Guest Post: Christmas Tips by Lola Smirnova

Christmas festivities are well and truly under way - trees are up, cards are written and presents are wrapped, however if you still have some gifts to buy then read on... especially if you know a writer! I'm delighted to be joined in my Book Corner today by Lola, who shares her Christmas Gift Tips for Writers!

Christmas Gifts for Writers

If you’re stuck on what to get the writer in your life this Christmas I think this list will help; these unique gifts are sure to bring a smile to any author’s face!

Writing can be a tough, thankless task so gifts which are witty or offer a little motivation during the hard times are idea.

Mugs and Coffee

There are all manner of mugs which have comedic messages written on them for writers; pick one of these up and why not team it with some heavy duty, high caffeine coffee for those tricky, tiresome moments when the brain just stops working!

I’m Writing: KEEP OUT!

A sign for your writing space is a great buy as it has a humorous element, but also a practical application in that you can use it for time and space when you need it most.

Writing Software

For writers who write every day, the risk of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) is very real, so you can give your loved ones a welcome break from this by investing in a voice typing software.  Dragon Naturally Speaking is one of the market leaders and even has an App for writing on the go!

Dragon speaking and writing software

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a serious health risk for writers who write every day. I say one of the best gifts for writers is Dragon Naturally Speaking – it converts your writer’s spoken words to text. This reduces the amount of typing your writer has to do, which relieves the strain on thumbs, wrists, and arm muscles. It’s probably number one on my list of “best gifts for writers” (Baby, are you reading this?!).

Tickets Please!

Tickets to a writers’ conference is a super-special gift to buy; the writer in your life will be able to get away and network with like-minded individuals.  Often they happen in far flung places, but there are always more local events too depending on your budget.

Craved, by Lola Smirnova, is the highly anticipated sequel to Twisted. It was published in August 2015 and is available for sale on Amazon. Genres: New Adult / Suspense

Synopsis:

Having been to hell and back, the eager sisters from Ukraine - Natalia, Lena and Julia - decide to retire from selling sex and walk the straight and narrow path back home. But when an old friend calls them with an opportunity to make buckets of ‘easy’ money in South Africa, they find it impossible to refuse.

Return to the nightlife of the entertainment business brings along all the old familiar temptations - alcohol, drugs, and prostitution.

Can the girls resist their vices and stay together? Or will this industry destroy their sanity and their family?

Inspired by real life events, Craved is a fascinating story of addiction, survival and the art of making a living in the sex trade.

About the Author:

 Lola Smirnova is an author from Ukraine. Her novels are inspired by real-life events. They are meant for the open-minded readers who are not afraid of a little blood, sweat and semen.

Lola’s debut novel Twisted was released in 2014. The book placed as Honorable Mention in the General Fiction Category of The 2014 London Book Festival’s Annual Competition.

Lola released Craved, the highly anticipated sequel to Twisted, in August 2015.

Lola has fascinating stories to share about the experiences of women in the global sex industry. Her thrilling tales will surely shock and surprise you, with both the storyline and literary value.

Lola lives in South Africa, and is currently working on the third book in her trilogy. To learn more, go to http://lolasmirnova.com/

Readers can connect with Lola Smirnova on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Guest Post: Ten Things About Christmas by Jules Wake

I'm absolutely thrilled to be joined in my Book Corner today by the lovely Jules Wake as we kick off her blog tour for her book, From Paris With Love This Christmas.
Jules has joined me today and is talking about her top ten festive things!

~~~~~~~~

Thanks for having me on your blog, Laura.

I love a good Christmas book, perhaps because they take all the best bits of Christmas and remind you of the best bits of your own Christmas holidays. 

My top ten favourite things about Christmas are, in no particular order:

1.Mince Pies

There’s something special about these little golden parcels of pasty with their piping hot contents that say Christmas like nothing else.  

When I was a little girl, I would help my granny make mince pies and as the WI president, she was something of an expert.  Now I make them with my son (not to WI standard) and it’s our special time together (even though he’s now taller than me).  

Making the first batch of mince pies really kicks off the festive season in our house.

2. Window Displays

Christmas brings back so many special memories, one of which is of my much loved Granny (she of WI fame) who used to take me and my sister to London to visit Father Christmas at Selfridges.  

I remember skipping along outside the huge plate glass windows absolutely entranced by the fabulously opulent displays.  

Every year I still make a visit to Oxford Street to see the Selfridges window displays, which are always so clever and imaginative, although these days I give Santa a miss. 

3. Christmas Morning Drinks

On Christmas morning we invite friends and their relatives to the house for drinks.  

The key thing here is ‘their relatives’ – we all know Christmas with the rellies can become a bit fraught, so this gives people a little bit of a break on the day.  

It’s much easier to be sociable with someone else’s Great Aunt Ethel when you know you haven’t got her all day!

4. Champagne Cocktails

My husband makes a mean Champagne cocktail, with a sugar cube, Angostura Bitters, Brandy and Champagne. They can be lethal but go down very well, although one year we almost sabotaged a friend’s lunch when her husband after consuming several glasses was too inebriated to cook.

5. Lights

In the small market town I live in we have an annual Christmas Fayre which marks the official switching on of the town lights.  The high street is decked in white lights, a Christmas tree in the square and illuminations which have been designed by children in local schools.  

Each year the town council holds a competition among the schools to find the best design and each year one new decoration is put up.  It’s such a lovely thing and the growing collection looks absolutely beautiful. Every time I drive through the town, seeing all the lights lifts my heart.

6. Stockings

I love putting together the stockings for my family and I try to make them as fun and inventive as possible.  They have the standard things in like a satsumas, chocolate coins and reindeer, but I also try to include silly things that the children like or will make them smile.  

My son loves jam, so he always gets a pot of jam in his stocking.   

I also try to include lots of practical things like pencil sharpeners, erasers, nail varnish, guitar strings and hair wax. 

7. The Tree

Our Christmas tree is a big deal. It has to be real, the whole family has to be present for it to be decorated and the day it is put up is the official start of Christmas in our house.  

Decorating it is a real family affair and we reminisce about past Christmas’s and relatives who are no longer with us, as we unwrap the decorations which have been ceremonially brought down from the loft.   This is a really special time as it’s like unwrapping a great big memory box.

8. Carols in the Car Park

I can’t sing a note in tune but when you’re in a cold car park, your feet virtually iced to the floor, there’s something rather wonderful about singing along at the top of your voice to Christmas carols with a brass band playing on the back of an articulated lorry.  

This happens every year on Christmas Eve in our local town and it’s a wonderful occasion when generations of families turn up to sing together.

9. Family

My absolute favourite part of Christmas, is Christmas Day breakfast.  We all sit down together to eat our favourite smoked salmon, bagels and cream cheese and no one has to be anywhere else or do anything else in this time.  

It’s such a rarity in modern life, for us all to be together and I really treasure it. 

10. Crisis for Christmas

It might sound a bit strange that one of my favourite things about Christmas is the charity Crisis for Christmas.  

Unfortunately, Christmas is a time of conspicuous consumption and over indulgence for many, while there are lots of people who are not so fortunate, especially the homeless.  

Each year this fantastic charity, transforms several venues around the country to provide temporary shelter for homeless people for just over one week.  

Thousands of people volunteer their time to go and work in the shelters during the festive period to help provide warmth, food and shelter for those people who have ended up on the streets for many, many different reasons.  

Crisis embodies the spirit of generosity that Christmas should be about.  

Thank you Jules for a lovely post - I think most people will agree that family is a priceless time at Christmas due to no-one having to rush off and I love the fact you still put Satsuma's in stockings!

If you would like to know more about

Crisis For Christmas

please click the following link.

http://www.crisis.org.uk/pages/christmas.html

Jules Wake Bio

Bred but not born in Yorkshire, Jules considers herself an honorary Yorkshire woman and despite living in the Chilterns still misses proper hills.  She’s wanted to be a writer forever and blames this on her grandmother taking her at a young age to the Bronte’s parsonage in Haworth.  

Despite early lofty ambitions, the path to published novelist took a wide diversion when after reading English at the University of East Anglia, she found herself in the glamorous and deeply shallow world of PR, which she rather enjoyed, and spent a number of years honing her fictional writing skills on press releases.   

After taking a creative writing course and finding no local writing group, she set up the Tring Writers’ Circle seven years ago.  As a result it was incumbent upon her to set a good example and actually write, which was rather fortunate as with a genuine allergy to cleaning, she finds writing offers the perfect displacement activity.

Jules' Christmas novel, From Paris With Love At Christmas, is available to buy now.

Kindle

Paperback

Guest Post: Why I Love Christmas by Rebecca Pugh

Today I'm delighted to be joined by Rebecca Pugh from Beccas Boooks on the blog as part of the #CarinaChristmas week, where she tells us why she adores this time of year - thank you Becca for this fab festive post!

Why I Love Christmas 

Rebecca Pugh 

Christmas truly is the most magical, wonderful time of year for me and my family, but I’ve had a hard time trying to pinpoint exactly why it is that I love it so much. Is it the food? Is it the music? Is it the excitement of giving and receiving gifts? Is it being surrounded by my family? To tell you the truth, I love all of that, but I do believe that it’s the last thing on that list that makes me love it so much. 

I have a massive family. Huge. And being the eldest of seven children means that I’ve been able to watch each of them grow up. We’ve shared many, many Christmases together, crowding the lounge carpet as we unwrap presents with glee, flinging wrapping paper here, there and everywhere. 

Many Christmas dinners have been had too, of course, with a few squabbles thrown into the mix for added measure, because it wouldn’t be us if there weren’t any. 

The years, despite only being twenty-two, seem to have slipped by in the blink of an eye, and as I get older, I’m becoming more and more aware of the fact that one day, those fantastic Christmas mornings will be happening without me, because I’ll be hosting my very own Christmas. 

It makes me so sad to think that there’ll come a Christmas where I won’t be in the throes of it with my brothers and sisters, and perhaps that’s why I make the most of the Christmases we still have together. I’ll still go home of course, to visit everyone on Christmas Day, but I know it won’t be the same. 

Nothing beats waking up at stupid o’clock in the morning and waiting patiently, with a cup of coffee, for my siblings to join me in the present-strewn lounge, one by one, sleepy-eyed and full of yawns. I’m aware that those Christmases will one day become memories that I’ll tell to my own children perhaps, maybe even my grandchildren and so, until it happens, I cling on to these Christmases at home for dear life, because I will miss them so, so much once they’re gone. 

That’s not to say I’m completely dismissing the other reasons as to why Christmas is so fabulously exciting. If you know me at all, you’ll know that I’m incredibly annoying when it comes to the festive season, so much so that I begin to do even my own head in with my childlike glee, excitement and enthusiasm. 

I adore the lead-up to the big day. 

I love seeing the Christmas decorations, writing out my Christmas cards, playing all of my favourite Christmas songs and even buying Christmas-scented air fresheners and candles for the bedroom. There’s something cosy about the frost, if that makes sense? How it bites and nips at your cheeks each time you step outside, as if reminding you of Christmas and its arrival. I love wrapping up warm, mittens and scarf included, and wearing two pairs of socks to keep my toes warm. I love the Christmas books that perch prettily on the shop shelves like Robin red-breasts on a tree branch, and the abundance of festive movies that begin to make their way onto the TV, perfect for any Sunday afternoon with a hot chocolate in hand. 

I’m a sucker for the commercial side of things, but the reason as to why I love Christmas so much really does lie with my family. If it wasn’t for them, my Christmas wouldn’t the same. I can’t even imagine how my Christmas would look without them, the thought actually frightens me if I’m going to be honest. They make my Christmases magical, and so worth the year-long wait. 

So, no matter what you’re doing with yourselves this Christmas, I hope you make some magical memories that you’ll keep safe and snug in your heart. 

I hope your toes stay toasty, your nose doesn’t turn too red, and have yourselves a wonderful Christmas time. 

Becca xox   

Rebecca Pugh grew up in the green county of Shropshire, with a mind full of fairy-tales and happy endings. 

Enchanted by true love and Disney Princesses, she decided that no matter what life threw her way, she’d continue to see the world through a child’s eyes. 

Through the pages of countless books, her adoration of reading blossomed, and it didn’t take long for her to fall under the spell of hundreds of authors’ words. 

Now, Rebecca’s own story has taken a fairy-tale like turn, and at 22, her dream has come true. With her faithful companions: Bonnie the dog, her partner, and her gigantic family by her side, Rebecca is ready to share her stories with readers who enjoy falling in love and losing themselves within beautiful, fictional worlds. 

Rebecca Pugh is the author of women’s fiction and romance, her all-time favourite genres. After all, who doesn’t enjoy a good swoon? 

Return to Bluebell Hill, Rebecca’s debut novel, was published 18th June 2015 by Carina UK. Her second novel, A Home in Sunset Bay, follows in February 2016. 

Links for Return to Bluebell Hill - Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US

Link to pre-order A Home in Sunset Bay - Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US

Link to Becca’s Books - http://beccasbooooks.blogspot.co.uk/

I would like to thank Rebecca for taking the time out of her busy schedule to come on the blog today.

This post is part of the #CarinaChristmas event that is being run over on

Rachels Random Reads.

Guest Post: My Perfect Christmas by Annie Lyons

Today I'm thrilled to be joined on the blog by Carina author, Annie Lyons, to talk about her perfect Christmas.

My Perfect Christmas

I love Christmas. I mean really love it. There can never be enough tinsel, too many fairy lights or sufficient sausages wrapped in bacon wrapped in sausages and so on for me.

I want it to be perfect too. I want snow to fall, chestnuts to roast on an open fire and there to be peace and goodwill to all people.

Of course, deep down I know that these things won’t happen, that roasted chestnuts are actually a bit dry, that in my forty one years on this earth, it hasn’t snowed once at Christmas and that you only have to turn on the News to see that peace and goodwill are a little way off.

Still, I think it’s important to hope and to believe. 

That’s actually what Christmas is about for me – the excitement is in the build-up, the thrill of expectation before the reality of the actual day – a lovely reality, but not quite like the dream.

With this in mind and for your festive delight, here are the dreams and reality of my own Christmas.

The Dream

The weeks before Christmas are enjoyed at a leisurely pace. I have been making thoughtful home-made presents since September. All the gifts are purchased by the end of November, cards written in the first week of December and everything wrapped by the 10^th.

I attend lots of wonderful Christmas parties wearing a different amazing dress and shoe combination to each one.  I always dance in a stylish and dignified manner and leave at a sensible hour. I never have a hangover.

On Christmas Eve, I watch The Snowman snuggled up with my children and let the Christmas spirit wash over me. In the evening, I watch It’s a Wonderful Life with my husband, weeping over the ending because this is what Christmas is all about. I go to bed early so that I am on sparkling form the next day.

Christmas Day is sheer bliss. The children sleep in until eight, they open their stockings, which are filled with thoughtful and useful presents. We sit on the bed enjoying a family breakfast of croissants and coffee. No crumbs are made or jammy fingerprints left on the duvet.

My husband cooks the most magnificent Christmas dinner and we sink into post-lunch happiness, watching a film, playing games and supping on Champagne.

By the evening we are sleepy, happy and possibly a couple of the other seven dwarves as well. We fall into bed feeling content and very lucky.

The Reality

The weeks before Christmas are endured in a screaming panic. I have been making thoughtful home-made presents since the 18^th of December and the remains of my Christmas Chutney are still welded to the counter-top like the some kind of evil super-glue. I order the last present from Amazon on the 23^rd of December and still refuse to pay for postage, praying to the god of super-saver deliveries for benevolence. The presents are all wrapped by 2 am on Christmas Day.

I have one Christmas party to attend along with a rising panic about what to wear. I do not own any amazing dresses and the last time I wore my posh shoes, I sustained a blister the size of a Jaffa Cake. I am always the first on the dance floor and the last to leave. My hangover lingers for the best part of a week.

On Christmas Eve, I watch The Snowman snuggled up with my children. By the end, we are all sobbing and my son is wailing, ‘Why do you make us watch this EVERY year?’

In the evening, I watch It’s a Wonderful Life with my husband, weeping over the fifty or so presents of varying size and shape still to wrap, and the fact that apparently this is what Christmas is all about. I feel the spirit of a bad back and sore shoulders wash over me as we head to bed around 

2.30 am utterly exhausted.

Christmas Day is weary bliss. The children sleep in until six, they open their stockings filled with lots of plastic and useless presents and we enjoy a hundred weight of sweets, chocolate and coffee for breakfast. There is an alarming brown stain left on the duvet, which I ignore.

My husband cooks the most magnificent Christmas dinner and we sink into post-lunch torpor, watching a film, playing games and supping on Champagne.

By the evening we are sleepy, happy and possibly a couple of the other seven dwarves as well. We fall into bed feeling content and very lucky.

May your Christmas dreams and reality be similarly wonderful. Have a happy one, my friends! 

After leaving university, Annie Lyons decided that she 'rather liked books' and got a job as a bookseller on Charing Cross Road, London. 

Two years later she left the retail world and continued rather liking books during an eleven-year career in publishing. 

Following redundancy in 2009 she realised that she would rather like to write books and having undertaken a creative writing course, lots of reading and a bit of practice she produced Not Quite Perfect. 

She now realises that she loves writing as much as coffee, not as much as her children and a bit more than gardening. 

She has since written another two novels and is about to start work on her fourth. She lives in a house in south-east London with her husband and two children. 

The garden is somewhat overgrown. 

One day she hopes to own a chocolate-brown Labrador named John and have tea with Mary Berry.