Meet Carly Winter, USA’s best-selling and award-winning romance author. Carly is such a believer in Christmas, she boasts that she “wishes Christmas happened twice a year.” A lover of chocolate, wine, and dogs (a woman after my own heart!) Carly is one more of our talented authors in the Cozy Christmas Anthology.

Christmas is Canceled                                                             by Carly Winter

The day before her big Christmas party, Bernadette Maxwell discovers all her gifts have been stolen. With the help of her ghostly grandmother, Ruby, she’s determined to investigate who’s responsible… and why.

But when she discovers the perpetrator, will the Christmas spirit come alive in Bernie, or will Christmas be canceled?

What would be a great gift for your character?

Since Bernie runs a bed and breakfast is chronically worried about cleanliness, she’d be thrilled with a Roomba vacuum.

If you had to describe your character in three words, what would those three words be?

Loving, anxious, worrisome.

Where is your story set? Why?

My story is set in Sedona, Arizona, a lovely town that sits close to the Grand Canyon. The scenery there is breathtaking. It also has a “magical” side to it – vortexes (vortices is the proper grammar but is hardly ever used) that promote healing, self-awareness, and meditation. It’s a perfect place for a fictional character to own a fictional bed and breakfast that is haunted by her unruly, fun-loving grandmother’s ghost.

What is your favorite Christmas movie?

By far, my favorite Christmas movie is National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. We watch it every year. We actually have an Uncle Eddie in our family, which makes it even funnier for all of us. Thankfully, our Uncle Eddie hasn’t shown up on our doorstep in over a decade! I don’t think I could be as welcoming as they are in the movie!

How does this story connect with your other books in the series? Christmas is Canceled is a short story within the Sedona Spirit Cozy Mysteries and can be read alone. The other books in the series all have a murder to be solved. In Christmas is Canceled, a thief needs to be apprehended. It also focuses on what the true meaning of Christmas is and being kind to your fellow people. We all need to take care of each other, and that starts with our friends, family, and neighbors.

Beth McElla “writes under the towering evergreens of the Pacific Northwest”. Now if that doesn’t sound like the perfect location to craft a Christmas Mystery, then we’d all best move to the North Pole. Beth writes the Amelia Feelgood mytery series and her story in the anthology is part of the series.

The Four Chickens of Christmas                                  by Beth McElla

Amelia is looking forward to her first traditional village Christmas on Findlater Island. But there’s someone new in town with grander ideas who has called in all the TV crews from Seattle to witness her avant-garde festival. Suddenly the star performers are missing and everything’s going horribly wrong. It’s up to Amelia, Sadie, and the other villagers to save the small island’s reputation as a holiday destination.

What would be a great gift for your character?

Amelia has spent her life not quite fitting in – so the perfect gift for her would be anything that gives a sense of belonging: the key to the city, a ‘special’ party invitation, an honorary title…

If you had to describe your character in three words, what would those three words be?

Bossy, generous, persistent

Your story is set in xxx. Why did you choose that as the setting for your book?

Findlater Island is a fictional island off the coast of Washington State with a village made up of relocated historic buildings from Great Britain and mainland Europe. It allows me to write a series set in an English village while still sticking with what I know and can represent accurately. My earliest career was working in museums with transplanted architecture so I’m very familiar with that backstory.

Can you share an enticing (50 words or less) snippet that isn’t in the blurb?

“So now we’re going to have something more multi-culturally approachable that’s locally sourced with pre-Christian origins.”

“What does that mean?” Once upon a time Amelia could keep up with this sort of marketing speak but she’d let it slip after moving to the island full-time and she found she didn’t miss it. At all.

“Chickens.”

What’s your favourite Christmas movie?

I’m not sure that RED counts as a true holiday movie although it does have Christmas scenes. Frank Moses is a primary inspiration for Amelia’s enigmatic love interest.

Have you preordered your copy? Release date is November 1st. Start your holiday reading with a mystery!

Babs has written several books on sewing and now is stitching together a cozy Christmas crime that will keep you trying to unravel the clues to solve the crime along with her characters, the Seadside Sewists.

Let it Sew, Let it Sew, Let it Sew                                  by Babs Emodi

Valerie Rankin and the Seaside Sewists just want to sew for Christmas, but until they find a killer, the buttonholes and zippers will have to wait. Who knew there were so many secrets in Gasper’s Cove Nova Scotia?

What quirky Christmas tradition does your character do every year?

Every year Valerie Rankin puts a carrot and a glass of ginger ale out on her coffee table for Santa and his reindeer. She used to do this with her dad when she was little, and later with her own children. This year was her first Christmas on her own. The dog ate the carrot, drank the ginger ale, and chewed a hole in the plastic cup.

What was your favourite or most memorable gift you got as a child?

My favourite gift was a treadle sewing machine I got when I was fourteen. My father had gone back to school that year. I am sure money was too tight for a real sewing machine. My mother had the man across the street paint it; he covered it with flowers. Beautiful machine. I still have it.

Can you share an enticing (50 words or less) snippet that isn’t in the blurb?

“If my hunch was right, that pair in there had made me, and the whole village, suffer for no good reason. I found the level of deception hard to take in, even if I only knew half the story, although the way it looked to me, as I lurched across the parking lot to the well of the basement door, half the story was bad enough.”

What’s your favourite Christmas movie?

My favorite Christmas movie is White Christmas. Of course. I so admire the skills of the costume designers who used the same fabrics to make two totally different outfits for Vera-Ellen and Rosemary Clooney. Vera-Ellen’s dresses have high necklines, covering her thin frame, and Clooney’s are cut low, and on the bias, to flatter her hourglass figure. Very clever.

How does this story connect with your other books or series? Since both Valerie Rankin and I have both only recently returned to Gasper’s Cove, this is the first in a series. Expect to hear more from the Seaside Sewists.

I hope you are starting to catch the holiday buzz. I know I am! (Hallmark, bring it on)
Ava is next on our list of authors that have written a Christmas Cozy for the Anthology, Clues, Christmas Trees and Corpses

Rebel Without a Claus            by Ava Mallory

Traveling nurse Mercy Mares is looking forward to spending a quiet holiday season at home. Unfortunately, her favorite curmudgeon and former neighbor has volunteered her to help with the annual Christmas Jamboree.

Within hours of learning she has been pegged to play Mrs. Claus with her least favorite person reprising his role as Jolly Old St. Nick. After a heated exchange at a committee meaning, Franklin “Claus” McGee vanishes, and all eyes are on her.

Mercy prides herself on being able to think on her feet, but will those skills help her locate Santa Claus and clear her name before anything else goes horribly wrong?

What quirky Christmas tradition does your character do every year?

Mercy and Nubbin, her favorite curmudgeon, exchange gifts but in the traditional way. Nubbin will deny it if asked. He doesn’t want people to know he’s a softy and Mercy doesn’t want to embarrass him with a big show, so they hide each other’s gifts in odd places. The gifts he gives her leave her scratching her head. They’re odd things at first but as time passes, she comes to understand why he gave it to her. For instance, one year he gave her a box of nails. He hid them in her winter coat. While she was following clues to catch a thief, the suspect caught on to her. She searched her coat pocket for her phone and found the gift-wrapped box of nails. She sprinkled them all over the floor. The suspect stepped on them and injured his foot. He stopped chasing her. That’s a great gift!

What was your favorite or most memorable gift as a child?

My grandmother gave us new handmade blankets for Christmas every year. I still many of them. Those that became tattered, I used to make quilts for my kids.

Can you share an enticing (50 words or less) snippet that isn’t in the blurb?

“So what if he falls asleep every five minutes! Let him do what he wants. As long as he’s not bothering you, what difference does it make?” Nubbin asked. “But he’s in my bathroom. On my toilet. Sans pants.” Nubbin shrugged. “Hmm, you’re right. You should do something about that.”

What’s your favorite Christmas movie?

My answer always raises eyebrows, but here goes… My favorite Christmas movie is Remember the Night starring Fred MacMurry and Barbara Stanwyck. I believe it’s from the 30s or 40s. It has everything: crime, comedy, redemption, and heartache. (I’m a classic movie buff.)

How does this story connect with your other books or series? This is a companion novella to my longest cozy series – the Mercy Mares Mysteries. It features Nubbin, a fan favorite, and my favorite amateur sleuth.