G'morning.

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Today, the authors share nifty tidbits about their Christmas novels. Enjoy!

Christmas Tidbits

SHEILA HOLLOWAY

I got the idea for Bliss Steadmon from a desk clerk I worked with last year. Her circumstances are mostly fictional, but her first name and age are borrowed from Bliss H. in Arkansas.

DONICA COVEY

I really didn’t do much research for this novella. Dear Micah is just the story of pain and loss.

Having had been an EMT I saw personally the tragic results of drinking and driving. This coupled with the pain and loss of a child brought the idea on that someone who experienced this would need to blame someone. God, the person they believed caused the accident and maybe themselves.

Also I had an aunt lose a child and I remember the pain we all suffered. I could only imagine how hard it was for her.

MARY CLAYMORE

Clair Millstone, the heroine in A Not Quite White Christmas, is loosely based on a man I met a few years ago. This was the TV news meteorologist for a local station who was very aloof, even a little disdainful of his viewers when approached in public. I had the, um, privilage to meet him through my job, so he was somewhat warmer than if I had walked up to him on the street.

PATTY MASON and JOANN BAKER

Research for The Grinch was fun. We watched every Christmas movie we could find – from "It’s Wonderful Life" to "Christmas Vacation." The story really has Christmas flavor and will put you in the Christmas mood fast.

LAURA HAMBY

I've wanted to use the name "Hannah" for a heroine in an historical for a very long time, and that's exactly what I did in Christmas Grace. I also researched Civil War regiments to find the perfect fit for Jeff, the hero.

Christmas Grace is a true book of my heart.

ROBIN BAYNE

I began researching Irish step dancing after seeing the show, ‘Riverdance.’ After twenty years of studying ballet and jazz, I was fascinated by a dance form that required dancers to keep their arms straight down at their sides. I also learned through my research that an ancient tradition was something I could use for my heroine’s secret–a true event!

CINDY GREEN

I didn’t do a whole lot of research for The Spirit of Christmas. I was familiar with working on a small local magazine because I worked on one for a short time as an assistant to the editor when I first got married. And I based my heroine on Lois Lane (of Superman fame ) which made it quite easy to interpret what she would do and how she would react in certain situations.