From the 2011 Debs…
Deb Sarah is excited to announce that her novel, The Violets of March, will now debut in May! The publish date was moved up from August to May after a strong showing at a recent publisher’s sales conference. Sarah is so excited to have three months shaved off the long wait to publication!
Contest winner! Congrats to Violet who won our contest featuring Melissa Senate! Violet, I sent you an email today. Deb Kim
Friends of the Debs…
Our dear friend Larramie at The Divining Wand is running an incredible giveaway, justifiably called THE BEST HOLIDAY GIFT EVER!
The details are here, but the gist is this: you enter to win TWELVE BOOKS for either a special someone (the private giveaway), or a special place (the public giveaway — for hospitals, libraries, shelters, etc.). To enter, leave a comment on the site that includes the person or place for whom you’d love to win the books. You can enter both the public and the private giveaways — Larramie in fact encourages it!
Winners will be chosen in a random drawing. And the books you’ll win… unbelievable. There’s a list on the site, and they’re all terrific. We’re proud to say that many of the books are from former Debs or friends of the Debs, including Sarah Pekkanen, Alicia Bessette, Emily Winslow, Eileen Cook, Beth Hoffman, Melissa Senate, Kristy Kiernan, Joelle Anthony, Leah Stewart… and that’s just part of the list!
The deadline to enter is Wednesday, December 1st at 11:59 p.m. EST, so click on over and enter!!!
Deb Dish — The Debs’ Favorite Weird Family Traditions
Deb Elise
Probably the weirdest family tradition we have surrounds our dog, Riley. Riley loves presents. He was our first child, and we always gave him wrapped gifts for the holidays. Because of this, he now expects every wrapped gift to be for him, and goes crazy for them, so whatever the occasion — my birthday, Hanukkah, Father’s Day… we always wrap up a dog toy or treat for him (even if it’s one he already had), so he can tear into it and find his holiday surprise.
Oh, in case anyone forgot how cute he is, here’s Riley with his longtime girlfriend Isis, waiting for their share of the Thanksgiving turkey (Riley’s the one all in black):
Deb Eleanor
Here’s a family tradition question for you: When does your family open birthday presents?
We always did ours after cake on birthday dinner nights.
But J.C.’s family does it at breakfast. Breakfast? What kind of craziness is that?
When does your family open presents?
Deb Kim
If you MUST know – we put olives on all of our fingers and pluck them off with popping sounds at every major holiday. By we I mean my 51 year old sister and 40 year old brother – NOT my children! We open birthday gifts at any time on the actual day – never before. I’m having a hard time reading Sarah’s flash – she hates cake. I’m reeling, someone catch me! I will make it my life’s goal to convert her to traditional birthday cake consumption. Although I could pop candles into a ricotta pie pretty darn easily. Hmmmm. Maybe not so crazy?
Deb Sarah
I despised cake growing up (what sort of weird child was I?!), so my mom always made me pies for my birthdays–usually apple, but sometimes pumpkin or other concoctions. Yup, when friends came to my birthday parties, they weren’t always thrilled. Today, the tradition of birthday pies continues, though. My kids love pumpkin pie, so maybe I’ll make pies for their birthdays next month (they were both born right before Christmas–two years apart). P.S. I’ve grown to love cake in my adult life. And cupcakes. And all other sweets in general. 🙂
Deb Tawna
My family has so many odd family traditions that I’m not certain I could pick just one. There’s the post-Thanksgiving sock sale I talked about last week, or the habit of making sure the Christmas tree is up the day after Thanksgiving. But aside from holiday weirdness, my family loves to visit some of Oregon’s old military sites like Fort Stevens (built near the end of the Civil War to guard the Columbia River). It’s not that we’re history buffs or anything. It’s that we like to chase each other around with Pop-Its (those teeny little fireworks you throw at the ground) making lots of noise and cackling like fiends. I don’t remember how the tradition started, but it’s impossible to stop it now.
What are the odds that “violets,” the flower, and “Violet,” the name”,would be mentioned in those brief opening paragraphs?!
And I’m with Sarah for birthday pie. Fresh peach is my favorite!
Finally the fact that former Debs are well-represented in THE BEST HOLIDAY GIFT EVER! Giveaway — including Tish Cohen — proves that your debut is only the beginning!
I know, Larramie – wasn’t that kind of cool? Fresh peach pie sounds delish.
Wow–love the violet coincidence! Oh, now I’m craving peach pie with a vengeance! xo