"On the 3rd Day with Shirley, Ms. Jump said to me..."

(Sing it with me now!)

I'm in a holiday mood. ;-) We just need to kind of ease back into the work-week after all that Turkey and bargain-hunting. (I promise we'll get back to work in a minute.) Until then, I thought you would appreciate a peek at Shirley's latest, A Miracle on Christmas Eve. Just look at that picture! Perfect for sitting by the fire I mentioned yesterday and reading - after the kids are in bed.

I wanted to make the photo clickable, but then I realized I don't know how to do that. So here it is, less snazzy but still effective: Miracle on Christmas Eve (And for our Canadian Writing Mothers: Miracle on Christmas Eve)

And here's a review that confirms you'll get that warm and fuzzy feeling that is just so appropriate for the holidays. :)

If you're in a different mood, there's Shirley's upcoming book. I've read somewhere (I'm sure of it) that Shirley writes "romantic comedies with heart." This one is more like a romantic comedy with heat! :D



I'll have that picture up every day this week. Not just because he's cute, but also because Really Something goes on sale December 4th. (What a great stocking stuffer for your BFF!) It's available for preorder now. (And, oh Canada...)

Romantic Times gave it 4 1/2 stars (out of 4 1/2). Here's a snippet of their review: “With Jump’s trademark comedic touch, readers are treated to a well-crafted story about what it means to come home to face yourself and your past.”

The story has a great premise. Allie Dean comes back to her hometown of Tempest, Indiana, 170 pounds lighter and determined to "exact the sweet revenge that comes with looking seriously hot." I don't want to mess it up, so I better let you read an excerpt.

3. You’ve said this book is a departure from your usual work. How is it different and what prompted the change?

After my mother died, I found myself naturally delving deeper emotionally for all of my books. I don't think you can go through such a major life upheaval without it affecting you in a huge way, especially in a creative field. When I started writing Really Something, I found myself starting with a funny premise--a woman returning to the town that scorned her, seeking revenge and a hero who is a weatherman predicting the weather with a Magic-8 ball, but when I started to dig deep into these characters, I knew they had big reasons for doing what they did. Duncan, the hero, has been protecting his little sister all his life, first from an abusive father, now from herself, and is desperate to hold onto his job, hence the Magic-8 ball. Allie, the heroine, was teased mercilessly as a child because she was overweight. She felt invisible (the working title of the book had been Miss Invisible) and now the revenge she is seeking is against all those people who tortured her. But she doesn't realize that she is the one who isn't seeing her true self, and that the pain she is feeling is because she has yet to get in touch with what made her put up those emotional walls in the first place.

It was a hard book to write, because there was a lot of emotion in it, and a lot to deal with for all the characters. But it was also fun, because I had some really fabulous secondary characters who were larger than life and who maintained that comedic element that my readers are always looking for.

***