Christmas Book Release

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2 WINNERS OF MY PAPERBACK!
Wendy M Luther and Jeannette Klemen
I will be contacting you by email to get your mailing information.

Happy Launch Week! Thanks for joining me for the launch of my newest book, “Frosted Window Panes.” Why ‘Launch Week?’ Well, it’s always a guessing game when the paperback will be approved and go live on amazon, and yesterday I got the notice that it was now live! Yeah! The ebook is on pre-order and scheduled for release this Wednesday, Oct. 12.

You can find the books here!

As I wrote in my post last week, this story began many years ago with just the ending as a stand-alone short story. Then a few years ago, I wrote the beginning, and last year I decided to flesh out all the happened between those first few chapters and the end. Make sure you read last week’s post, as I have a new excerpt in it, as well as links to those first chapters I wrote. (I deleted the ending post when I decided to publish the book.) Here is the link to last week’s post. 

In writing “Frosted Window Panes,” I included several elements that have a very special meaning to me. Of course, my love for Jane Austen, her books, characters, and storyline drew me in from my first exposure to them. That is why I love to write the continuations and variations.

This story also references a piece of jewelry that is uncommon now, but that has special meaning to me. When my grandmother died many years ago, we were going through her house, and I found a necklace and bracelet that I thought were beautiful, but I had no idea what they were. I had never seen anything like them. My grandfather had been a traveling salesman, and one of the things he sold was jewelry. He died sometime in the 1940s, so I never knew him. But I kept the necklace and bracelet and still have them today.

About fifteen years ago, I decided to do an internet image search for 1940s jewelry, and lo and behold, images of jewelry very similar to mine came up. It is called camphor glass, and while not particularly expensive, it was popular in the 30s and 40s. A necklace with a camphor glass pendant plays a part in my story, partly because it looks like a ‘frosted window pane.’ In last week’s post, I included an excerpt from the book that mentions a camphor glass pendant.

It has been interesting to learn of the history of camphor glass, which is now considered Art Deco. Here is a link if you want to read more about it. 

Of course, I had to include a picture of my necklace and bracelet.

I also love Christmas and all the festive decorations from lights to candles, nativities to candy canes, stars to stockings, and angels to snowmen. Having grown up in Los Angeles, we never had a white Christmas, but now living in the Mid-West, each year I hope we will wake up to a little snow on Christmas morning.

Then there are all the Christmas songs that I love, from the secular “The Christmas Waltz” to the religious “O Holy Night.”.  I love the traditional Andy Williams and Frank Sinatra pieces, as well as Mannheim Steamroller, Josh Groban, and Pentatonix. The “Christmas Waltz” has a very important part in this story. If you are not familiar with that song, the first words are “Frosted Window Panes…” Here is a link to the song if you would like to hear it.  I don’t remember how long ago I first became aware of that song, but it is now one of my favorites.

When I decided to use the song as well as the frosted look of the camphor glass pendant, I knew I had to title the book, “Frosted Window Panes.”

Finally, in this book Elizabeth runs a tutoring center in an impoverished part of town. This is very dear to my heart, as my husband and I lived and worked in a poor area in two cities. We were involved in a school, job training at a thrift store, had after school and summer clubs, and I had craft times with some of the ladies in the neighborhood. It was both a special and stretching time in our lives.

All these elements contributed in one way or another to the storyline. I hope you will enjoy it.

Just as a reminder, the ebook is now on pre-order and will come out on Wednesday, Oct. 12. The paperbook is due out any day! If you comment here (and on the previous post), you will be entered into a drawing to win one of 2 paperbacks (US only). I will draw the winners on Sunday, and announce them here and on our facebook group page on Monday. Good luck!

Frosted Window Panes