Twenty-two talented authors are participating in the Grace Filled Christmas Blog Tour, sponsored by the Grace Awards. These writers have a great love for Christmas and would like to share with the public their thoughts about what inspires them and their Christmas memories.
MEG MOSELEY (WHEN SPARROWS FALL, romance, women’s fiction, new beginnings)
Grace Awards: What is your favorite Christmas carol and why? Do you have a favorite performing artist who sings that song?
Meg: Since I was a little girl, I have loved “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” It’s really an Advent hymn, not a Christmas carol. The song probably originated as a responsive chant in the Catholic Church many centuries ago, so generations of Christians all over the world have sung it. I think it’s especially moving when it’s sung by a good choir, a capella. The hymn reminds me that there’s another side to the joy of Christmas: From depths of Hell, Thy people save, and give them victory o’er the grave… Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death’s dark shadows put to flight. All is not right with the world, and it won’t be set right until Jesus returns. As Christmas comes and goes each year, we’re still in the larger Advent season, anticipating His return. “God with us” is the cry of our hearts.
Grace Awards: Do you have a favorite Christmas movie? What about that movie thrills you…makes you tear up?
Grace: When you interviewed Elaine Marie Cooper earlier, I loved her answer to this question because mine is the same. “While You Were Sleeping” is a modern classic and my all-time favorite. It’s just a goofy romantic comedy, but it’s all about grace, forgiveness, and love—not just romantic love, but also the love of a family that embraces a lonely stranger. But of course they would, when they mistakenly believe she’s engaged to one of their sons! Lucy (Sandra Bullock) fails to correct the misunderstanding, and she’s finally trapped in lies with no way out. One of the scenes that tugs at my heart is on Christmas morning when Lucy wistfully watches the Gallagher family as they open their gifts. The gift she longs for is to be truly part of the family instead of pretending to be. There are also many funny and romantic moments as she falls for cynical, adorable Jack (Bill Pullman) who’s supposedly her future brother-in-law. Their interactions are hilarious.
Although Meg Moseley lives near Atlanta, she’s still a California girl at heart. Wife, mom, grandma, and novelist, she loves cats, motorcycles, easy gardening, and all kinds of good fiction. She’s published with Multnomah Books. www.megmoseley.com
Link to Meg’s showcase on the Grace Filled Christmas Blog Tour. Check out her inspiring romance novel. http://is.gd/DHepUh
TRACY KRAUSS (WIND OVER MARSHDALE, PLAY IT AGAIN, MY MOTHER THE MAN-EATER, romantic suspense, women’s fiction, humor)
Grace Awards: What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Tracy: I was thinking about all the ‘spiritual’ answers I should give for this question, but in all honesty, our favorite tradition is playing games during the holidays. All four of my children are quite competitive (okay, they are ridiculously competitive – just like their father, of course) and can’t wait to beat one another at canasta, cribbage, or one of the many board games that come out during the holidays. Now that my two eldest are married, their spouses have had to ‘get tough or die’. There is no mercy, even for love! I must admit, my husband and children have more stamina for this than I do. I often end up taking the side of my sons-in-law and we go off to watch a movie while the other five fight it out.
Grace Awards: What foods do you prepare for the holidays?
Tracy: We go for the traditional turkey with stuffing and all the trimmings. I insist on turnips as well since this is what my mother always made, even though I am often the only one eating them. We like pumpkin pie for Christmas, although I’ve started cheating and I usually buy a ready-made crust. I do not like cooking or baking, so last year I decided not to bake anything. No cookies, no squares… nothing. I always end up with a ton of it in the freezer which then sits for months until I pawn it off on somebody. (Or end up eating it all myself, which I do not need.) Anyway, my announcement was met with shock and disbelief when my daughters arrived for the holidays. In fact, I had a downright rebellion on my hands. They got busy and made pies, cookies and squares… Guess what? For Thanksgiving this year everyone loved the pie. When I told them it was left over from last Christmas they were shocked. I don’t know why. It was perfectly good and wasn’t even freezer burnt. I just won’t tell them that this year’s Christmas cookies are left over from last year, too.
Tracy is a high school teacher by profession, and aprolific author, artist, playwright and director by choice. She received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Saskatchewan and has gone on to teach Art, Drama and English – all the things she is passionate about. After raising four children, she and her husband now reside in beautiful Tumbler Ridge, BC where she continues to pursue all of her creative interests. She has several romantic suspense novels and stage plays in print. http://www.tracykrauss.com
Tracy’s link to her showcase on the Grace Filled Blog Tour. Check out her zany romantic suspense novels. http://is.gd/YgNgy5
There will be more author interviews to follow. The authors on the Grace Filled Christmas Blog Tour want to share their Christmas hopes, dreams, memories, decorating trips, perhaps even a recipe or two. Stay turned as these terrific and very interesting authors share about what Christmas means to them.
Link to access the Calendar of the Grace Filled Christmas Blog Tour: https://graceawardsdotorg.wordpress.com/grace-filled-christmas-blog-tour-2012/
Grace Filled Fiction Spotlight 
Tracy, your story about the Christmas pie from the freezer cracks me up! I’m not much of a baker either, so I can totally relate. 🙂
Meg, I think we all love While you Were Sleeping. It’s such a great funny, but still heart-string pulling kind of film that you can’t help falling in love with all the characters.
Tracy, I too pulled my pie out of the freezer, but mine was made by that awesome cook, Marie Calendar. Yum!
Thanks for sharing your stories!
Meg – I love “While You Were Sleeping” too!
Meg and Tracy, I love your interviews! Meg, I am in awe every time I hear “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” Truly one of my favorites. And who can resist our mutual favorite Christmas movie! A great blend of hilarious and poignant. Tracy, I cracked UP envisioning your husband & kids arguing thru a game while you and your sons-in-law head out to a movie! That seems like a reasonable solution! 🙂 And I am definitely with you on not enjoying cooking. It’s one of my least favorite things to do at the holidays. I like to leave the pie-making to the professionals. 😉
Meg, “While You Were Sleeping” is my favorite too, so I won’t bother answering that question! 🙂 Tracy, your baking ventures are hilarious…reminds me of the Christmas I ordered an already-cooked turkey from the meat market; only one problem: when I opened the box to heat it, the bird was frozen! Needless to say, we had a very late night Christmas Day dinner. Oceans of blessings to you, Meg and Tracy!
If we can whip our meals and desserts out of the freezer, one way or another, we’ll have more time to play! I hope all of you are enjoying the start of the Christmas season.
‘While You Were Sleeping’ is also a favorite of mine. It’s interesting how it has touched so many of us. I also love ‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel’, probably because of the minor key – it is so melancholy yet moving.
Sharon, you sound like someone after my own heart! One Thanksgiving we had to wait an extra few hours because the ‘bird’ wasn’t done. We usually eat quite late anyway, but that year was a bit over the top.
I’m glad I have such a good relationship with my ‘imported’ sons. We have a lot in common since all my children have their father’s uber-competitive streak, and I like to think I’m the best mother-in-law in the world since I actually have sympathy for them. (Although they knew exactly what they were getting in for when they married my charming daughters.) 🙂 It’s all fun and games, though. Nobody has died … yet.
Tracy, You always crack me up. You should’ve been a stand up comedienne.
Meg, I like While You Were Sleeping Too. Luv Sandra Bullock.