Decking the Halls by Kristin Wallace

Are your holiday decorations up yet? Are you one of those people who puts up a tree and lights right after Halloween? I don't know why, but just pulling everything out of the storage boxes is enough to warm your heart. Every piece evokes memories of your childhood or when your kids were little. They might make you think of your parents or grandparents. 

We all have traditional decorations that must be set out every year. I now have two places to decorate...my apartment and my parents' house. My parents have all the ornaments and decorations that I grew up with. We collect the Hallmark dated ornaments, which started waaaaay back in 1976. 

As you can imagine there are quite a lot of them at this point. There are also ornaments that my brother and I made, including a set of nativity characters. 

My apartment is a little more eclectic as it's a mix of my things and those of my roommate. 

 

Do you have special decorations that must be put up every year? Where did they come from and what do they remind you of? 

Kristin Wallace is the USA Today Best Selling Author of sweet contemporary and inspirational romance filled with Love, Laughter, and a Leap of Faith. She is the author of the three popular series, Covington
Falls Chronicles, Shellwater Key Tales, and Palm Cove Tales. 

Looking for a great read that will put you in the holiday mood? Download the Christmas in Shellwater Key box set, on sale for only 99 cents. Enjoy three fun & festive holiday tales set in sunny Florida. 

A #Halloween Decorating Idea by Kristin Wallace

I can’t believe it’s October already! In so many ways time seems to have stopped mid-March and yet the calendar keeps changing.  

I wanted to share something a little more lighthearted this month. It’s a Halloween decorating idea that is super cute and easy for even non-crafty people (which I definitely am) can do. 

 

Now I did not come up with this idea on my own. I was in Party City looking for decorations to put up in my apartment for my roommate’s birthday a couple weeks ago. Since the Halloween decorations were already out in full force, I looked around and came upon a display of clear round ornaments with tiny Halloween-themed lights inside them. 

 

At first I wanted to buy the ornaments, but of course, they were just for the display for the lights. Still, I loved the idea so much that I decided to make some for my apartment. 

 

I bought 8 sets of lights, including ones with tiny pumpkins, ghosts, spiders, and bats, as well as simple colored lights. I also bought a string of lights with pumpkins on them. Mine came from Party City, but I’m sure you can find similar lights at other stores. 

 

Then I bought clear plastic balls at Michaels. Again, you might have another craft store that sells something like that. Since Christmas décor is also already out they aren’t hard to find. 

 

NOTE: Make sure you get ornaments that come with two halves that you fit together. If you get the regular ornaments with only a small hole at the top the lights won’t fit. (I realized this after buying the wrong kind of ornaments.)

 

Then you put batteries in the lights, put them inside one half of an ornament, and snap the two halves together. Then you can hang them wherever you want. 

 

It turned out really nice. 

 

The best thing is, I can change out the lights inside the ornaments for different holidays. I’ll probably try fall colors for Thanksgiving and then red & green for Christmas. 

 

Do you have any cool Halloween decorating ideas? Please share them with me! 

 

Kristin Wallace is the USA Today Best Selling Author of sweet contemporary and inspirational romance filled with Love, Laughter, and a Leap of Faith. She is the author of three popular series, Covington Falls Chronicles, Shellwater Key Tales, and Palm Cove Tales. 

Christmas In July Bargain Books by Kristin Wallace

Even though temps are in the 90s (at least where I live) we have this fun tradition of celebrating  Christmas In July. Hallmark Channel runs their Christmas movies. Stores have holiday specials. I thought I'd get in on the act by putting a couple of my Christmas-themed books on sale for $.99 cents. This month you can download the Christmas In Shellwater Key and Second Chance Christmas.


You can get them both for 99 cents on Amazon. HOWEVER, if you are an Amazon Prime member you can get them for free.


Christmas in Shellwater Key (Boxset) - Now on sale for .99 cents!
Shellwater Key Tales

This boxset contains 3 Shellwater Key Christmas novellas. The main stories in the series center around three childhood friends who revive the old Paradise Dinner Theatre. The holiday novellas venture beyond the theatre.

Finding You At Christmas

After years of looking out for everyone else, preacher’s daughter Janie Worthy is ready to get a life of her own. But on the way to her first date, her car decides to quit, and a stranger on a motorcycle becomes her savior. The short time she spends with Caleb Montgomery on the side of the road might be the most romantic interlude Janie can remember. Of course, it’s all a fantasy, and soon Caleb is riding off into the night.

Until he shows up again in Shellwater Key. When Caleb decides to stay in town for Christmas, Janie can’t help but wonder if she is the reason. Except people don’t fall in love in one night…Right?

Falling For You At Christmas

Pregnant and alone at Christmas, Cassie Stevens decides to take a holiday vacation in Shellwater Key before her baby girl is born. Then she discovers her reservation is lost and there is literally no room left at the inn. Thankfully, single inkeeper, Jared Lathem, offers to let Cassie stay with him and his young daughter. She won't have to sleep in a manger, but being in close poximity to the gorgeous Jared might be dangerous t her piece of mind...and heart.

But the magic of the season can change everything. Cassie is suddenly surrounded by a group of friends, who all seem to have names relating to another important birth long ago. And when Christmas Eve brings an unexpected delivery, Cassie will discover that miracles are still possible even in modern times. 

Loving You At Christmas

Annaliese Matheson once had a perfect life, with a successful career on Broadway and a loving husband. Then her husband died. Devastated, she left the stage behind and only returned when her best friend, Grayson Kendall, asked her to perform at The Paradise Dinner Theatre in tiny Shellwater Key, Florida.

Annaliese is convinced she’ll never love again, but when she steps in to direct to Middle School Christmas Show, nothing will ever be the same. A man unlike any she’s known awakens her buried heart, giving her a second chance at forever with the last person she would have expected. It will take a miracle for Annaliese to let someone else in and embrace happiness again...but then it is Christmas.

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Second Chance Christmas - Now on sale for .99 cents!

Palm Cove Tales

This book is part of my Palm Cove Tales series. It’s the follow-up to the Heiress Games trilogy. It features desperate single mom, Mia Reynolds, the cousin of security expert Damon Grant (who appeared in the Heiress Games books).

Ten years ago, Mia Reynolds and Winthrop Barrington spent one magical Christmas together. Until lies and manipulation at the hands of Win’s wealthy family tore them apart and left Mia to raise a daughter on her own. Now, both of them have returned to their hometown of Palm Cove, Florida. Once they uncover the truth, can Mia and Win rediscover the love they lost and celebrate a Second Chance Christmas with their daughter?

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Kristin Wallace is the USA Today Best Selling Author of inspirational and sweet contemporary romance filled with “Love, Laughter and a Leap of Faith”. 

Coping by Baking by Kristin Wallace

What a difference a month makes. What a different world we live in now thanks to this awful pandemic that has impacted so many countries. Depending on where you live, you’ve probably been in “lockdown” mode for several weeks. Where I live in Miami it’s been over 3 weeks. Only going out for the store or for walks to get some air. I’ve been freelancing for the past several years so staying home for “work” isn’t new, but now there is so much uncertainty and fear.

In times of stress - and now in times when we can't go anywhere - many are cooking and baking as a release. I pulled out an old chocolate chip cookie recipe. I’m also trying new things. We had some old bananas that were turning brown so I decided to try and make banana bread. Never made it before so I asked around. Then finally went with a classic Betty Crocker recipe, but with a couple of added ingredients from another recipe. 

My Banana Bread + Recipe

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cup of sugar

½ cup softened butter

2 eggs

1 ½ cup mashed ripe bananas (3-4)

½ cup of buttermilk

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon (added from another recipe)

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg (added from another recipe)

Chopped pecans (if you want)

Chocolate chips (if you want)

Directions:

1.     Pre-heat oven to 350

2.     Mash bananas in a separate bowl

3.     Mix flour, baking soda & salt in a bowl

4.     Mix butter and sugar in another bowl

5.    Mix in eggs and blend well

6.     Add in mashed bananas, buttermilk, vanilla, cinnamon & nutmeg. Blend until smooth and creamy.

7.     Slowly add flour mixture a little at a time.

8.   Pour into pans

You can pour the batter into bread pans, but I decided to make muffins. I still had enough batter left over to make a small loaf of bread. I set the timer for 30 minutes, but the muffins baked fast. Took them out around 18-20 minutes. The bread took the full 30 minutes. 

Are you resorting to cooking and baking to cope? What have you tried? Please share!

I hope that you are staying inside and that you are healthy. Please stay safe!

Kristin Wallace is a USA Today Bestselling Author of sweet contemporary and inspirational romance filled with "Love, Laughter, and a Leap of Faith". It's not too late to pick up her holiday box set featuring three Christmas romances (Finding You At Christmas, Falling For You At Christmas, and Loving You At Christmas). Christmas in Shellwater Key is available on Kindle Unlimited so go ahead and scoop it up now. 

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The History of St. Patrick's Day...by Kristin Wallace

Although St. Patrick's Day isn't officially until next week, I thought it would be fun to do a special holiday post today. 

For most people, St. Patrick's day means wearing green and drinking "green" beer. But how many of you know the actual history of St. Patrick’s Day? I looked into the mystery some years ago. (I actually used children’s books. I find them great resources since they’re very succinct. So, if any of my information is wrong, blame the kid’s books.)

The Real St. Patrick

St. Patrick was a bishop who lived around 385-460 A.D. He was one of the most popular saints in Ireland, even though his real name was not Patrick and he was not born in Ireland. His real name was “Maewyn Succat”, and many scholars believe he was actually born in Scotland or England. He referred to himself as “patricius” in his writings, which is Latin for “well-born”. The name became Patrick is the English version.

When St. Patrick was a boy he was taken as a slave to Ireland where he was put to work tending sheep. It was during those years in captivity that he found comfort in God. After six years, he escaped. However, St. Patrick felt he was being called to teach God’s word so he spent the next few years studying in a monastery. Then he returned to Ireland where he lived for the rest of his life.

Have you ever read the book “How The Irish Saved Civilization” by Thomas Cahill? If not, you absolutely should, especially if you like history. The premise of the book is that while the rest of Europe was mired in the Dark Ages, Ireland experienced a Golden Age. Irish monks were responsible for copying every piece of literature they could get their hands on. They almost single-handedly preserved the history of the Western culture, as well as some of our greatest literary works. Nearly every written word from before the Middle Ages exists today because of them. If not for the Irish we wouldn’t have The Bible or Homer’s Iliad or Aristotle’s philosophy, no Greek tragedies, no Roman law. The man responsible for this Golden Age in Ireland was none other than St. Patrick.

One last note...the day we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day (March 17), is not his birthday but rather the day of his death.

One last question...how many of you can claim Irish ancestry? I have some on both sides. although it's been so long since my relatives left the "old country" that any true Irishness has been lost. What about you? 

Kristin Wallace is a USA Today Bestselling Author of sweet contemporary and inspirational romance filled with "Love, Laughter, and a Leap of Faith". It's not too late to pick up her holiday box set featuring three Christmas romances (Finding You At Christmas, Falling For You At Christmas, and Loving You At Christmas). Christmas in Shellwater Key is available on Kindle Unlimited so go ahead and scoop it up now. 

BUY NOW ON AMAZON

Third Annual Super Bowl Commercial Awards by Kristin Wallace

It's that time of year again. I’m back with my third annual Super Bowl Commercial Awards for 2020, reviewing my favorite spots from the Big Game. With my background as an advertising copywriter I tend to pay attention to commercials more than many people. However, the Super Bowl is basically…well…the Super Bowl for advertisers. 

Here’s a look at my favs from this year…

1. NFL - Next 100

Last year, the NFL ran with a hilarious spot featuring the greats from football tearing apart a fancy ballroom in pursuit of a football. This year’s spot was just as good. It also featured many past players. However, the star was a young boy running while the players encourage him to “take it the house, kid”. Best part of the spot was the end when the kid from the spot ran onto the field.

2. Hyundai Park the Car

This spot highlighting the "smart park" feature on the new Hyundai also features the infamous Boston accent as a character, along with famous actors who are actually from Boston, including Chris Evans, John Krasinski, and Rachel Dratch. Clever and funny.

3. Jeep® Groundhog Day

This spot is a hilarious take on the Bill Murray classic film, Groundhog Day. In the spot, Bill Murray is once again stuck on Groundhog Day. Even the annoying salesman Ned Reyerson shows up. However, he doesn’t mind because he found a Jeep to play with and he became best friends with the groundhog.

4. Walmart Parking Lot Delivery

Last year, the spot featured famous cars from TV and movies arriving to pick up groceries from Walmart. This year, even more characters showed up, including Bill from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Flash Gordon, the aliens from Mars Attacks, the pug from Men in Black, R2D2 and C3PO, and Marvin the Martian.

5. Reece’s Take 5

This one pokes fun at various play on words when one office worker can’t believe her co-workers have never heard of Reece’s Take 5. Wait for the hilarious visual representation of “got your head up you’re a@@?” at the end.

6. Amazon #BeforeAlexa

This spot features Ellen Degeneres asking what people did before Alexa and then we see various versions of historic “Alexas” responding to requests.  

7. Google Loretta

Warning…this spot is a tearjerker so have a Kleenex handy. It features a man asking Google to remember things about his beloved wife… I’m not crying…you’re crying!

8. Little Caesar’s Delivery

I don’t want to leave you on a sad note, so including this funny spot featuring a poor marketing exec who has to come up with the next "best thing since sliced bread" since Little Caesar’s delivery has claimed that distinction. Fans of The Office might recognize Dwight as the hapless exec.

Kristin Wallace is a USA Today Bestselling Author of sweet contemporary and inspirational romance filled with "Love, Laughter, and a Leap of Faith". It's not too late to pick up her holiday box set featuring three Christmas romances (Finding You At Christmas, Falling For You At Christmas, and Loving You At Christmas). Christmas in Shellwater Key is available on Kindle Unlimited so go ahead and scoop it up now. 

BUY NOW ON AMAZON

Writing Resolutions in 2020...by Kristin Wallace

While most people make New Year’s Resolutions, authors tend to make Writer’s Resolutions. At least I do. Every year I have grand plans to write X number of books. Unfortunately, I have to confess that 2019 was not a good year for me as an author. I had plans, but most of them didn’t happen. A lot was due to having to meet deadlines for my “day job” freelance writing gig, often working 7 days a week to get things turned in on time. 

The other reason had to do with some weird health issues that messed with my ability to focus, which as you can imagine, makes creative writing extremely difficult. In many ways, the voices that I've always had in my head basically went “silent”. In the end, I only managed to publish one book, SECOND CHANCE HERO, which is part of the Palm Cove Tales series. 

AMAZON  /  APPLE BOOKS  /  B&N   /   KOBO 

BUT…I am truly hoping to get back on track for 2020. I do have plans and plenty of ongoing projects to keep me busy.

One is the reissue my inspirational series, COVINGTON FALLS CHRONICLE. I got the right back from the original publisher some time ago and created new covers. I’m just doing light editing. I also hope to continue with that series. There are so many characters begging for stories in my quirky Southern town. 

I am also working on a fun new series called THE LOST ROYALS about separated siblings who find out they are royalty. 

Finally, there is a joint project/series that I plan to publish with one of my author friends. It’s a modern-day take on Cinderella featuring a pair of magic shoes and a cursed Stepmother who might not be as bad as everyone thought. 

So those are my plans…now to get writing! 

I did put together a Christmas box set with three of my Shellwater Key holiday tales (Finding You At Christmas, Falling For You At Christmas, and Loving You At Christmas). Christmas in Shellwater Key is available on Kindle Unlimited so even though it's January, go ahead and scoop it up now. 

BUY NOW ON AMAZON

Kristin Wallace is the USA Today Best Selling Author of inspirational and sweet contemporary romance filled with “Love, Laughter and a Leap of Faith”. The Christmas in Shellwater Key boxes et will release this winter. 

Christmas in Shellwater Key...by Kristin Wallace

For December I have a surprise! I'm putting out a holiday box set with my 3 Shellwater Key Christmas novellas. I’m excited to revisit these fun & touching novellas set in the Florida beach town of Shellwater Key. The main stories in the series center around 3 friends who revive the old Paradise Dinner Theatre. These holiday novellas venture beyond the theatre.

Here’s a little preview….

Finding You At Christmas

She’s going to find her destiny this Christmas…

After years of looking out for everyone else, preacher’s daughter Janie Worthy is ready to get a life of her own. But on the way to her first date, her car decides to quit, and a stranger on a motorcycle becomes her savior. The short time she spends with Caleb Montgomery on the side of the road might
be the most romantic interlude Janie can remember. Of course, it’s all a fantasy, and soon Caleb is riding off into the night.

Until he shows up again in her hometown of Shellwater Key. When Caleb decides to stay in town for Christmas, Janie can’t help but wonder if she is the reason. Except people don’t fall in love in one night…Right? As the holidays kick into high gear, Janie must find the courage to move beyond past guilt to embrace the future and open the best Christmas present she could ever find.

Falling For You At Christmas

A nativity story for the modern day…

Pregnant and alone at Christmas, Cassie Stevens decides to take a holiday vacation in Shellwater Key before her baby girl is born. Then she discovers her reservation is lost and there is literally no room left at the inn. Thankfully, single inkeeper, Jared Lathem, offers to let Cassie stay with him and his young daughter. She won't have to sleep in a manger, but being in close poximity to the gorgeous Jared might be dangerous t her piece of mind...and heart.

But the magic of the season can change everything. Cassie is suddenly surrounded by a group of friends, who all seem have names relating to another important birth long ago. And when Christmas Eve brings an unexpected delivery, Cassie will discover that miracles are still possible even in modern times. 

Loving You At Christmas

This Christmas will become the opening act for her holiday happily ever after…

Annaliese Matheson once had the perfect life, with a successful career on Broadway and a loving husband who was her greatest champion. Then her husband died. Devastated, she left the stage behind and only returned when her best friend, Grayson Kendall, asked her to perform at The Paradise Dinner Theatre in tiny Shellwater Key, Florida.

Annaliese is convinced she’ll never love again, but when she steps in to direct to Middle School Christmas Show, nothing will ever be the same. A man unlike any she’s known awakens her buried heart, giving her a second chance at forever with the last person she would have expected. It will take a miracle for Annaliese to let someone else in and embrace happiness again...but then it is Christmas.

BUY NOW ON AMAZON

Kristin Wallace is the USA Today Best Selling Author of inspirational and sweet contemporary romance filled with “Love, Laughter and a Leap of Faith”. The Christmas in Shellwater Key boxes et will release this winter. 

One More New Release...by Kristin Wallace

So, I seem to be going with a theme the last few months. Once again, I have a new book out. This time it's THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS, Book 3 of The Heiress Games. For those who've been following the series, this entry finally reveals the winner and the identify of the saboteur.

Here's a blurb...

Eccentric heiress, Victoria Armington, has died and left her vast fortune to her pet pig, Matilda. Now three Armington descendants have been chosen to compete for custody of the pig…and control of the money. Then there’s the lawyer in charge of overseeing the competition, and his two best friends, who arrive to make sure nothing goes wrong.

Heiress #3: Bailey Tenant – The Forgotten Heiress

Once upon a time, songwriter Bailey Tenant’s mother was cut off from the Armington family for daring to love the wrong person. Bailey doesn’t want anything to do with them now, but she has a mountain of medical debt, and without that fortune her grandchildren could still be paying it off. When Grammy-winning singer Jackson Stone shows up to escort her to Palm Cove, she agrees to compete. She just never expected the most dangerous aspect of the competition would be losing her heart to Jackson.

Jackson Stone lost the love of his life in a fiery plane crash and then he lost the music. He has to find a way to reawaken the muse, and helping his friend oversee The Heiress Games might work. Soon, Bailey Tenant is reviving his buried heart and tempting him to see forever again. Bailey and Jackson have both vowed to avoid love, but sometimes there’s no choice but to surrender to the promise of a fortune in love.

In the midst of it all, there’s a saboteur at work. Someone who might stop at nothing to make sure no one wins.

And here's an excerpt showing how Bailey & Jackson meet....you'll love it!

Chapter One

            Jackson Stone watched in reluctant fascination as Marilyn Monroe slowly stripped right in front of him. The screen goddess reached up and removed her platinum-blonde wig, revealing a skullcap underneath. He found himself holding his breath as her arm rose again, this time to pluck the cap off her head. A few strategic bobby pins later and a mass of ginger-colored curls spilled across her creamy-white shoulders. It was like watching a curtain of cinnamon rain down on a frothy cappuccino.

            Raining cinnamon?

Where had that come from? He must be out of his mind.

            The striptease continued as Marilyn reached under the hem of her iconic white dress. Jackson caught a glimpse of a shapely thigh as she flicked a fastener and began rolling a silk stocking down her leg.

Old-fashioned garters…

            He shifted on the couch as a part of him that had mostly been dead for the last year stirred to life. Heat washed over him as a savage want surged through his veins.

Two days ago Jackson’s best friend, Cameron Reed, had asked for a favor. A high-priced lawyer with a large estate to probate, Cam needed help looking after three women who were possible heiresses to an immense fortune. Jackson didn’t know the whole story about the will. He did know there was some kind of competition…and a pig was involved…somehow.

Jackson had been cursing his friend for sending him on this fool’s mission ever since he left Miami, but now he didn’t know whether to be grateful…or run like hell. He hadn’t traveled to the outskirts of New Orleans expecting to take part in a peep show. Then again, he hadn’t expected to find a fake, long-dead actress taking off her clothes, either.

He should alert her to his presence.

Yeah…absolutely, positively should do that.

Then she raised both arms to her chest and Jackson forgot all about being a gentleman. Except, instead of untying the top, she reached inside and removed what looked like two huge, raw chicken breasts.

Jackson’s startled laughter filled the room.

Buy Links:  AMAZON    /     ITUNES       /     BARNES & NOBLE     /   KOBO

Don't forget to go back and read the first two books: LEAST LIKELY HEIRESS (Book 1 - Eve & Cam's story); and NOT QUITE AN HEIRESS (Book 2 - Abby & Killian's story).

Kristin Wallace is the USA Today Best Selling Author of inspirational and contemporary romance, and women’s fiction filled with “Love, Laughter and a Leap of Faith”. She is the author of two other best selling series, Shellwater Key Tales (sweet contemporary romance) and Covington Falls Chronicles (inspirational romance).