Celebrating Our Favorite Holiday Together + Second Giveaway!

Howdy folks!
Yes, it's that time again. Monday....booooo :( But if we spend it together, it'll be better I think! This Monday I'm taking my last final of the semester and I'll be blissfully headed into my Christmas vacation (well.....after Christmas is over it'll be blissful :P). How about you? What are you doing on this Monday?

On a Christmas-y note, we got snow yesterday!! Not a ton, but just enough to cover the ground (and my car haha) and make everything look a lil better.

Who's dreaming of a white Christmas this year?

Now on another Christmas-y note, we have a special guest! Kellie Coates Gilbert is a dear friend of mine that I met this year. She just so happens to be an author as well! Her debut book, Mother of Pearl, released this past September and I have to recommend this well written, riveting page-turner! If you stay tuned to the end, you'll even have a chance to win your very own copy :) I feel very lucky to have met her and say she is amongst my friends! Please say a warm welcome to Miss Kellie!

The Interview:
Hannah: Miss Kellie!! You're actually on my blog - woohoo!! I seriously hope this isn't the last time :) But we'll get right into it, hm? When does the Christmas season officially start in your household? What is the first thing done that marks the start (i.e. putting up Christmas tree, baking first gingerbread men, etc)?

Kellie: Christmas is my FAVORITE holiday, with Independence Day a close second.  Our family begins the weekend after Thanksgiving by putting up the tree and house decorations.  The Christmas carols play and the scented candles burn. I stock the refrigerator with eggnog and spiced cider, and we’re off and running!

H: Aha! I KNEW there must be another reason we get along so well - another Christmas nut :P In a Christmas fantasy land – who would be the famous figures, past and/or present, at your dinner table and why?

K: Oh, that one’s easy!  I’d have Joseph, Mary, the innkeeper, the shepherds and wise men….and of course, Jesus.  (I happen to believe He already sits at my Christmas table, but what a rush if my eyes could see His physical form stabbing a piece of prime rib with one of my mother’s silver forks in His nail scarred hand.  Whoo!  Just close your eyes and think on THAT one a minute!

H: I love how descriptive and enthusiastic you are, Miss Kellie. Your passion shines through :) Do you have specific traditions for Christmas Eve?

K: Our family traditions have morphed over the years.  Our two boys are raised now, but when they were little, Christmas eve was a busy evening ending with trying to get two excited little guys calmed down to go to sleep so Santa could come in the middle of the night and leave gifts.

Currently, we spend the afternoon with extended family and then go to Christmas Eve service with our boys and their families.  My husband and I return home and enjoy a few quiet moments in front of the tree before we head to bed.

This year, our little grandson is two.  He will add a whole new layer of enjoyment to our season.  His reaction to the tree lights was precious!

H: Oh wow :) You're so lucky to have all of them! Sounds festive. I can't imagine having a little one, but soon we'll have not one, but TWO! My cousin is expecting twins! The first great grandchildren ;) Exciting times! What did you ask Santa for this year? *wink*

K: I have two lists. One holds the wishes of my heart – the important things I hope for family and friends.  The more superficial list always holds the same item.  Gift cards to Barnes and Noble! (or Starbucks).  I think my husband may have purchased a Dyson vacuum though.  I accidently got a peek at the box in the garage….okay, maybe not so accidently.  Smiles.

H: Hahahahaha you crack me up!! I HATE to peek, never have liked it honestly. I'd rather just be surprised. For me, it's not about getting presents, it's about giving them that's important. How does it feel to know you’re a published author that has eager “fans” awaiting a new book?

K: Blessed.  Very, very blessed.

I started on this journey to publication and learning to write novels almost seven years ago.  I let myself dream a little and conjure what it would be like if I got published, but the pictures in my head never equated to the reality of opening my email box to so many daily messages from readers telling me they loved MOTHER OF PEARL.  I get a little teary thinking about it.

H: I'm so happy for you, you deserve every bit of praise. It's truly a magnificent book! One of my friends is going to borrow my copy once life settles down a bit for her lol! She saw my review and said she was completely intrigued. What can expect from you next? Any Christmas themed books!?

K: Well, to answer part one of your question:  I can’t give details until the ink is dry on the contract, but a major CBA publisher has just picked me up for another four books, a collection of stand alone novels that will focus on women and what matters to our hearts.  To say I’m thrilled is an understatement.

About a Christmas themed book – I’d love too if the opportunity ever presents.

H: Eeeeek! That's SO exciting!! I had no idea, congratulations! You heard it here first, ladies and gentlemen. Kellie Coates Gilbert SIGNED for FOUR more books! Your heard me right.....FOUR MORE BOOKS to come from this fantastic author *said in my best broadcaster voice* ;) What have been some of the highlights of 2012 for you?

K: By far – no question – hands down, the highlight of 2012 will always be the release of my debut novel and how God answered the whispered prayers of my heart.

I am a former legal investigator and trial paralegal, and loved that work.  But, in the quiet recesses of my soul I longed to write stories that allow women to feel they are not alone in their journey. Especially when life gets messy.

H: Once again, congratulations, Miss Kellie. Of course it seems only fit that 2012 would mark the start of your (hopefully) long lasting writing career :) 

These are some “short answer” questions. You can answer them in as few words as possible – even simply one word.

Ha, you are asking a writer to shorten her words?  Good luck with that!

Favorite Christmas book read this year? Movie seen?

The last Christmas book I read was Julie Cannon’s I’ll Be Home For Christmas (Summerside Press).

My favorite movie this year was Hope Springs, starring Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones. The story reflects the fiction I love to write  . . . and read.

Last Christmas song you heard?

Ha – I’m listening to Christmas music now.  I’m playing Vince Guaradi’s ACharlie Brown Christmas CD.

Favorite food to make or eat during the season?

Whenever I’m asked to bring food to a holiday party, I make my signature onion tart.  I bake phyllo dough on a cookie sheet while sautéing onions in butter and a bit of brown sugar, which I then spread on the baked crust and sprinkle with goat cheese and place under the broiler until the cheese softens.  Yum!

Favorite place to spend Christmas day?

Home.

How can readers connect with you?

My cyber home is www.kelliecoatesgilbert.com.  From there, readers can sign up for my Reader’s Club so they will get first news about upcoming releases and fun promotions.  Readers can purchase books from my website by using the Amazon, Barnes & Noble and CBD buttons.  There are also buttons that will take readers directly to my Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads accounts.  I blog regularly and there is a place to register for the RSS feeds as well.

Anything else you would like to say? J

One of the treasures for novelists is connecting with readers, and making new friends in the process. You are an example, Miss Hannah.  I love our Facebook chats!

Thank you for inviting me to appear on your blog.  I look forward to meeting your followers.

Miss Kellie!! Thank YOU SO much for agreeing to work with me on coming onto the blog :) This was such a fun interview, so glad we got to do it. And I learned more about you as well! 

About Kellie: A former legal investigator and trial paralegal, Kellie Coates Gilbert writes with a sympathetic, intimate knowledge of how people react under pressure.  Her stories are about messy lives, and eternal hope.

Kellie’s upcoming novel, MOTHER OF PEARL, Abingdon Press Sept 2012, tells the emotionally compelling story of a high school counselor who discovers her own teenage daughter had an inappropriate relationship with the football coach . . . and how she risks everything to bring him to justice. 

Giveaway Time!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please share with your friends and get the word out :) Good luck! Talk to you tomorrow,
Hannah

Mother of Pearl by Kellie Coates Gilbert

Hi again!
This is a week full of book reviews, lucky for you! Lol : ) I think it's important to write books to help not only the authors but fellow readers as well. The good, the bad, the inspirational....what brings tears, laughter, and leaves you grinning as you put down the book. What makes a good book? Why, so many things! I bring you another book today that I thoroughly enjoyed and it brings me great, great pleasure to get to review this book for my dear friend, Kellie Coates Gilbert.

About the book: Barrie Graeber has two great kids, a loving husband, and a respected job as a high school counselor in her close-knit community. Without warning, everything unravels when her teenage daughter, Pearl, is betrayed by friends and lashes out.

Nothing prepares this mother for the helplessness that follows when her attempts to steer her daughter back on course fail and Pearl shuts her out . . . or when she discovers the unthinkable about her nemesis, the football coach.

Emotionally riveting and profoundly moving, MOTHER OF PEARL brings us into the heart of a mother bound by an incredible burden, who ultimately finds she must recognize her own vulnerability and learn to trust in something much bigger.

And in Kellie's words...

Review:  How to put into words the emotions this heartfelt tale evokes, I don't know....but I'm certainly going to try. Barrie has it all going for her....married to the man of her dreams, stable job counseling high school students, supportive friends, and two wonderful children. Her oldest, Pearl, stole part of her heart when she was born that would never be returned to Barrie. The deep bond between a mother and daughter is imminent from page one of Mother of Pearl. Slowly Barrie's seemingly perfect world begins to unravel, leaving her to somehow pick up the pieces.

Barrie's character is stupid, hard-headed, and self-involved, but she is also caring, courageous, and confident in her daughter. The bond her and Pearl share is tremendously strong, nothing could ever break it. However, hope begins to slip away as well as faith and trust in Pearl. After a life changing event, that literally made me gasp, Barrie has no choice but to foster faith in her daughter. She repeatedly risks everything she has just to serve justice to Pearl.

I was nervous upon hearing more about the main points of the book because though I'm a daughter, I'm not a mother. My mom and I have a fairly good relationship, but it's nothing to the extent of this mother-daughter duo. So I worried that I would not have the emotional ties to fully connect with what Miss Kellie was trying to convey to her reader, but boy was I wrong! I admit there were parts in the beginning (the first 50 pages or so probably) where I struggled a bit. However, as soon as Barrie was forced to justify, grieve, and feel the strain of loss.....there was an instant connection. Anyone who has felt loss will understand the feelings within the book. This book had me weeping for Barrie, yet I was so proud of her by the final page. God gave Kellie Coates Gilbert a wonderful gift that the rest of us just so happen to get to enjoy as well! FANTASTIC job!! I look forward to reviewing many, many more books of yours to come!

~ This book was furnished to me by Glass Road Publications for my honest opinion. ~


Meet Kellie: Kellie Coates Gilbert is a former legal investigator and trial paralegal who writes with a sympathetic, intimate knowledge of how people react under pressure. Kellie's books tell emotionally poignant stories about women in life-changing circumstances. She writes about messy lives . . . and eternal hope. 

Kellie currently makes her home in Dallas, Texas with her husband and a very spoiled 2.7 lb. Yorkie named Ava. 

And in Kellie's words...

I barely remember a time when I didn’t have a book in my hand. My tiny hometown of Carey, Idaho had no library, no bookstore. The bi-weekly bookmobile provided the only avenue to books . . . that, and my Gram, who spent a lot of her Social Security checks on books for her granddaughter with an insatiable appetite for stories.

 I grew up on a sheep ranch in southern Idaho, a business my family had been in for generations, never dreaming I’d ever see my own name on a novel. I left home to attend Boise State University and spent most of my adult years pursuing a sensible legal career, raising two boys, and learning to be happily married.

But God heard the quiet prayers of a woman who dared to dream big and ask her Lord for the outrageous. In early 2011, I signed my first book contract. Today, I am living my fantasy. I live in Dallas with my husband. I work from home, writing novels. Often by the pool.

Can life get any better?

Check out Kellie at....
Her Website
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Goodreads

I'm extremely excited to announce that Miss Kellie will be joining us for the 3rd Annual Christmas Blogfest!!! So if this book sounds good to you, there will probably be a giveaway *hint, hint* ; ) I just know that you all will love her just as much as I do! We have two more book reviews coming your way this week probably. Until then,
Xoxo ~ Hannah