Celebrating Christmas Books with Jodi Thomas

I'm happy to announce the start of my Christmas Books Celebration with one of my favorite authors from my previous home state of Texas. Jodi Thomas is a prolific author with millions of books in print. She's been on both the New York Times and USA Today bestselling lists. She's published over 50 novels and and is still going strong. Now let's find out about her new Christmas book.

How did you come up with the idea for your Christmas book?
When I started Father Goose (which is my Christmas story in THE COWBOY WHO SAVED CHRISTMAS) I wanted to write a story about a broken soldier coming home from the war with no home, no one waiting, and no future. He’d gone to war a boy and returned broken.

He takes a hauling job and finds out that his cargo is five little girls. With the help of a women on the run, he sets out across outlaw country.

The little girls move into his heart with laughter and tears as he tried to keep them safe and get them home by Christmas.

Sounds like a heart-warming story. What is one of your favorite Christmas memories?

I love baking cookies with my four grandkids and remembering forty years back when my son was in his roll-around walker. He somehow reached the corner of the tea towel where my decorated cookies were cooling. He grabbed the corner and the cookies rained down on his head. He grabbed a bite of every one that fell.

What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?

I love putting up the tree. All my kids, including grands line up down the hall, around the corner and down the basement steps. They pass twelve red boxes up, around the corner and down to the living room. Then everyone opens the red boxes and Christmas explodes in my living room. A few hours later I put the last ornament on the tree. The only one left of dozens I made the first Christmas we were married. I was teaching my first year of school in Amarillo and Tom was in the army.

What’s next? 
I’m starting a new series. Four brothers. The story is dancing in my head and as always I can’t wait to start.

What’s the best writing tip you’ve learned or been given you’d like to share?
The advice is simple. ‘A WRITER WRITES.’ I run into many talented people who talk writing but they don’t write.

What do you know now about writing and publishing you wish you had learned sooner?
I wish I’d kept up with all my character names. After over fifty books and eighteen short stories I’m running out of names.

Any last words or tips?
Over my thirty years of writing I’ve met some wonderful people---and some of them are real.

Are there any other books that you’d like to tell my readers about?
My new series, THE HONEY CREEK SERIES, is rolling out fast. Don’t miss it.

That's all for today's interview. I've promised you free ebooks with each day of Celebrating Christmas Books, and here are today's offerings. The first  for 100 Literary Classics which you can find on Amazon: 

https://amzn.to/3pHEkMy For those of you who like reading biographies, here's one about Florence Nightingale: https://amzn.to/3CbO7hn

If you like to know more about Jodi's writing, here are some links to get you started. If you're part of Kindle Unlimited, you can get a few of her ebooks for free right now. 

Website: jodithomas.com
Facebook: Jodi Thomas Author
Instagram: @jodithomasauthor
Email: jodithomasfanclub@gmail.com
Newsletter: http://www.jodithomas.com