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My Christmas Piano Tree is on the Great Christmas Tree Tour by Jina Bacarr

December 11, 2009 by in category Archives tagged as , , ,

I love the Holiday Season. No matter what has been happening throughout the year, you can’t help but take a moment to catch your breath and take in the joy of the season all around you…shiny silver and gold decorations, sleigh bells ringing on cell phones, Christmas carols blasting at the mall, yummy sugar cookies baking in the oven and–
The spicy smell of pine wafting from a Christmas Tree. Except at my house. I have mistletoe hanging in the hallway (what romance writer doesn’t?) and a fresh garland wreath gracing the front door…but you see, well, my Christmas Tree is different.

It’s a piano.

Yes, a piano. Decorated and all lit up like a…you guessed it, a Christmas Tree! So you see, I wasn’t sure if my Christmas Piano Tree was going to make the cut for the Great Christmas Tree Tour–a fabulous Holiday blog put together by fellow Harlequin romance author, Cheryl St. John.

Whoever heard of a Christmas Piano Tree? But there it is on Cheryl’s blog–along with the story behind my holiday tradition and the link to a video of my one-act play, “The Christmas Piano Tree,” the story of a lonely widow lady who’s forgotten the true meaning of Christmas until a girl with pink hair, a dead cell phone and a big problem helps her re-discover the magic of the holiday season. It was produced at the Malibu Stage Company Theatre in Malibu, CA.


February 2010: meet The Blonde Samurai

“She embraced the way of the warrior. Two swords. Two loves.”
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Holiday Season by Linda O. Johnston

December 6, 2009 by in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as , , , ,

I recently returned home from a trip to Branson, Missouri. Talk about Christmas spirit! Most of the shows are at the ends of their season, but nearly every entertainer included a lot of Christmas carols.

I’d never been to Branson before and enjoyed it—including all the shopping! I still needed a lot of holiday presents and was able to check off a quite a few people from my list of those I still needed to shop for by the time I got home. Of course that ruined my ability to fly back home with only carry-on luggage.

I did see my latest Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery, HOWL DEADLY, on bookstore shelves for the first time in Branson, at a Books-A-Million. It’s a December release, and that, as always, was a kick!

My writing suffered some on this trip—too busy to get much done. But I did take an afternoon to do nothing but write, and also was able to edit on the plane home. I had a couple of appearances as soon as I returned—a talk on promotion at the East Valley Authors chapter of RWA at the Azusa Library, and a holiday party at the Mysterious Galaxy bookstore in San Diego. I’ve other parties I could be going to now… but it’s time to get down to work!

Happy holidays, everyone! And come see me at the OCC meeting next week. I hope to be signing HOWL DEADLY.

I’d love to hear what’s keeping you busy during this holiday season…

Linda O. Johnston
http://www.lindaojohnston.com/
http://www.killerhobbies.blogspot.com/
Linda O. Johnston is the author of 15 romance novels and several novellas, including a current Nocturne Bites, with 2 more Nocturnes upcoming. She also writes the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime. HOWL DEADLY, the newest title in the series has just been released.

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OCC Chapter Meeting – December 12, 2009

December 5, 2009 by in category Archives tagged as

General Meetings are held the second Saturday of the month
at the Brea Community Center, 695 E. Madison Way, Brea, CA 92821.
For a map and directions, click here.

Meeting fees are $10 for OCC Members and $20 for Guest/Non-Members.

Meeting Schedule for Saturday, December 12, 2009:

9:30 am: Doors Open / Ask an Author
—Volunteer Ask an Author/s for December: Shannon Donnelly & Susan Squires

10:30 – 10:45 am: Announcements

Morning Workshop Speaker:
JENNIFER APOCADA: World-building: Seducing the Reader into Your Character’s World

11:50 – 1:00: Lunch Break (Lunch Orders available)

12:30 – 1:00: Book signings TBA

1:00 – 1:30 pm: General Meeting and Announcements

Afternoon Speaker:
Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc.

3:00 pm: Meeting Adjourns

Attention: OCC Members Attending the Meeting–Monthly Critique Drawings!
Volunteer Critique Author for December: Diane Pershing

Important 2010 Dates to Remember:

January 9, 2010: OCC General Meeting

January 11-February 6, 2010: Online Class: The Purpose Driven Scene with Lynn Kerstan.

For current Online Class Schedule and registration information, please visit http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclasses.html.
For more chapter meeting information visit OCC’s website at http://www.occrwa.org

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Time Management: Writing Through the Holiday Season

November 28, 2009 by in category Archives

As the holidays approach, our lives get busier. First there is Thanksgiving, and everyone is either cooking or going to someone’s house who is cooking. Then come the December holidays where there are more visits with friends and family, shopping for gifts, cards to be sent, holiday parties at work, at home, with friends, with family. Any way you look at, you’re going to have demands on your time that you don’t have the rest of the year. A lot of the free time you usually devote to writing might be allocated to preparing for the holidays, forcing you to be away from your computer. How is a writer to stay on track when all this is going on?

By scheduling your writing time and sticking to it.

This might involve a shift in your schedule. Maybe you have to get up an hour earlier each morning or write on your lunch hour or bring the Alpha Smart to the kids’ football games. Whatever it takes, you can make it happen.

Here are some suggestions for staying on track with your writing while getting through the holidays. (Note: This also works for the rest of the year!)

1. Set reasonable goals. I work full time, so during the week I have less energy to give to my writing; therefore, I set small page goals Monday through Friday, currently 4 pages a day. On Saturdays when I have more time and more energy, I write 10 pages. On Sundays I am off to give my brain a rest; however, Sundays can also be used to make up for lost time if I fall behind. Whatever your goals are, make them realistic and achievable. Impossible goals are failure waiting to happen.

2. Rearrange your schedule. I have discovered I do my better writing in the morning when I am fully rested, so I wake up an hour early during the week to accomplish my page goals for the day. Usually I achieve the whole 4 pages, but even if I only get 2 done in the morning, that leaves only 2 more to write in the evening. Goal achieved. (Another advantage to waking up very early is that the household is usually still asleep and the phone doesn’t ring!)

3. Prepare for events. If you know you are having twenty people for dinner on a day when you normally would write 6 pages, set a reasonable goal for that day. Maybe you can only write 3 pages that day, but since you have nothing scheduled for Sunday you can write the additional 3 that day, keeping you on track. Or maybe you get up really early and knock out the 6 pages at 5AM. Or maybe you assign those 6 pages to another day because there is no way you would get the writing done with this huge dinner to prepare. Do whatever works best for you, guilt-free, as long as you set the right goal and stick to it.

4. Set expectations with family. Make an announcement to your family that you are setting aside a certain time for writing. No one should disturb you during this time unless there is blood or fire involved. Sometimes our spouses and kids can unwittingly sabotage our efforts to write. Non-writers usually don’t understand that just because we are sitting at home, we are actually working. Sometimes a little grandstanding is required to get the point across, but most of the time your family wants you to be happy. Once they understand that this writing thing actually makes you happy, they will most likely try their best to help you achieve your goals.

5. Get enough rest. Waking up an hour early usually means you have to pay back that hour in sleep time. Maybe you need to go to bed an hour earlier at night. Record your favorite programs to watch later (maybe on that Sunday when you’re not writing) and hit the hay an hour earlier. Lack of sleep leads to irritability and poor health, and no one wants to be sick for the holidays!

6. Eat right. With all the holiday goodies around, it’s very tempting to let nutrition slide. However, in order to juggle the holidays along with writing and your normal life, you need all the energy you can get. Go ahead and have that pumpkin pie, just don’t forget the salad beforehand.

The holidays are meant to be a time of thanks for our blessings, of hope for the new year, not a time of stress and frustration. Set your writing goals so you can keep moving forward on your project even while the holidays are happening around you. Set those goals for success, not failure, even if it means you are writing less pages than you normally would. Enjoy your friends and family with the security of knowing that you are achieving your goals without taking away from the joy of the season. Preparation is the key.

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A Fantasy Life by Janet Quinn Cornelow

November 28, 2009 by in category Archives



Thanksgiving is a time to think about all the things for which we are thankful. I am thankful my job hasn’t gone bankrupt. I am thankful for my children and their spouses. I am thankful for Chewbaca, my dog, and Teddi, my cat, who keep my life interesting.

Most of all I am thankful that I can write, for without my storytelling, I would not be happy. I am really happy that I am finally getting back into the writing after hurting my back. The pain in my back I am not so thankful for.

For Thanksgiving we went to my son’s house. My daughter-in-law Jessi wanted to have the holiday in her new house. It is the first time in thirty-some years that I have not cooked dinner. It really seemed strange. On the plus side, I didn’t have to clean house. On the other side, I actually had to leave home and I had to bring food with me. I felt like I was moving out. Then Jessi didn’t have enough pans. I knew I should have taken my large pan to cook the potatoes.

She did an admirable job and got everything done only 15 minutes later than she wanted. She doesn’t cook, so she was worried she was going to poison someone. Her turkey was perfect, but I’m not sure she believed any of us. The potatoes were wonderful also. I couldn’t believe that they got eighteen people seated for dinner in their small house. One of the sofas went to the back so they could set up tables.

Then my sister and I got lost going home, again. I think I finally figured out where we went wrong. Neither of knew there was so much undeveloped land in Orange County. I have no idea where we were. We finally turned around and stopped at the first gas station we found, about ten miles from where we were, and got directions. We were on the right street to find the 5 freeway, just traveling the wrong direction.

It was nice to not have to cook yesterday, but I really missed having turkey sandwiches today. I bought a turkey to cook over the weekend, but I think we will be waiting until Christmas for leftovers.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving.

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