Posts Tagged ‘Christmas’
Saturday, November 8th, 2014
Christmas on Mimosa Lane is today’s Kindle Daily Deal!
Grab your copy of this #1 Amazon Family Saga and Series Romance Best-seller for just $1.99.
New York Times and USA Today Best-seller Lori Wilde calls Christmas on Mimosa Lane a
“…charming, tender delight that furls around you heart like a Christmas ribbon.”
Grab your copy while the price is right!
And don’t miss my new Christmas novella, with returning characters from Christmas on Mimosa Lane and the other Echoes of the Heart books…
Here in My Heart, also ONLY $1.99, and currently the #1 Women’s Short Story on Amazon!
Fresh Fiction calls Here in My Heart,
“One of the most powerful novellas I’ve had the fortune to read and review.”
Tags: Amazon, Anna DeStefano, best-selling author, best-selling romance, Christmas, Christmas on Mimosa Lane, holiday, Kindle, romance
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Monday, December 9th, 2013
I’m a blessed girl, a lucky artist, and writer who’s been given an amazing opportunity to give back. Hearts for Hearts is my newest passion–a chance for each of us to make a difference in our communities, to give back and lighten someone else’s life, one story at a time–and I’m thrilled to have Joyce Lamb at USA Today and her Happily Every After blog exclusively kicking things off today!
There’s so much to share. Too much for a single day, and some of the mechanics of the program are still being ironed out. A lot of authors and industry professionals are already on board, signing up to participate. Lots to do and people to talk with and exciting things to see unfold.
So stay tuned. Lots of fun and details and cool ways to get involved (and win some fun things) to come. But for now, I hope Joyce’s Q&A inspires you to look for opportunities to donate and get involved in your are. That’s my challenge for all my readers and fans–even if you don’t have much money or time this holiday season, find a way to reach out (with Hearts for Hearts, through story) to those around you who have less, and make a difference in their lives!
So, for now…
Let me know in the comments what you think, how you might be able to join us on this amazing journey, and any questions you might have…
I truly can’t believe this day is finally here. Thanks to the entire Nancy Berland Team for all the hard work, helping me bring Hearts for Hearts to life!
Tags: Anna DeStefano, Anna’s Hearts for Hearts, anna’s world, balance, Charities, Christmas, Christmas on Mimosa Lane, creativity & inspiration, Holiday Donations, Mimosa Lane, Montlake Romance, Seasons of the Heart Series
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Wednesday, December 4th, 2013
Holiday cheer? Holiday giving? Holiday spirit? I want those things mean to me the same as they would any other time of the year. I listed my “heart happy” goals yesterday, for the holiday and beyond, and rereading them now makes me smile. I’m actually thinking I should be reading them every morning. Every new day I don’t feel up for or ready to face or willing to tackle. Because it’s not about me, not entirely. Each day is about living and giving and sharing and belonging.
Opening your heart to the world around you…what better goal to have? There’s an entire philosophy behind our need to belong and how it drives the majority of conscience and subconscious behavior. Why do we do the things we do, why do we give up on the things we do, and why do we avoid those very things we know we need to face most? Fear and doubt, I say. We worry, and feel insignificant or powerless, and are too often on a self-fulfilling path of “I can’t make that work so why bother.”
“Don’t do that,” my daily list says. The list at the bottom of yesterday’s post that I’ll shake myself awake with each new morning now, because I want this holiday and this life and this chance I have to write and live well to mean something more than what I want (and am maybe a little afraid I can’t have) for myself.
What about other people? How can I be useful and meaningful to them?
That’s what I hope my writing’s about– (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, Anna’s Hearts for Hearts, anna’s world, balance, Christmas, Christmas on Mimosa Lane, creativity & inspiration, equilibrium, Families, family, family drama, fighters, heroes, holiday, hope, inspiration, Love on Mimosa Lane, Mimosa Lane, Montlake Romance, poetry, promise, relationships, Seasons of the Heart Series, Three Days on Mimosa Lane, Women’s Fiction, writer, writer resource
Posted in Hearts for Hearts | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013
Holidays are for hearts. Whatever we celebrate this time of year, images of families and loved ones and friends and memories surround us. The season lifts us up, makes us homesick, sometimes brings unwanted sadness. Our hearts are in play. Done deal. We’re feeling something more, something deeper, something real.
I often wonder why–you know, besides the obvious manipulation by the media and advertisers, wanting us to spend, Spend, SPEND so we can feel even better (or worse) as we long for more of whatever we want (or have lost) most. What’s behind those heart strings tugging at our thoughts and memories and imaginations?
We’re more open around the holidays, even the jaded among us. We engage with the world and people around us, because it’s all closer, it’s all bigger. How can we not be affected?
Our minds are on the every day of work and kids and obligations and worries. We plod onward with all we think we are. But we’re also conditioned to feel certain ways in November and December and early January. Whether we want to or not, we’re trained from infancy to fit into the holiday mold our families before us have spent generations crafting. But what do we truly want our hearts to feel and believe and desire this time of year?
In matters of the heart, what’s habit and what’s intention? What makes us happy, and what are we doing because we’re told it should make us happy? If only we could tune in and find the magic of our own individual experience (as the world and the holidays experience and evolve and march onward around us), the hustle and bustle that distracts from more than this season would fade a bit…and we’d discover the holiday of oyr dreams.
That’s my plan this year, anyway. To be, in this moment, what my heart’s always wanted this time of year to be. To understand my hearts desire and see it come to life around me. To inspire, through my stories and my blogs and the other fun things coming soon that my publicist would smack me for talking about before its time (waving at Nancy Berland and her fabulous team while keeping mum’s the word for just a little longer), everyone I reach to long for the same.
Let’s say them out loud… (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, anna’s world, balance, Christmas, Christmas on Mimosa Lane, creativity & inspiration, equilibrium, Families, family, family drama, fighters, Hearts for Hearts, heroes, holiday, hope, inspiration, Love on Mimosa Lane, Mimosa Lane, Montlake Romance, poetry, promise, relationships, Seasons of the Heart Series, Three Days on Mimosa Lane, Women’s Fiction, writer, writer resource
Posted in Hearts for Hearts | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, November 19th, 2013
“For unloved daughters and sons, the stress of the holidays sweeps in much more than the nuisance of crowded stores, piped-in joys, worries about money or pleasing everyone with the right gift…”
Currently writing about (and studying) grown foster kids who’ve aged out of the system. You know, in the midst of my charming, warm family novels. It might not come as a shock to you that holidays can be difficult for many in our country. But would it surprise you to know that they’re difficult for me? Maybe even for you sometimes, just a little more than you’ve let yourself think about?
If so
“For unloved daughters and sons, the stress of the holidays sweeps in much more than the nuisance of crowded stores, piped-in joys, worries about money or pleasing everyone with the right gift…”
I’m writing into a new story about (and studying) grown foster kids who’ve aged out of the system. You know, in the midst of my charming, warm family novels. I stumbled across this article from Psychology Today, among many others, in my research.
It might not come as a shock to you that holidays can be difficult for many in our country. But would it surprise you to know that they’re difficult for me? And maybe even for you sometimes, just a little more than you’ve let yourself deal with?
Yeah, it’s a cute baby. And we fight so hard to keep the holidays full of cheer, despite disappointments or unhappiness from our pasts. And that’s a good thing. We move forward, we heal, we become who’re we’re meant to be. There’s no one I know who thinks it’s a good idea to stagnate in the hurt of the past and let it define all that will ever come. But as cute as all the holiday hype is, and as much as we might want to dive into the celebration along with everyone else, sometimes there’s just too much bubbling up from deep inside to laugh or hug or work or jingle away.
“For many, it [holidays] will conjure up–almost as if fresh and hew–the pain, exclusion, and loss they felt in their families of origin,” the article says.
Yeah. That’s real stuff. Holiday stuff we don’t want to see but too often can’t dismiss. I’m determined to write an inspirational, hopeful, loving and celebratory Christmas novella for next November/December’s readers. But in it (because I’m me and I’m made up of all my experiences of family origin, and because I’m writing about characters with disconnection and abandonment and insecurity and fear as their own earliest memories), I’m also going to be tackling the reality that many of us face each year– that, “the holidays sometimes evoke a renewed sense of self-doubt about the decision made, along with a feeling of isolation. The weight of cultural disapproval may feel heavier at this time of year…” (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, anna’s world, balance, Christmas, Christmas on Mimosa Lane, creativity & inspiration, equilibrium, Families, family, family drama, fighters, heroes, holiday, hope, inspiration, Love on Mimosa Lane, Mimosa Lane, Montlake Romance, poetry, promise, relationships, Seasons of the Heart Series, Three Days on Mimosa Lane, Women’s Fiction, writer, writer resource
Posted in Anna's Novels, Anna's Soul of the Matter | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, December 11th, 2012
I am not a fan of the Sad Christmas stories, but this one, for me, was exactly the right story at the right time in my life. I bought this thinking I needed a really happy, uplifting Christmas tale to make the realty of my life easier during this Christmas Season. Instead, I found that what I really needed was to cry, to see others were much worse off than I. This is definitely not the feel good happy Christmas that the majority of us think we are creating each holiday, but it is the one that most of us find at the end of all of our frenzied preparations. It is one unlike what most of us live.
This is a story of heartbreak, loss, desolation and still somehow in all of the loss there is this glimmer or hope and of the human spirit struggling to master everything negative in our world. Is also a story of tremendous love and the realty of what a life on the streets might be like for a child.
While it is not the usual Christmas fare, for some of us who are struggling with a loved one who no longer remembers us or any of the wonderful Christmas’s they created for their loved one’s; it is a story of triumph, love, hope and the memory of the times when things were better than they are now.
Read, Cry, Heal and Remember the GOOD TIMES…
I’ve already posted on the blog today, but I couldn’t help myself. THIS is why I write these stories.In case there’s any confusion in anyone’s mind why I do what I do with the family dramas and romances I write, this is the type of reader I write them for.
Yes, I demand a happy ending. But it’s the reality we begin with the the journey and the emotions I hope you all feel as you read that I’m mining for.
Thanks to the above reader for leaving such a frank and honest review. And for the 5 Stars, no matter how unexpected the story turned out to be, or how far away it was from the happy escape she began reading it for…
Tags: Amazon, Anna DeStefano, anna’s world, best-selling author, book club, brainstorming, Christmas, Christmas on Mimosa Lane, Contemporary Romance, creativity & inspiration, ebook, Emily Dickinson, Excerpts, Kindle, Montlake Romance, reader guide, romance writer, Trifari, Women’s Fiction, writer
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Tuesday, December 11th, 2012
I know. The blog title sounds grim, when in fact, it’s my challenge for us all. In my Christmas novel, a father and daughter are dealing with the first holiday season after losing their wife/mother–and the memories of the previous Christmas they hadn’t known would be their last. The result–make THIS holiday the home and family and cherished memories they’ve always longed for. Why put it off? Why not go for everything. No holding back. No saving for later. Revel and indulge and fight to the last breath for whatever good now can be…
Several of Christmas on Mimosa Lane’s reader’s guide questions challenge you to think about what “good” and “happy” and “home” mean to you and your life and your holiday–so does the story and its characters. Many of the Emily Dickinson quotes I use are in-your-face reminders to see now far better than you do before or tomorrow. Life here. In this day. Make your home today what you want it to be. Make your life a struggle not simply to overcome a past failure or achieve future goal, but to be present for yourself and others in ways that guarantee that this moment is the best it possibly can me.
If this were your last Christmas, and you knew that now, what wouldn’t you do to make this year’s the very best ever? Would you let anyone stand in your way, or any memory tarnish this holiday’s experience? Would you hold out for next year or the one after, shortchanging what now could mean to you and the ones you love? I don’t think so. Neither do the characters in my novel.
And, you see, I write redemptive Christmas stories is by showing flawed characters, like you and me, with a lot of hurdles to clear before they get their happy ever after. It’s not until the middle of COML that we see the story turn toward a positive, potentially, ending. And even then, Mallory and Pete and Polly must fight to the very end, or they’ll lose what they want most. Just as we all do. Even Santa. (more…)
Tags: Amazon, Anna DeStefano, anna’s world, best-selling author, book club, brainstorming, Christmas, Christmas on Mimosa Lane, Contemporary Romance, creativity & inspiration, ebook, Emily Dickinson, Excerpts, Kindle, Montlake Romance, reader guide, romance writer, Trifari, Women’s Fiction, writer
Posted in Anna's Novels, Anna's Soul of the Matter | 1 Comment »
Thursday, November 1st, 2012
We think we know people. We think we understand what places and seasons and even holidays mean to us. Then in an instant something shifts that changes our lives forever. We see so much of that these days, on TV news and the Internet and social media. Lives changing with so little warning the new directions they take are riviting and heartbreaking AND inspiring to watch. What do I see when I look at scenes like this? Hope. I see people learning how to come together and become stronger for the community and families they’re making stronger…and learning how to hope in the midst of what should be breaking them.
Holidays can be hard, especially for people who need that “perfect” holiday experience more than others. These are times when we’re looking for a shining light to lead us. We’re wanting a reason to believe. We’re hoping…and praying we won’t be disappointed.
Those are the holiday stories I see and try to tell. The ones where heroes rise out of difficulty and find a way to keep fighting and wanting and believing. As much as pure escape would be nice, it wouldn’t be my ideal. Reality is always there, and I’m looking as a reader and a writer for a reflection of what life is really like when it’s hardest, and THEN what it becomes when we push our way through a difficult time to that rewarding, hopeful moment when we’ve proven to ourselves and the ones we love that everything actually is going to be okay.
Christmas on Mimosal Lane is built that way. It’s not a straight ride from a page one to a happy ending. (more…)
Tags: Amazon, Anna DeStefano, Christmas, Christmas on Mimosa Lane, Contemporary Romance, creativity & inspiration, Excerpts, Families, family, family saga, holiday, Montlake Romance
Posted in Anna's Novels, Anna's Soul of the Matter | 2 Comments »
Sunday, October 28th, 2012
A romance writer trades in love. Human relationship is the arc of BUSINESS. But beyond the spines of happily-ever-after, what does love really look like? My books tend to challenge the “box” that romance novels live in for most publishers, because what’s driving me to write seems to be the antithesis of a book that’s all about love. Love looks messy to me at first. Challenging. Broken. Because the repairing and struggling and conquering and cleaning up of all that makes us human inspires me to write. More than anything else. More than writing completely ”happy” characters.
So when I tackle things like a sweet Christmas novel or a lovely beach read (Book 2 in Seasons of the heart is out next summer), I end up giving a little girl the life-changing loss of no longer having a mother. And I make the one person in the world she can talk to a woman who triumphed over something very similar when she was a child…or did she?
Love, to me, is who we are when we can’t pretend we’re happy, or when we meet someone who challenges our brokenness and DON’T look away. We don’t back off from helping another soul in pain, because of the damage remembering our own weaknesses can do to our souls. We stick. We fight. We heal ourselves, even the yucky stuff we’ve fought for so long not to look at, because that’s the only way to help someone else fight, too.
Anyway, that’s the light fair I’ve poured through Christmas on Mimosa Lane ;o)
It IS a bright and touching story.Readers are already responding to the uplifting, hopefull message I’ve woven through it. BUT, it’s what love looks like to me, so it’s not going to be a smooth ride. Those sorts of stories just don’t do it for me.
Here’s a taste…
Here’s hoping this is what love looks like to you, too! (more…)
Tags: Anna DeStefano, anna's world, Christmas, Christmas on Mimosa Lane, Contemporary Romance, creativity & inspiration, ebook, holiday romance, Kindle, romance
Posted in Anna's Novels | 2 Comments »
