Our holiday traditions

Do you have a holiday tradition you celebrate?

Faye Hall:

Hubby and I make mountains of Truffles to last us for months (we freeze them) and I watch our 5 youngest kids and our goose play under the sprinkler in our backyard (we're in Nth Qld, Oz so it's gets pretty steamy here) 

Pamela Tyner:

It's a silly tradition, but when the kids were little i wanted to teach them why we celebrate Christmas and do it in a way they might remember, so every year on Christmas Eve I would make a cake and we would put a candle on it and sing "happy birthday, baby Jesus". When they got older they started to roll their eyes at it, so finally I decided to stop doing it. That night they wanted to know where the cake was and they were upset we didn't have one. Lucky I had cake mix and candles so the tradition continued!

Trish Cobbin:

Each year a new Christmas decoration is added to the tree. One for each of the family. This year we made our own baubles. Christmas Eve all the family stay over at mine. we have take out. The adults open their pressies in the eve once the kids are asleep. Christmas Day is all about the little ones. Then for 3 days we do the usual. Christmas roast. Boxing Day is cold meat mash and pickles and the day after bubble and squeak.

Tracey Rogers:

On Christmas Eve we watch It's A Wonderful Life as the mince pies cook. Then we go outside to sprinkle reindeer dust (yes I still make my 18yo do this) and 'Santa' usually leaves new pj's for when we come back inside.

Ella Jade:

Every year the Sunday before Christmas my mom and I bake cookies. We make a huge mess, laugh and watch Holiday Inn while we do it. It usually takes us about six hours to get it all done. As busy as the season gets we always make time for it. It's one of my favorite traditions.

Deanne Parker:

A tradition my husband and I started is searching for a Christmas ornament to hang on the tree. It can come from anywhere. A couple of years ago on vacation we went to Harrods in London and bought one. It's fun trying to top the year before and they bring back some fond memories.

Imogene Nix:

Christmas eve, we get together for a dinner of (hubs and daughters seafood) and chicken with salad. We don't use any of the main dining tables (they are already set up) and we enjoy the lights and the peace of the season. The we crank up the santa tracker (yes, oldest is 20, but we still do it) and settle in with christmas movies!

Nola Cross:

The movie A Christmas Story is definitely a tradition on Christmas Eve. I never get tired of it. We usually watch as a family. 

Tamaria Soana:

We do stockings on Christmas Eve! My girls know the stockings come from us. We all go shopping at Target for each other. Oh and we frost and decorate cookies! Notice I didn't say bake... because I hate doing that, so I buy 2 dozen unfrosted cookies from my local bakery every year

Ellen Cummins:

Everyone gets to open one gift on Christmas Eve. (of my choosing because I'm the only one who knows what's in there) We eat Mexican soup, drink mistletoe punch, and then after the family goes home and my kids are in bed, I stuff the stockings. I still leave milk and cookies out for Santa even though my kids are all grown up!!

Favorite Fall Scents

Do you have a scent that makes you think of fall? We do!

Pumpkin spice:

CJ Bower

Ellen Cummins

Nola Cross

Cinnamon apples/ apple pie:

Eden Knight

Lacey Wolfe

Pamela Tyner

Rain soaked leaves:

Jaye Shields

Caramel pumpkin:

Ella Jade

Fresh Fall air and leave:

Constance Bretes

Homemade cranberry sauce:

Deanne Parker

Memorable Teachers

This week we're talking about those teachers who left an impression on us.

Lacey Wolfe:
My 7th grade English teacher Mrs. Crenshaw. She encouraged me in my writing at an early age and never discouraged me. Even when she asked for a short story and I instead just turned in a new chapter to the book I was currently writing.

Ellen Cummins:  
My high school dance teacher mrs brynhi. I was shy and she always reached out to me with a smile and encouraging words.

Olivia Starke:
My high school science teacher. We did crazy stuff like make a potato vodka still in AP class, and he treated us like young adults and expected us to act that way. He always said my extremely conservative public school could fire him if they didn't like it. He retired because science is awesome and so was he.

T. Cobins:
I didn't have a favorite teacher but i did have a person who worked in the wood work department. He always had a nice word etc his name? believe me when i tell you it was Mr. Chip lol

Tracey Rogers:
Mrs Broad, my English teacher. You have to love the teacher who gives you reading homework smile emoticon

Tabitha Rayne:
I had an art teacher who took us around Glasgow art gallery - when we looked at another boring painting of flowers he said "of course - it's wonderful when you realise this has nothing to do with flowers but is all about women"He wasn't my favourite at the time - it took me years to understand what he meant - when I saw The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago - I had a penny drop moment. Then I adored him!

Pamela Tyner:
My favorite teacher was my high school social studies teacher, because his class wasn't about just memorizing facts. He taught us about life. We discussed things, and he listened to what we had to say and talked to us like young adults who were capable of thinking. He was a great teacher.

Deanne Parker:
My favorite teacher was my acting teacher in college. She told me to never give up on anything I wanted to do.

Tara Mills:
My favorite was my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Kottke. She was so kind and encouraging. I wrote and illustrated my very first book and gave it to her as a gift. I'd taken a lot of time with it, even typed it out on the typewriter I got for Christmas. She predicted I'd become a writer when I grew up on my final report card before summer vacation. She took my spark of interest and lit the fire that still burns in me. I'm eternally grateful.

Did you have a favorite teacher?

What's your favorite season?

Our favorite season!

Everyone has that one favorite season they enjoy the most.

Winter:

T. Cobbin: I don't feel the cold - I don't even own a coat - winter. A snow baby

Pamela Tyner: Doesn't like the cold but prefers winter due to seasonal allergies.

Spring:

Sassy Lewis: Spring which is your fall And yep Halloween although Australians don't go all out like you Americans I am Wiccan so it's a night I rarely miss celebrating. We decorate the house get all dressed up. My kids love it.

Lacey Wolfe: I love the spring because I hate the cold, so once spring comes, I can get my flip flops back out.

Summer:

Tamaria Soana: Because it's finally warm in Buffalo

Fall:

Olivia Starke: I love the colorful foliage and the cooling temperature.

A.K. Layton: sweatshirts, jeans, football and pumpkin spice everything!

Ella Jade: I love October and November. Pumpkin patches, caramel apples, Halloween, falling leaves and It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

Ellen Cummins: Halloween...pumpkin everything...comfort food and family on thanksgiving!

Constance Bretes: I prefer to add more clothing to keep warm, then to try and not get indecent to the public eye.

Beth D. Carter: I love pumpkin season.

Deanna Parker: Fall is my favorite season. It is just before snow starts to fall. I start baking Pumpkin Chocolate Chip bread and I get ready for Halloween dress up.

What's your favorite season?

First Kisses....

First kisses...they can be memorable! Today some of the Beachwalk Press authors are sharing their first kisses:

Lacey Wolfe: My first kiss, I was 13 (I think) - and I was hanging out with friends and my boyfriend was there. I had only pick kissed a guy before but was ready to see what french kissing was all about. So my boyfriend and I snuck off to give it a try and I thought it was was GROSSEST thing ever. Later I learned, he just wan't good kisser.

Tamaria Soana: I was 14 and playing spin the bottle. It was okay I guess. The earth didn't move or anything.

Pamela Tyner: I was 14, and the kiss was...okay. But it was just okay. There were no 'fireworks', which I found disappointing. And sadly, the kisses never improved much with him. But thankfully, that wasn’t my only first kiss. You get a new first kiss with each relationship. And with my second first kiss--the fireworks exploded!

Ellen Cummins:  It was in sixth grade and we planned it all out. We were to meet behind the backstop at our elementary school. I picked out the perfect striped top and fluffed my hair up in a giant Farrah Fawcett do...We sat together on the bench in silence, then he went for it. Snake tongue extravaganza!! Ew. I walked home with my mouth open the whole time... Afraid to swallow. I broke up with him the next day.

Nola Cross: I was fifteen and the boy was Leo, my first boyfriend. He was older (19) and experienced, and was an excellent kisser. We're talking a whole flock of butterflies in the tummy.

Stephanie Beck: It was after a basketball game-I scored the most points, so I had to kiss someone. Kissed my neighbor boy.

Sassie Lewis:  I think I was only about 11-12 at the time. I was in year 6. His name was Anthony (I can't remember his surname) It happened behind one of the demountable building at school. Mind you I went to catholic school, one of those ones that has a church and everything on site. The kiss itself I can't really remember, but I guess it couldn't have been too good seeing I dumped him for his best friend a week later.....Yep I was a tart.

Jess Buffet: I was 13 and we were at school. It was so terrible. Lol I remember thinking why the hell do people do this?! smile emoticon Thankfully the second boy I got to kiss was better at it. Hell, I ended up marrying him. wink emoticon

Dilys J Carnie: I was 15 and it was disgusting, I thought he was going to eat me his mouth was so wide open

Hazel Gower: Wow, I had to really think. If we're talking about french with tongue I was 14, Ash, he was the worst kisser, or at least I learnt he was when I kissed someone else and was kissed properly. Ash was sloppy, and full of ego. He was the the popular guy, a major Jock, who kept asking me out and i turned him down until he wore me down and I said yes. We dated for a couple of months until I couldn't take all his saliva anymore.

Patricia Bates: First kiss...first grade. Harvey can't remember his last name now but we were doing a play...only reason I remember it - he bit my lip.

Kaylie Newell: At my first boy/girl party in sixth grade. Everyone paired up and he and I were the last ones to go. I just remember that his lips were really wet and squishy, and he tasted like punch.

Jaye Shields: First grade during recess. smile emoticon He told me he liked me, then kissed me beneath one of those giant tires.

Deanna Parker: I was 18. It was at a friends birthday party. I just remember hearing Wanted Dead or Alive playing in the background.

How was your first kiss?

Our favorite ice creams!

Yum! Who doesn't enjoy a big bowl of ice cream? Today we're sharing with you, our favorite kind.

Tamaria Soana enjoys Rocky Road

Jacquie Underdown enjoys Macadamia Nut ice cream

Ellen Cummins enjoys Coldstones cake batter with rainbow sprinkles.

Nola Cross enjoys Mint Chocolate Chip

Olivia Starke enjoys Strawberry Concrete Custard from Andy's Custard

Ella Jade enjoys Chunky Monkey from Ben and Jerry's

Lacey Wolfe enjoys Moose tracks

What's your favorite kind of ice cream?

Favorite Shoes

Do you love shoes? We do too. Check out some of our favorite pairs or the shoes we wish we had.

Ellen Cummins loves her Uggs

Pamela Tyner would love to have these beauties in her closet.

Imogene Nix has two favorite pairs.

Stephanie Beck has some awesome super hero heels.

Do you have a favorite pair of shoes or a pair you drool over and wish you owned?

Favorite Dates!

Happy Wednesday! Today we're sharing some of our favorite date spots.

Ella Jade:  Hubby and I do date night once a month. We try to pick a different dinner spot each time. I love looking forward to that evening. Once a year we do a weekend in NYC. We see a show and have dinner in the city. We stay in Times Square with all the hustle and the bustle.

Tamaria Soana: Dinner and a movie

Pamela Tyner: I love to go out to dinner (so I don't have to cook). I usually get to choose the restaurant and normally do seafood or Italian. And I like to do a movie too, but the prices are a deterrent (at $10 per ticket, plus the price of popcorn and drinks - which I have to have smile emoticon - it has to be something I *really* want to see)

Ellen Cummins: We love to go to Cool Hand Luke's. My daughter works there. Best Steaks in the land!!!

Stephanie Beck: We go out for dinner somewhere--doesn't usually matter much--but the fun part is after when we go run errands together. Going to the grocery store or hardware store without our kids really is one of our favorite things to do.

Nola Cross: We work together all day, then see each other at home every night, so dating sometimes seems like overkill. But now and then we do go out to dinner. We have an excellent middle eastern cafe here. Yummy!

Kaylie Newell: The movies.

What's your favorite place for a date?

What the authors do when they aren't writing...

Today, the Beachwalk Press authors are sharing what they like to do when they aren't busy writing your next favorite book.

Ellen Cummins loves to watch movies.

Tamaria Soana reads in her free time.

Nola Cross does colored pencil drawings.

M.A. Stacie enjoys running.

Lacey Wolfe likes to crochet.

Tabitha Rayne paints and draws.

Stephanie Beck loves superheroes.

Pamela Tyner enjoys binge watching TV shows.

Deanna Parker enjoys reading and watching movies.

Kaylie Newell loves horse riding.

Constance Bretes enjoys video games. Olivia Starke enjoys working out and horse riding. Ella Jade likes to create short stories with her characters (and she bakes too).

We hope you enjoyed this post! Be sure to leave a comment. This month we're giving away a $10 Amazon gift card to one lucky winner. 

Our favorite Beachwalk Press books...

Ever wonder what our favorite Beachwalk Press book we've written is? Today we're going to answer it.

Ella Jade

Ellen Cummins

Nola Cross

Pepper Anthony

Tabitha Rayne

Tamaria Soana

Lacey Wolfe

Tracey Rogers

Kaylie Newell

Sidda Lee Tate

Olivia Starke

Jacquie Underdown

The Beachwalk Press authors - Favorite Books!

Everyone has a favorite book, or if they can't choose a favorite, perhaps one that helped them find their love for reading. Check out the books fellow Beachwalk authors chose, and let us know if you have read any of them.

PS - Leaving a comment this month enters you into the April giveaway - An eBook of your choice from Olivia Starke.

Ella Jade chose The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Ellen Cummins chose Unwritten by Charles Martin

Jacquie Underdown chose The Fever Series by Karen Marie Morning

Lacey Wolfe chose Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Nola Cross chose Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

Pamela Tyner chose Animal Farm by George Orwell

Tamaria Soana and Susan Child chose the Twilight Series.

Tara Mills chose Public Displays of Affection by Susan Arden

Tracey Rogers chose The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis