My friend, Penelope Marzec, lives in New Jersey. I live in Texas. She has a new Christmas book available, and I thought now would be a good time to talk all things Christmas.
Hi Penny, I'll decorate for Christmas after Thanksgiving and our family will make another Christmas memory. What’s your
happiest holiday memory?
It’s hard to pick one
memory that is the happiest, but the year hubby bought ping pong guns for our
daughters gave me lots of laughs. The girls ran around with the ping pong guns
as if they were in an action-packed movie adventure. Of course, hubby played with
them. I just laughed and took pictures.
That sounds like fun. Like you, we have three daughters. One of my favorite memories is the year all three girls got bikes from Santa. They were so excited. Eating is a big thing at our house during the holidays. Do you have a favorite Christmas dessert?
A long time ago, I
found a recipe for Cape Cod Cranberry Pie. It’s easy, quick, and delicious. I
make it every year for Christmas. There’s so much to do at Christmastime, so it’s
truly wonderful to have a dessert everyone enjoys but which isn’t much trouble
to make. I'm sharing my recipe.
Thanks for sharing the recipe. It's at the end of this blog. A traditional dessert at my house is Lemon Ice Box Pie. Like your pie, mine is quick, and I can make it in advance. We have it twice a year. It's too fattening to have more than that! We're gonna have a quiet Christmas this year. One daughter is in Kentucky, and one will be in Florida. That leaves one to be with us. How will you spend your Christmas?
We have our Christmas
dinner on Christmas Eve, go to church, and then open gifts. That way we can
enjoy a quiet Christmas morning. Usually, we’ll do some visiting in the evening
that day, but the quiet Christmas morning is wonderful.
I've always wanted to spend Christmas in an enchanted location. What about you?
I enjoy being home for
Christmas. However, I never got the chance to visit Ireland and that is the one
place I would be interested in seeing at Christmas.
I'm looking forward to reading your newest Christmas book. By the way, how many Christmas
books have you written?
Clear as Ice is the second Christmas book I’ve written.
The first one was The Cowboy’s Miracle.
Those cowboy Christmas books were fun to write. Prism Book Group, our publisher, had several of us write Christmas books with cowboys as the hero. Mine was Sarah and the Cowboy's Lady. How many books do
you have in print?
I’ve written twenty
books. Some are novellas which are not in print, some are. One full-length book
is still with the publisher and hasn’t been released. The rights were returned
to me for some of my past books and I’ve been reissuing those independently.
All of the books in print are at Amazon and easy to find.
How did you get the
name for Clear as Ice?
The house where I grew
up stood on a hill above a lake and in the wintertime, if the lake froze
quickly, the ice would be clear without any air bubbles. Everything beneath the
ice was easy to see—like turtles resting in suspended animation. So, ice can be
clear, which is how I got the name for the book. Here's a picture of my three daughters on that lake behind my parent's house.
I can't imagine that. We don't have that down here in Houston. I went ice skating once at a local rink...fell down on my bum, and decided to never try it again. And I haven't. Tell us about the
book.
Clear as Ice is about a former Olympic figure skater,
Haylie. Her skating career left her broken, both physically and mentally since
a stalker hounded her unmercifully. Healed, with a new job as a physical
therapist, she finds she still longs to skate. Her family home used to be near
a lake, so when it freezes, she goes there. She meets Ethan’s dog on the ice
and then she meets Ethan, a man who abandoned his faith when his mother died
and who has no intention of celebrating Christmas ever again.
I'm eager to read it, and I bought it today. I'll start it tonight. I love Christmas books. How many books a
year do you read?
Sometimes I read
twenty books a year, sometimes less. It depends on several factors. Often if
I’m writing or if I have edits to do, I won’t get a chance to read. But I
really enjoy reading right before I go to sleep and I always have books on my
nightstand.
Do you get ideas for future
stories from reading?
I rarely get ideas for
future stories from fiction books. Most often ideas come to me from non-fiction
books—like history books. I love well-written history books. However, I also
get ideas for stories from places I’ve visited.
I love travel, and I always imagine myself living where I visit. Like you, I get ideas in new locations. How will you spend New Year’s Eve?
I’m really quite a
homebody. I love to sit on the couch and watch the ball drop on television in
Times Square on New Year’s Eve. However, for several years the next town east
of us hosted a First Night celebration. It was a wonderful way to spend New
Year’s Eve. Many different types of entertainment were offered in various
locations all within walking distance about town. Our daughters were younger at
that time and enjoyed the celebration, too. Unfortunately, the entire event
closed after several years. So now we enjoy a simple New Year’s Eve. But I make
a nice dinner for the family on New Year’s Day.
I love this prayer shawl you posted on FaceBook. It's abosultely beautiful. You have a way with a knitting needle, paint brush, and pen.
All the pictures you post on FaceBook of your painting and knitting or amazing. You are a talented
lady. You knit, paint, write, and sing with your musical hubby. If you had to
give up painting or writing, which one would it be?
That is a very tough
question. There have been times when I stopped writing during stressful periods
of my life. There have also been times when I quit painting. But I always come
back to them when life levels out and I have the time. As long as I can, I’ll
continue to paint and write. I won’t give up. I get such a great boost of
emotional satisfaction from working on my stories and painting pictures. My
father used to say, “It’s cheaper than therapy.” I believe he was right on that
score.
Your dad was a reporter and your mom served in the military.
Your mom was a talented painter, and your dad was a talented writer. You
inherited the same abilities. Tell us about your daughters. Also tell us about
your musical jaunts with your hubby.
Our daughters all took
piano lessons until they went to college and they listened to all types of
music—everything from classical to country to folk songs. We took them to many
musical events, including organ concerts. Once, one of our daughters told us
that was the worst thing we ever did to them, which made me laugh.
Our kids sound very much alike when it comes to music. We gave our daughters piano lessons. We bought both an organ and a piano and they sat side-by-side in our living room. I had hopes that our girls and I would play and sing together. Not. Nope. No way. It didn't happen.
Hubby had a career in engineering,
but music was always important to him. He started playing the accordion at a
young age, but then learned the piano, guitar, and organ as well. He played the
organ at church for several years and I feared we would wind up with a pipe
organ in our house. However, he joined a string band and went back to playing
the accordion. String band music is happy music and very uplifting. Plus, hubby
often plays at nursing homes on his own or with some of his accordion friends
and with me as the vocalist. It’s heartwarming to bring smiles to the folks in
the nursing home. The best part is when they sing along.
I love these pictures of you two bringing smiles to others. Here's the blurb for your new book, Clear
as Ice.
When
Ethan's prayers for his mother's life go unanswered, he abandons his faith,
tossing it out with his mother's Christmas ornaments. The loss of his hope
leaves him empty and he begins to shy away from relationships, but when his dog
Rufus, a rescue from a shelter, develops a fondness for a woman skating on the
frozen lake behind his house, he's annoyed. Not only does he resent her using
his pond, he doesn't understand her fear of dogs.
Haylie, once an Olympic figure skater, is afraid
of more than just Ethan's dog. She lives in constant fear due to threats from a
stalker, but one day Ethan's dog chases the danger away, so Haylie decides to
try to lose her fear of dogs...But then the stalker's plans expand to include
revenge toward Ethan as well. If they are to remain safe and live to see a
happily-ever-after, Haylie and Ethan must put aside differences and learn to
trust each other. This Christmas season promises to be the most challenging and
the most meaningful of their lives.
The Amazon link:
2 cups cranberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1. Preheat oven to 325F.
2. Spread the cranberries in the bottom of a well-greased ten inch pie plate.
3. Sprinkle with one half cup of the sugar and the nuts.
4. Add the remaining sugar to the eggs, beating well. Beat in the flour, butter, and shortening. Pour over the cranberries.
5. Bake about 1 hour, or until crust is golden brown.
Thanks for bringing your Christmas to us! From down here in Texas, we wish you a Merry one up there in New Jersey!