Christmas 2020 Colonial Quills Blog Party

Welcome to our Christmas Event here on Colonial Quills Blog! We're holding it virtually at Colonial Williamsburg. We hope you'll enjoy the pictures of the wreaths from 2020 at Colonial Williamsburg, taken by Carrie Fancett Pagels on a recent visit.

Come inside and join us at our party and 

enjoy our authors' messages to you!

Janet Grunst 

What a challenging year it has been for all of us. We’ve altered plans, and many of us have experienced loss, isolation, illness, grief, and discouragement. But it has also been a year of discovering new ways of keeping connected with others through technology, even attending church online.

What a comfort knowing none of this caught God by surprise. While Jesus came to us so humbly over two thousand years ago, He has never left us alone. He has left us His Spirit and assures us of His presence, provision, protection, power, and peace. Our prayer is you will have a blessed Christmas and a healthy and happy 2021.

I will be giving away a copy of Setting Two Hearts Free, the third story in my Revolutionary War series. The winner can either receive an e-copy or a paperback for those in the continental USA.

Carrie Fancett Pagels

One of the amazing things happening this year, in one of the darkest times in our country's history, is that we will experience on December 21st possibly what happened when our Lord was born in Bethlehem. This celestial event, where two planets draw together, appearing like a super bright star, may have been what occurred near Jesus's birth. What an encouragement in Roman-occupied Israel, and a sign that our Savior had come to earth, whether it was another celestial event or from the planets appearing to converge (which took place about 2 BC). I love that we once again have this occurring, which hasn't occurred in 800 years, which I see as a message from our Creator, that He is still there, that He still loves us, and that He once and for all banished sin through His beloved Son, that we may have eternal life. While media may be pointing us toward further dark times, let us instead look up, being reminded we have a heavenly home. We can have peace, in Christ, this Christmas, through the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit!

I'm giving away an audiobook copy (or other version if you aren't a listener!) of The Fruitcake Challenge, my new release on audiobook, now available on audiobook through Audible.com and IF you have already purchased a copy of The Fruitcake Challenge through Amazon (110+ reviews, 4.5 Star rating!) you can purchase the audiobook for only $7.49, which I just discovered and is a great price! I know because I am an audiobook reader myself and I just on those deals!

I'm also giving away a copy of Mercy in a Red Cloak, which by the way, has a Christmas scene at the end of the novella! Winner can choose paperback or ebook. Set right after the French-Indian War, on Mackinac Island and in the Straits of Mackinac, this novella takes place during Pontiac's Revenge (but it's not right in the midst of it--so no bloody massacres on my pages!) Available in ebook, paperback, and audiobook.

Christy Distler

What a year 2020 has been. I’m pretty sure all of us, when we answered the 2015 question “What will you be doing in five years?” missed the mark—unless of course we answered, “Whatever the Lord will have me do.” This year He had a lot of us slow down and reorder our priorities. 2020 has brought so many changes, and much heartache for some, yet the one thing that never changes is our Father in heaven. He is still good, He is still ever faithful, and He still loves us more than our hearts and minds can fathom. My prayer for you this Christmas is that you’ll draw closer to Him and that His love will shine through you to those all around. “The magic of Christmas is not in the presents, but in His presence,” as one of our Christmas pictures says. Wishing you the joy and peace of His presence!

I’m giving away a copy of A Cord of Three Strands, which takes place in a Pennsylvania Quaker community during the French & Indian War (ebook or paperback, winner’s choice).

Shannon McNear

Hello, dear readers! As others have said, it has certainly been a year. My favorite meme on social media is the one which says, "Today marks five years since the start of 2020 ..." But doesn't it feel like that sometimes??

I'm so glad God is with us, though, in all our times: the good, the bad, the ugly. "...be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'" (Hebrews 13:5, ESV) And no one is beyond the reach of His grace, nor any situation too awful for Him to work for our good.

I am so thankful to be working on a new story, due out next December, and to have not one but TWO titles to release this year. I'm giving away a paperback copy of each. The Blue Cloak weaves an unlikely romance and a story of redemption against the backdrop of some of our country's most horrifying criminal events, spanning 1797-99. Not for the faint of heart! 

 My novella The Wise Guy and the Star in Love's Pure Light Collection is much lighter and sweeter, and tells of an encounter between a grieving WWI veteran and a pastor's daughter, all onboard a train journey from Charleston, South Carolina, to Kansas City, Missouri in 1919. If you're interested in either or both of these stories, leave a comment below and mention the word BLUE (for the first book) or LIGHT (for the second).

Blessings to you all for a wonderful Christmas and New Year's season!

Pegg Thomas

Hello everyone! While all of 2020 will have an asterisk beside it, at least during the Christmas season we can stop and reflect on the one thing untouched by the virus, Jesus Christ and His love for us.

One new adventure for me this year was putting out my first self-published ebook. Well ... I cheated. It's a novella from a Barbour collection, The Pony Express Romance, that has been discontinued, so the bulk of the work was already done. All I needed to do was get a cover made and learn the ropes of formatting and uploading to Amazon.

Although Embattled Hearts is set during the early years of the Civil War - and not Colonial - I hope you'll enjoy it. I'll give away two ebooks to two people who comment below on this blog.

My second new adventure was wading into the social media platforms of Parler and MeWe. If you're on those platforms, send me a follow request, I follow back!

Denise Weimer

Hello again, readers! I've taken a sabbatical from Colonial Quills since I had only contemporary stories releasing the past year, but I'll be posting again in 2021. My historical romance, Bent Tree Bride, the story of a mixed-blood lieutenant of the Cherokee Regiment who falls in love with his colonel's daughter during the Red Stick portion of the War of 1812 is coming in April. I'll be sharing some unique history from the Southern frontier of that time. 

This month, I joined the ladies of the Georgia Peaches Series by indie publishing my holiday novella, A Holiday Heart. It's a contemporary, but it does include a mystery related to an heirloom a grandmother leaves to her granddaughter. And it includes a mountain cabin, snow, and a heart-warming romance. I'm giving away an e-book copy to someone who comments below. If you leave a specific comment or question for me, I'll enter your name twice!

This is just a small gift in hopes of lifting spirits a bit. I pray Jesus will be your comfort and peace during these uncertain times. And I'm thankful we can be here for each other!

Blessings and Merry Christmas from my family to yours. 

Dear Guests:

If you would like to post something visual, like a party dress picture, please feel free to pop over to the FB Event page and do so--but the giveaways and author interaction will be right here on the blog today!

Thank you for being a Colonial Quills reader and for supporting our authors in their endeavors! Come sit down by the fire and let us pour you a nice hot beverage and serve you some colonial treats! Queen's Cake will no doubt make the rounds as well as our ginger cakes and scones!