Happy Christmas in July! Welcome to the first blog in the 2022 Christmas in July Reader Blog Tour & Giveaway, which runs July 15-22, 2022 (contest closes at 8 p.m. Eastern on 7/22). At the bottom of each author’s blog post, you will find the name of a Christmas song. Write them all down and provide the provide all song titles (# in total) on this Google form. See below for a list with links of all participating authors!
Note: You must grab all the song titles from every author in the 2022 Christmas in July Reader Blog Tour & Giveaway to be eligible to win the grand prize of a $XXX Amazon gift card, plus a copy of each participating author’s book OR first place prize of a copy of each participating author’s book. At the end of this blog post is a link to the next blog, and so on, to the final blog post (# in all).
The weather and letters played a large part in my Christmas novella, Mistletoe & Murder. First the weather, because isn’t that the topic of conversation we often start with when meeting new acquaintances? I set the story in the fictitious town of Twin Oaks, placed in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Being in the South, Virginia weather at Christmastime can be unpredictable, but no in the way winter weather is unpredictable elsewhere. No, here in the Old Dominion, we’ve had Christmas Day highs in the 70s and snow on rare occasions. Often, the entire month of December can be rather mild, with temperatures not dipping below forty. I used that local knowledge (I’m a Virginia born and raised and lived in the state nearly my entire life) in my story to show why a particular plant would still be green in December when in other parts of the country, it would already died for the season.
Now the letters. I incorporated a Cyrano de Bergerace storyline as an integral part of the plot. As a writer, I’ve always been intrigued by the story of two people falling in love through letters. When my husband and I were dating, we wrote a lot of emails back and forth—one of the modern-day equivalent of letters! One of my daughters loves the movie, “You’ve Got Mail,” which is one of many iterations of the Cyrano de Bergerace. There was even a recent musical called “Cyrano” too. In Mistletoe & Murder, the letters happened offstage, and are only referenced as part of the background of the current happenings.
Here’s more about Mistletoe & Murder. Don’t forget to grab the song title and enjoy the rest of your tour.
Alec Stratman comes home to Twin Oaks, Virginia, after his Army retirement to contemplate his reentry into civilian life. Instead he’s greeted with the murder of his beloved Great-Aunt Heloise.
For Isabella Montoya, the loss of Heloise Stratman Thatcher goes beyond the end of a job. Heloise had encouraged Isabella to follow her dreams and helped fund her studies. Now, accused of her mentor’s murder, Isabella is scrambling to prove her innocence.
Since his great-aunt had written glowing letters about Isabella, Alec is unwilling to believe the police’s suspicion of the former housekeeper. Instead, he works to help clear her name.
Will Isabella and Alec be able to navigate the secrets that threaten to derail their budding romance and uncover the truth about Heloise’s death before the killer strikes again?
I’d love to hear what the weather’s usually like on Christmas for you! Tell me in the blog comments.
Now, it’s time to for my Christmas song title: “Song for a Winter’s Night”
Save the holiday song titles from each blog stop, and when you reach the final blog, enter all the song titles on this form for a chance to win the grand prize of a $400 Amazon gift card and a copy of each participating author’s featured book OR first prize of a copy of each participating author’s featured book.
Thank you so much for visiting! The next author on the tour is Author Name and her Christmas book Title. You can find it at this link. Remember, the 2022 Christmas in July Reader Blog Tour & Giveaway ends July 22 at 8 PM EST!
