

This is a good story. We see Grace wanting a job but at the same time hiding her beauty under clothes, glasses and a cap. She has had issues in previous jobs with unwanted advances. She has an interview for a new job as governess with Lord Steadwell. Rupert is looking for a plain governess for his girls as he wants her to stay till the girls grow up. This is a different take on Cinderella here we have a beautiful lady inside and out who is hiding her looks. We also have the Lords three girls who are not looking for a step mother and after reading a Cinderella story see step mothers are evil. I love the interaction with the girls. Grace has to work hard to gain the children's respect. I also like that Rupert isn't the normal aristocrat, he cares about his lands and government and is not comfortable doing the normal social events. This is the type of book I much prefer. This book deals with preconceived opinions practically if a girl is beautiful they are fair game and will use there beauty to get ahead and if they are born plain they will be safer to hire as no one will want to marry them. I loved how this book shows this issue up. Good read and its changed my opinion of all regency books.