We Gather Together Tea! A Gratitude Blend

My wife’s most recent book, We Gather Together, now has a tasty tea blend to go with the remarkable story.

Her latest nonfiction book is about the history of Thanksgiving, and the surprising story of Sarah Hale, a woman magazine editor who lobbied several presidents before Lincoln finally acceded to her request to make Turkey Day a national holiday. The book delves into the more profound story of gratitude, and gives Americans a recipe, so to speak, for a modern, more inclusive Thanksgiving, sans the mythical, problematic Pilgrim-Wampanoag encounter of 1621. There’s a chapter in Denise’s book that quotes Hale’s hilariously long description of an early 19th-century Thanksgiving meal, and it’s not to be believed. An insane amount of food.

This fall Denise teamed up with Asheville Tea Company in our hometown to create a special blend that links to the book. The earliest celebrations of Thanksgiving in New England were distinctly regional affairs. This tea has a South Appalachian ingredient, yaupon, that has a fascinating history in its own right. It’s the only indigenous plant in the US that produces an appreciable amount of caffeine. It was used by indigenous peoples as a beverage, but never caught on with European newcomers. One theory I’ve heard was that the East India Tea Company wanted to quash the possibility of a local brew catching on in North America, and supplanting its own expensive imported tea. So they orchestrated bestowing upon yaupon the catchy Latin name, ilex vomitoria, a moniker guaranteed to shoo away curious drinkers. Asheville Tea has been trying to revive the plant’s usefulness by using it in their brews.

I tried the tea when it first came out and I found it to be delicious. Full-flavored and fall-flavored, if you know what I mean. And no, it’s not at all like pumpkin spice. It’s way better than that. You can order small bags from the creator’s website. They’re the loose tea variety, and each small bag makes about 10 cups of tea.

I hope you’ll try it. It’s fun and totally worth it. And needless to say, it makes a great gift when paired with the book. Retail orders can be placed here. Wholesale orders are placed here, through Asheville Tea’s website as well.

Denise’s book has racked up some cool media hits this season. We Gather Together was featured on Katie Couric’s blog about the best books for Thanksgiving and Christmas. And it was featured as a great Thanksgiving gift book on this recent segment on Good Day LA this past week.

My wife’s book starts at about the 3:28 mark.

Photo credit: Tea and lavender image at top by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

Getting My Books for the 2021 Holidays

If you’re interested in getting some of my books for the holidays, you ought to act quickly. We’re getting closer to the last-order date at my local bookstore. I’ve resisted pushing people to order early because I really hate rushing the season, but I’ve spent the last couple of weeks in the company of booksellers, and I understand better what they’re up against.

If you prefer ebooks, you’re all set. The complete list of my book is here, on a single page. All my books are readily available at the usual online stores in e-book format. Just click the cover of the book you want, and choose your preferred store. The only exception is my children’s book on Fibonacci. That book is still only pubbed in print only.

A complete list of my wife’s books are here. The new Thanksgiving book is right at the top of the page.

Physical copies of our books—especially the new ones—are available via Amazon, B&N, and your local bookstore. If a store doesn’t have them, they can order them.

If you want books autographed by either of us, the best way to do that is to contact the indie bookstore in my town,  Malaprop’s, and order personalized, autographed copies of whatever tickles your fancy. Signed books make great gifts.

Here’s the skinny on signed books:

Call Malaprop’s directly at 1-800-441-9829 or 828-254-6734. Just tell them…

1. Which book you want to order and the author’s name.

2. Within certain limits, due to the ongoing supply-chain situation, we are striving still to do personalizations in books. The bookseller will know which books can be inscribed. So, let them know how you want the book personalized. To you? To the mother-in-law you’re always trying to suck up to? Your frenemy? Do you want it to say “Merry Christmas,” “Happy Holidays,” “Happy Thanksgiving,” “For a mystery buff,” or nothing at all?

3. Give them your payment information and shipping address.

4. Make sure you get your order in by December 6th for delivery by Christmas.

That’s it! Malaprop’s will have me or Denise sign, and they will ship your book out to you or to the person of your choice, autographed and ready to go.

But what about gift wrapping?

Yes indeed, they gift wrap–for FREE. I told you they were wonderful. So, you can have that autographed book gift-wrapped AND have a gift card slapped on it. That package of holiday reading cheer will be shipped wherever you want and will arrive ready to be slid under a tree, slipped into a (larger than usual) stocking, placed next to the menorah, or shipped to a loved one you hope to see in the very near future..

Can I order online?

Technically, yes, but calling is much more efficient, less ambiguous, and, in the long run, will take less of your time.

Which books of yours can I order?

All of them, really. My complete list is here, on a single page. (The Fibonacci book is here.)

Denise’s list is here.

Allow me to single out for your reading pleasure my two newest novels! They are:

Sorceress Kringle: The Woman Who Became Santa Claus

A gender-bending fantasy novel about Santa—the way you never imagined her.

Murder on Book Row

Meet the Book Lady. She sells books, eats well, and has a very large brain. Criminals fear her.

Happy shopping, and thanks for supporting a local independent author and bookstore!

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Yes, I am trying to post here more often. Thank you for noticing. If you want to sign up for my newsletter and claim your collection of free ebooks, go here. Thanks!

Three December Announcements!

Buy my books! There—I said it. What more could any writer have to say to the world in general (and this world in particular) during the month of December?

Actually, you know what? Buy our books. My wife’s and mine, I mean.

We both have some delightful offerings that we’ve cooked up for you lovely people during this disturbing pandemic holiday season we’ve got going on. Specifically, I launched a new book some weeks ago that I need to tell you about.

But let me march through these here announcements one by one, in the ever-popular ascending price order. Which means, let’s start with the deal you cannot miss.

Thing 1: The e-book of my Christmas epic fantasy, Sorceress Kringle, is on sale right now for the ridiculous price of 99 cents. Yes, I’ve gone nuts for Christmas. This gender-swapped, female Santa Claus story is probably my best book and I’m practically giving it away. Why? Because Santa. Because Christmas. Because ho-fucking-ho. So snap it up at wherever you buy your e-books. (Just do it soon before the price goes up.) Tell your friends. Tell your pets. And then, when you’ve immersed yourself in the Christmasy juices of this lush, evocative book, and you’re ready to burst with goodwill toward men, write a freaking review of the book where you bought it. Don’t read e-books? No problem. You can buy a paper copy wherever fine books are sold. You can order a copy from the bookstore in my town and they’ll get me to autograph it before they send it out. Get the deets on Sorceress Kringle right here.

Thing 2: My new book, Ear of God, is just out and it continues The Mesmerist thriller saga I started a few years ago. The new book’s a bizarro tale of a sweet harmless child with special gifts who gets himself kidnapped and unleashes hell on the world. I apologize for pubbing such a story during a freaking pandemic, but as I’ll try to explain a future post, writers gotta write, and I don’t write expecting my literary nightmares to become reality. So go grab Ear of God, and begin worrying about my sanity. The e-book’s $4.99, the paperback’s $16. And yes, you can get a signed copy from my local bookstore. All the details for Ear of God are here. Remember: if you do get it, please consider reviewing it at some online retailer. It’s one of the best things you can do to help an author out.

Thing 3: Lastly, the New York Times bestseller in the house—my lovely wife Denise Kiernan—just pubbed a nonfiction book called We Gather Together, which tells the remarkable story of how Thanksgiving (and thanksgiving) came to be. Among other things, it’s a book about a little-known woman, stirring events in the Civil War, the pursuit of love, honor, duty, and grace, and it includes what I think is one of the most compassionate, forthright portraits of Abe Lincoln I’ve seen in a book in a long while. The hardcover retails for $25; the e-book is $12.99. This book is destined to be a hit with book clubs, and a perennial bestseller. The book everyone needs to read around the holidays. If you don’t believe me, go hunt up the Wall Street Journal review and see for yourself. Get the details on We Gather Together right here.

So there you have it. Three important announcements to get off my chest before year’s end and the jangle of a hopefully better New Year.

There! Go! Buy! Crack some spines and snuggle in front of a fire and read thyself to thy heart’s content.

As for me, I gotta go vacuum the pine needles out of the carpet.

Thank you all. Hug the family for me. And stay safe out there!

Getting My Books for the 2020 Holidays

It seems that I’m an author who is in the holiday business. Three of my bestselling books focus (arguably) on the Fourth of July. I’ve got a major novel devoted to Christmas. And, if you want to count my wife, Denise Kiernan, she’s a hugely successful author whose latest title is devoted to the little-known history behind the Thanksgiving holiday. People always ask us how they can get our books, so I’m putting all the details you need into this post. I apologize for the early date, but 2020 is apt to be little challenging gift-wise.

The quick and dirty answer is, two ways. If you prefer ebooks, you’re all set. The complete list of my book is here, on a single page. All my books are readily available at the usual online stores in e-book format. Just click the cover of the book you want, and choose your preferred store. The only exception is my children’s book on Fibonacci. That book is still only pubbed in print only.

A complete list of my wife’s books are here. The new Thanksgiving book is right at the top of the page.

Physical copies of our books—especially the new ones—are available via Amazon, B&N, and your local bookstore. If a store doesn’t have them, they can order them.

If you want books autographed by either of us, the best way to do that is to contact the bookstore in my town,  Malaprop’s, and order personalized, autographed copies of whatever tickles your fancy. Signed books make great gifts, and it’s still sounds funny to ask an author, “Please, will you autograph my Kobo?”

Here’s the skinny:

Call Malaprop’s directly at 1-800-441-9829 or 828-254-6734. Just tell them…

1. Which book you want to order and the author’s name.

2. Within certain limits, due to the pandemic situation, we are striving still to do personalizations in books. The bookseller will know which books can be inscribed. So, let them know how you want the book personalized. To you? To the mother-in-law you’re always trying to suck up to? Your frenemy? Do you want it to say “Merry Christmas,” “Happy Holidays,” “Happy Thanksgiving,” “For a mystery buff,” or nothing at all?

3. Give them your payment information and shipping address.

4. Make sure you get your order in by December 15th for delivery by Christmas.

That’s it! Malaprop’s will have me or Denise sign, and they will ship your book out to you or to the person of your choice, autographed and ready to go.

But what about gift wrapping?

Yes indeed, they gift wrap–for FREE. I told you they were wonderful. So, you can have that autographed book gift-wrapped AND have a gift card slapped on it. That package of holiday reading cheer will be shipped wherever you want and will arrive ready to be slid under a tree, slipped into a (larger than usual) stocking, placed next to the menorah, or shipped to a loved one you hope to see in the very near future..

Can I order online?

Technically, yes, but calling is much more efficient, less ambiguous, and, in the long run, will take less of your time.

Which books of yours can I order?

All of them, really. My complete list is here, on a single page. (The Fibonacci book is here.)

Denise’s list is here.

Allow me to single out for your reading pleasure my two newest novels! They are:

Sorceress Kringle: The Woman Who Became Santa Claus

A gender-bending fantasy novel about Santa—the way you never imagined her.

Ebook on sale through Dec. 26

Murder on Book Row

Meet the Book Lady. She sells books, eats well, and has a very large brain. Criminals fear her.

Ebook on sale through Dec. 26

Happy shopping, and thanks for supporting a local independent author and bookstore!

---

Yes, I am trying to post here more often. Thank you for noticing. If you want to sign up for my newsletter and claim your collection of free ebooks, go here. Thanks!

Eight Arguments for a Female Santa Claus

My new historical fantasy novel about a female Santa Claus pubs today–the eve of St. Nicholas–and I thought I’d take the time to lay out the case for a female Santa Claus, and maybe clarify (if only to myself) how I even came up with such an idea. Some thoughts on the subject follow, and with it, I hope, some insight into this writer’s mind and process.

1. I think the seeds of the idea are rooted in my childhood. My mom grew up in Italy believing not in Santa Claus but in La Befana—a broom-riding female witch who brought presents to children on the eve of the Epiphany, i.e., the day the Magi encountered the Christ child in the manger. When Denise and I lived briefly in Italy, we’d see these adorable Befana dolls sold in Christmas markets in Rome.

2. It took me six years and three rewrites to get this book right. During that time, I learned that researching the history of Christmas sometimes feels like partaking in a massive, multi-century, international game of telephone, where language is constantly being corrupted and reframed for new purposes. The German-named Christkindl is a traditional European gift-bringer who is a kind of fae-like personification of the Christ child. But you could not ask for a more gender-ambiguous name than its corruption: Kris Kringle.

3. Similarly, the name Santa Claus is a corruption of the Dutch Sinterklaas (i.e., Saint Nicholas). But when I was growing up, my mom always referred to female saints as Santa Maria, Santa Teresa, Santa Cecilia. Male saints were San Francisco, San Giuseppe, etc. To my early mind, a Santa anyone was female unless otherwise noted.

4. I love the work of writer Washington Irving, who inserted a gift-giving St. Nicholas into his early 19th-century satirical history of New York City, so much so that one historian flat-out said, “Without Irving there would be no Santa Claus.” A couple of years after Irving’s book pubbed, the Dec. 28, 1815 edition of the New York Evening Post took a different tack, trotting out a female Santa Claus, dubbing her “Queen and Empress of the Court of Fashions.” Scans of the original article are a little hard to read (and the content sexist) but you can get the gist here.

5. My wife spent seven years researching women’s work during World War II. Among the many jobs women performed when men were off fighting in the war was the role of department store Santas. This did not always go over well with traditionalists during that era, leading to the over-the-top newspaper editorials described in this 2017 article in Smithsonian.

6. WWII was long gone by the time I arrived on the scene, but as a kid, I’m certain I sat on the lap of many a female Santa. More to the point, I’ve always thought that Santa’s look was outrageously…suspicious. Overdetermined, if you will. When someone dresses like they’re trying to hide something, they probably are. Why couldn’t the real Santa be a woman in drag?

7. In her book, Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy, author Karen Abbott investigates Confederate women spies during the Civil War. In one of her talks, Abbott, a friend, said that one of these women successfully passed as a man simply by donning men’s clothing. In 19th century America, that’s all it took. If you wore trousers, you had to be a dude, because what else could you possibly be? In my book, Kringle intentionally hides her identity, like any superhero, and takes up arms to defend the people she loves. Throughout history women fought in battle–disguised as men or otherwise–though the practice has strangely been ignored by us supposedly open-minded moderns, as brilliantly explored in this now-famous essay.

8. Last year, a viral news story raised the notion of a gender-neutral Santa, and Snopes had to step in to set the record straight. But academics have actually probed the notion, pointing out that most of the work of Christmas cheer, not to mention the nurturing of children and other family members, is still performed by women.

So there’s some of my thinking on the matter. As I’ve said the whole time I’ve been working on this book, I can’t really picture an elderly obese dude willingly leaving his cozy man-cave on a cold winter’s night to ride in a drafty open sleigh. There’s no question in my mind: the big man is not a man at all, and never has been.

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If you’re interested, you can check out the first chapter of the new book here. Thanks for stopping by.