Friday, December 5, 2014

NEW RELEASE - COMFORT AND JOY (holiday anthology)

Once upon a time, my dear pal LB Gregg and I came up with a plan to write a pair of spooky, funny Halloween stories -- a sort of mini-anthology -- and market them as a Fright Night Double Feature sort of thing. The stories turned out to be Mummy Dearest and Dudleytown. I won't go into the horror story of why that project didn't work out, but the desire to do something together stuck. And every year we've talked about doing something thematic and fun like...Catalina/Cowboy/Christmas...hmmm...yeah, what about Christmas?

And this year we actually decided to do it. Of course, us being us, we immediately started scheming and plotting to drag more pals into it. Because...the more, the merrier. Especially at Christmas. Harper Fox and Joanna Chambers were enlisted coz isn't that wonderful symmetry: two Americans and two Britishers? We are all about the symmetry.

And the eggnog.

I only bring this up because I have folks asking if I am going into the publishing business now, and the answer is a most emphatic not at this time. Probably never. But now and again it's fun to get together with friends and do stuff.

And the "stuff" we did this year is a winter holiday anthology called Comfort and Joy. Four heartful helpings of romance and seasoned -- er, season's -- greetings.

I'll be adding buy links within the next day or so, but meanwhile there are celebrations and parties going on and as usual lots of goodies are being given away, so even though the book is not out yet, I don't want you to miss out on the fun.

So here's what's happening over at Goodreads.

And more fun starting tomorrow over at my Facebook Fan Page.

Next week LB, Joanna, Harper and I will be coming up with some fun stuff too, so stay tuned to your Yule Log.

Meanwhile, the first four people who can accurately match the following first lines to the correct story will get an audio download code for any one of our audio books. Enter your guesses in the comment section below:

1 - “No,” Rocky said. “Oh hell no.”

2 - My name is Cosmo Grant, and I have no pride left.

3 - The first words my ex said to me in six months were delivered sotto voce as I was minding my own business at Leunig’s crowded bar.


4 - “You’re going to have to replace it, I’m afraid.”


And your story choices are:
Rest and Be Thankful, Out, Waiting for Winter, Baby it's Cold Outside


18 comments:

  1. Again--the maniacal laughter you hear is coming all the way from Connecticut.

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  2. Ha! I know it, I know it, I know it! Not telling though... :P

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  3. Oh, I love your crazy collaborations! Two of my favorite writers of all time and you consistently deliver (not always on time) ... but close enough. I'm going to say Line #1 belongs to 'Baby, It's Cold Outside'; Line #2 to 'Out'; Line #3 to 'Rest and Be Thankful'; and Line #4 to 'Waiting for Winter.'

    I'm just glad I only have to wait a couple more days for this!! Happy Friday to all!

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  4. Ha! For once I know the right answer to teacher's question! :-D

    But I'm not telling... ;-)

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    1. May I also add that all the four story excerpts are brilliant! And I love the fact that you two, Josh and Lb, are all about the symmetry. Well done, indeed! :-D

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  5. 1. Baby it's cold outside
    2. Out
    3. Waiting for winter
    4. Rest and be Thankful
    I hope I have them right. I'm really looking for this anthology!

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  6. I won't spit on the chance of winning an audio book ;-):
    n.1 ''Baby, It's Cold Outside'',
    n. 2 ''Out'',
    n. 3 ''Waiting for Winter''
    n. 4 ''Rest and Be Thankful''.

    I'm looking forward to read all of the anthology!

    Ciao

    Antonella

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  7. Dang, had to do research...
    1 Baby it's Cold
    2 Out
    3 Waiting for winter
    4 Rest and be Thankful
    Even still, not sure

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  8. 1. Baby it's cold
    2. Out
    3. Waiting for Winter
    4. Rest and Be thankful
    I'm looking forward to all four stories!

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  9. Okay! We got today's winners:

    booksandmore
    Antonella
    Haldis
    Tanzmaeusi

    Drop me a line with your email address and I will send you the download code to Audible. Congratulations on either excellent guessing or diligent hunting. ;-)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you. The one time I decided NOT to read the snippets...I had to do major cramming and even then had to Google Leunig for some kind of clue, which gave me Vermont...yeah....

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    2. Thank you very much, dear Josh!

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    3. Thank you very much, Josh! It is always fun to join these games

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  10. I am looking forward to Sunday, I have read the excerpts, although I know, that's such a big mistake. Please I will read the story now, please!
    1. Baby it's Cold
    2. Out
    3. Waiting for Winter
    4. Rest and Be Thankful

    Have a great weekend

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  11. Here's my guesses!

    1. Baby it's Cold Outside
    2. Out
    3. Waiting for Winter
    4. Rest and Be Thankful

    Looking forward to this!

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  12. 1. Baby it's Cold
    2. Out
    3. Waiting for Winter
    4. Rest and Be Thankful

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  13. I got this on the day, looking forward to it. I think my first Josh read was Lone Star in the Men under the Mistletoe anthology. Also loved Icecapade in His for the Holidays

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