Construction Hiatus

Due to building a new house (which is scheduled to close in March) across the country on Puget Sound in Washington, along with a mid-April deadline for On Lavender Lane (Shelter Bay #3), I've put this blog on a temporary construction hiatus.

I will continue to add more news and information -- including excerpts for One Summer, the second in my Shelter Bay series that'll be out July 5th -- to the site, so I hope you'll check the News on the homepage from time to time to keep updated!

xo,

JoAnn

Favorite Holiday Movies & Book Giveaway!

It's that time of year again, when TV is flooded with holiday movies, which is not such a bad thing. I have several favorites. Although it's not a movie, Charlie Brown's Christmas is tough to beat. Another animated great is The Grinch.

For oldies but goodies, there's Holiday Inn, the 1942 movie where Bing Crosby first sang "White Christmas." That proved so popular, Hollywood tried it again twelve years later in a movie actually titled White Christmas, which also took place at an inn and starred Bing Crosby.

The big song from the original movie was expected to be "Be Careful, It's My Heart." When Irving Berlin first heard Crosby rehearsing, he wasn't that sure about "White Christmas," but Bing responded, "I don't think we have any problem with that one, Irving." I guess not. The song topped the charts in October, 1942, and stayed there for eleven weeks. And even now, sixty-eight years later, it's still a Christmas classic.

Dickens wrote such a wonderful story in The Christmas Carol, that just about any cast can make it a super holiday event for all ages. Despite being an initial box-office flop, Jimmy Stewart's It's a Wonderful Life, has gone on to be named one of the best 100 movies of all times and is a super holiday staple on TVs around the world.

My second personal favorite is probably Miracle on 34th Street. When sweetie and I were first married, I got him to watch it on TV by telling him that Natalie Wood was in it. (He had a major celeb crush on her.) About midway through, he admitted he was enjoying it, but wanted to know when Wood was going to show up. I told him -- haha -- to "Look at the little girl."

One of the challenges of releasing the movie was that despite its Christmas theme, Fox studio head Darryl F. Zanuck insisted on releasing it in May, because more people went to the movies in the summer. So the trailer and posters all managed to hide any reference to the holiday. Which didn't stop it from becoming a hit, and another must-watch at our house.

My favorite Christmas movie is Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. Not only is the stop-action animation brilliant (there were over four-hundred heads created for Jack to give him every possible expression!) it provides dazzling visual movie magic, celebrates two holidays, has great songs, and a sweet love story. What's not to love?


So, what's your favorite holiday movie? Three people, chosen at random, who comment will receive a copy of Silver Bells, an anthology I was in with Fern Michaels. My novella, "Dear Santa," is my idea of what might have happened if the Natalie Wood character in Miracle on 34th Street didn't meet the real Santa until she was an adult. And yes, of course it's a love story as Marine lodge owner Gabriel O'Halloran and his daughter rekindle mystery author Holly Berry's belief in Christmas wishes. Here's a link to an excerpt and reviews. To give everyone time to respond, I'll announce the winners this Friday.

Whatever you're celebrating this season, warmest wishes for a lovely holiday and a new year filled with peace, love, joy, and the warmth of family and friends.

xo