It’s tradition! Tule author Robyn Neeley shares her family’s “No Fail Holiday Fudge” recipe with Tule.

November 23, 2024 · Posted by Tule Publishing

Delicious recipes straight from the kitchens of your favorite Tule authors.

My mom makes this fudge every year, and it’s amazing! Things in this recipe happen fast, so I find that preparing and measuring all the ingredients before getting started is key. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

  • 2/3 Cup of Evaporated Milk
  • 2 Cups of Sugar
  • 1 Square Baking Chocolate
  • 1 Stick of Butter
  • 4 Hershey Bars (broken up)
  • 1/2 Cup of chopped nuts (optional) and crushed nuts for topping (optional)
  • 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla

Instructions:

Step 1: Pour that glass of wine or eggnog! If you’re like me and like to have something to sip nearby, you’ll want to get it ready now. Trust me on this tip.

Step 2: Butter an 8 x 8 pan

Step 3: Combine 2/3 cup of evaporated milk, 2 cups of sugar and 1 square of baking chocolate

Step 4: Bring it to a boil for three minutes. Stir, (Sip), Stir!

Step 5: After coming to a rapid boil, add 1 stick of butter. Keep on stirring!

Step 6: Take from heat and add 4 Hershey full size bars (Break a part in advance. Sure, go ahead and sneak a broken piece or two. I do!)

Step 7: Here you can add in ½ cup of chopped nuts if you like. Stir, Baby. Stir!

Step 8: Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla and give it a final stir.

Step 9: Pour into your 8×8 buttered pan and cool in refrigerator. Sprinkle crushed nuts on top (if you’d like)

Step 10: When cold cut into squares. While you wait for it to cool, finish your drink!

Denise N. Wheatley shares some delicious Lemon Sugar Cookies for a fun sweet treat.

November 22, 2024 · Posted by Tule Publishing

Delicious recipes straight from the kitchens of your favorite Tule authors.

Ingredients:

* 1 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
* 2 cups of sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
* 1 1/2 teaspoons of lemon extract
* 1 tablespoon of lemon zest
* 3 cups of flour
* 1 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon of salt
* Sparkling red and green sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar for 4 minutes until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla, lemon extract, and lemon zest. Stir to combine.
3. Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix just until combined.
4. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least an hour
5. Roll the dough to 1/4 inch thick, cut with holiday-shaped cookie cutters
6. Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet, then place cookies on top
7. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until edges are lightly brown

While the cookies are baking, prep the frosting. Below are the ingredients and instructions:

* 2 cups of confectionery sugar
* 1/2 stick of salted butter, room temperature
* 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
* 2 tablespoons of milk

1. Mix the ingredients together with a beater until light and fluffy

2. Ready to use!

Once your cookies have cooled, ice them, sprinkle the sugar on top, and enjoy!

Tule’s Holiday Blog Series: Unwrapping Romance from Our Holiday Imprint!

November 22, 2024 · Posted by Tule Publishing

Season’s greetings, holiday book lovers! Welcome to the first installment of Tule’s Holiday Blog Series—a celebration of all the festive offerings Tule’s eight unique imprints have in stock for you this season! We’re excited to kick off the festivities by unwrapping the magic of our Holiday imprint–what better way to get into the Christmas spirit than with heartwarming holiday titles themselves? So, cozy up with a cup of cocoa and indulge in ten delightful Christmas romances, featuring everything from charming small-town reunions and heartwarming second chances to royal encounters and cozy café connections. Whether you’re dreaming of a white Christmas in a quaint village or a passionate Italian getaway, our Holiday imprint has something for every festive bibliophile. Let Tule be your guide to holiday reading this season!

*And be sure to stay tuned for more holiday titles from Tule’s other imprints in the coming weeks–’tis the season for reading, after all!*

A Cotswold Christmas by Kate Hewitt

Welcome to Wychwood-on-Lea… a not-too-quaint village where frosty evenings, welcoming fires, and second chances will make this a Christmas you’ll never forget.

Anna Vere has escaped to the Cotswolds for Christmas to try to heal from her broken engagement and, far worse, her broken dreams. When her reserved room at a bed & breakfast is flooded, she takes up the offer of camping out in Willoughby Close, the converted stables of the nearby manor house… and is taken under the wing of sexy local carpenter Colin Heath.

What starts out as merely helping a neighbor in need turns into far more as Colin and Anna share a surprisingly intense and emotional connection, weaving their own Christmas magic as they spend the holiday together. But Anna has a secret she’s scared to reveal, something that could destroy the fragile bond they’ve just created, and Colin knows she’s only in England for a short time. Can these two sudden soul mates risk their hearts for a love that has yet to be tried and tested?

Get swept away by this poignant and heartwarming story, set in beautiful Wychwood-on-Lea, in the English Cotswolds. And look forward to four more books set in Willoughby Close, where everyday miracles and happily-ever-afters are guaranteed.

Spend Christmas in the Cotswolds this year–order your copy of A Cotswold Christmas TODAY!

The Christmas Cottage by Jane Porter

Spending a charming Christmas in the English countryside sounds perfect as long as he doesn’t show up…

Ella Roberts is ecstatic to be heading to Bakewell to spend Christmas with her sister and brother-in-law, the new Earl and Countess Sherbourne, and represent her family at the holiday reception they’re hosting at Langley Park. She’s also excited to visit the Peak District, inspiration for Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. However, she’s determined to avoid the most arrogant and irritatingly handsome man, Baird MacLauren. One unforgettable kiss is one too many.

Baird MacLauren was happy to serve as the best man for Alec Sherbourne’s wedding in the San Juan Islands, but he didn’t expect the sparks and chemistry with the bride’s stunning sister. The intense chemistry is too powerful for the rational Scot, and after a passionate kiss, he rejected Ella as the most logical action. He has no room in his life for emotion and plans to avoid Ella during her visit. But when an emergency keeps Alec in London days before Christmas, Baird steps in to help until Alec can arrive home to Langley Park.

With Christmas upon them, Ella and Baird must work together to ensure Cara and the Sherbournes will have the perfect holiday. Can the magic of the season bring these two opposites together?

The perfect gift for Jane Austen fans this Christmas–order A Christmas Cottage NOW!

A Country Christmas by Fiona Marsden

This Christmas will bring the ultimate gift…

One night with a stranger changed Moira O’Brien’s life forever. She’s always denied needing a family of her own, until she met Gio and discovered life could offer her something more, something special—before it was snatched away. Now Gio and his daughter are back in Moira’s life, and this time Gio seems determined to stay.

After losing his wife a year ago, Gio Tsiarkas is ready for a fresh start with his daughter, Emilia. He’s in Kurrajong Crossing with a new home, new car, and the chance for a new life—maybe with the woman who’d been a much-needed bright spot in his life amid so much loss. All he has to do is convince his daughter that a new woman in his life won’t ruin hers. Oh, and hopefully find the woman.

When love and attraction come up against parental responsibility, will Gio and Moira have to make all the sacrifices? Or will a reluctant twelve-year-old discover Christmas can be about creating new families as well as holding onto the old?

Celebrate new beginnings and find love after loss this Christmas with A Country Christmas–available TODAY!

Love at the Icicle Cafe by Denise N. Wheatley

Can an icicle-themed festival thaw the most unlikely hearts?

California lawyer Mina Richards spent her childhood helping her mom bake at their winter-themed café in the snowy village of Gosberg, Germany. When her retired parents want to sell The Icicle Café, Mina returns to facilitate the sale. She needs this to go right—she’ll fly in, finalize the deal and fly out to rescue her once high-powered career. But faced with Scott, her childhood friend and crush who doesn’t want to sell, Mina’s plan quickly falls apart.

Rising chef Scott Dawson has turned The Icicle Café into a destination restaurant. His parents and their partners want to sell the café to a hotel chain, and Scott can’t meet their price. When Mina arrives—more beautiful and determined than ever—he sees the possibility of a new future for the business and the town he loves. He just needs to change her mind…about more than selling the café.

When Scott asks Mina to help with the café’s annual Icicle Fest, their icy relationship warms. Can these former friends find a future together in the snowy village of their past?

Let your heart melt this holiday season at the Icicle Café–order your copy today!

A Royal Christmas Princess by Scarlet Wilson

A long lost princess meets the handsome prince-to-be…

After a tough year losing her mom and bills mounting, Holly Yates is in for a lonely Christmas. But when she hears a news report that the small principality of Coronia is looking for their lost princess, Holly is astounded to recognize the baby photo. It’s her!

Felix, also a Coronia royal, whisks Holly into her very own fairy-tale including a castle nestled within the quaint snow-covered Coronia capitol and her biological father, eager to meet his daughter.  With Felix by her side as she meets the people of her would-be kingdom and prepares to attend a ball in her honor, Holly begins to fall in love, not just with Coronia, but also with the would-be prince.

Will the handsome prince still be at the side of this unexpected fairy-tale princess when the clock strikes midnight?

Step into a world of royalty and romance this holiday season with A Royal Christmas Princess—order NOW!

The Italian’s Christmas Bride by Joanne Walsh

Let it snow…?

Wasn’t she supposed to dream of a white Christmas? Right now, Ashlynne wishes the blizzards, ice and fog that have left her stranded in Venice would melt away. She’s facing a dreary holiday stuck at the airport—and she’s also run into her ex-husband.

Lorenzo di Grechi insists Ashlynne stay with him at his sumptuous palazzo apartment. He’s also promising her Christmas Venetian-style: eating, drinking, and visiting the seasonal markets and musical concerts that make the city so enchanting at this time of year.

She thought she’d moved on: laid the ghosts of their marriage which had ended so sadly and badly to rest, along with how passionately she’d loved him. But the sexual attraction between them is still as potent as ever, and he seems to have changed for the better, forcing her to question her belief that he’d cheated on her at a time when she’d needed him most.

Is this just some sort of Christmas magic at work? Or a real chance to forgive and rediscover her love for Lorenzo?

Escape the snow this winter and savor the warmth of an Italian Christmas with The Italian’s Christmas Bride—available now!

You for Christmas by Madeline Walsh

Returning home for Christmas means facing her haunting past…

Regan Case wouldn’t know the right side of the tracks if they ran her out of town. She’s lived hard since she ran away at sixteen, but eight years later, an accident has terrified her into pulling her life together. And that means finally going home for Christmas.

Taking her return one step at a time, she ends up on the doorstep of her sister’s best friend, Felix Nickson. The man indebted to her after she jammed ten grand down his trousers in high school and enabled him to escape his own demons. Felix agrees to let her stay, but doesn’t count on the chemistry that burns hot between them.

As they get into the Christmas spirit, he watches Regan’s shadows fade away and discovers that beneath her careless attitude, she is by far the bravest woman he’s ever met. He falls for her, fast and hard, but she fears she doesn’t deserve such a good man. A black sheep cannot change her colors.

Can Felix forgive her past or would asking for his love be one too many miracles this Christmas?

Order a copy of You for Christmas, where returning home for the holidays leads to unexpected love!

Christmas at the Castle by Melissa McClone

A royal wedding. A meddlesome mother. An unexpected union.

A European getaway during the Christmas holiday is exactly what veterinarian Katrina “Kat” Parsons needs. She can’t wait to be a bridesmaid in her childhood friend’s royal wedding, but she hopes to steer clear of the bride’s arrogant older brother.

Crown Prince Guillaume wants his younger sister’s wedding day to be perfect, but he’s suspicious of Kat. He and his mother are on high alert, afraid Kat is not just there for the wedding, but also to find a prince of her own.

But when Kat’s kindness and generosity prove them wrong, the prince realizes there’s more to her than he ever imagined. Can he trust his heart or will he lose the one woman he can’t live without?

Secure your seat at the royal wedding this Christmas–order Christmas at the Castle TODAY!

A Merry Mountain Christmas by Trish Milburn

The mountains are calling this Christmas…

Heidi Forrester has it all–a new promotion, great friends, and plans to purchase a condo. But when her Christmas plans don’t pan out, she instead vacations solo in Merry, Montana–a picturesque mountain village where it’s Christmas year-round. Charmed, she jumps at the chance to join the festivities by assisting the incredibly handsome but understaffed owner of A World of Christmas, a two-story wonderland of Christmas decor, and finds more holiday spirit and fun than she ever did at glamorous resorts.

Ben McNamara can’t believe his luck when the beautiful visitor to his store offers to fill his seasonal help vacancy. Even more fortuitous, she’s a marketing genius who can help him make A World of Christmas more attractive to potential buyers. But as the date draws close for him to hand off his family’s legacy, Ben realizes that maybe it wasn’t the ever-present Christmas atmosphere that had bothered him, but rather the fact that he’d never had anyone to share it with.

Can Heidi convince Ben there’s so much more to love on Yule Mountain than just Christmas?

Order A Merry Mountain Christmas and experience the small-town charm of a true winter wonderland!

Love on Winter Steppes by Paris Wynters

Can a magical day at the Ice Festival melt this career-focused woman’s heart?

Marketing consultant Qara Whitaker loves her job, happily putting in endless hours and working through holidays. But when her grandmother asks that she accompany her on a birthday trip to Mongolia to visit their family, Qara can’t say no. Packing up her laptop, Qara boards the plane—never imagining that a shared cab ride with a stranger will change her life forever.

Hoping to push through writer’s block, author Benjamin Lacoy hops on a plane to Mongolia looking for inspiration. A chance meeting with a beautiful and intelligent woman whose smile ignites his heart leads to them playing tourists. Sparks fly and Ben is feeling far more than inspiration, yet each time he and Qara get close, she’s distracted by work.

Ben is torn; he likes Qara, but he always promised himself he’d never let work come before family and friends like his parents did. Opposites clearly attract, but can they learn to balance work with love in order to build a future together?

Maybe you don’t have to choose between love and career this holiday season…order Love on Winter Steppes today and find out!

By: MJ Gryzik, Tule Marketing Intern

Patty Blount shares her favorite delicious Italian Rainbow Cookie recipe (plus a YouTube tutorial!)

November 21, 2024 · Posted by Tule Publishing

Delicious recipes straight from the kitchens of your favorite Tule authors.

Ingredients:

4 large or medium eggs, separated
1 can of Solo Almond Filling (Note: Other recipes call for Almond Paste, but I have found the secret to success is using almond FILLING.)
1½ cups (3 sticks) of butter, softened in microwave
1 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
Green and red food coloring
1 jar of apricot or raspberry preserves
2 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate (either squares or chips) for glaze, or use preserves
1 ounce of cream or Crisco to soften the chocolate

Directions:

You’ll need THREE pans! Don’t attempt to try this recipe with just one pan.

1. Grease three 13 x 9 x 2 inch pans; line each pan with wax paper and then grease the paper. Hint: Let wax paper over-hang short edges of pan to use as ‘handles’ when removing baked layers. Set out three sheets of wax paper on heat-proof surface to receive baked layers when removed from pans.

2. Beat egg whites with electric mixer in small bowl until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

3. Break up almond filling with a fork. Add butter, sugar, egg yolks. Beat with electric mixer at high speed until fluffy. Beat in flour a little at a time and salt until blended.

4. Fold beaten egg whites into mixture with wire whip.

5. It helps to tint one batch at a time. Remove about a cup and a half of batter; spread evenly into one of prepared pans. This will be your yellow layer. Use a spoon to force batter to coat bottom of pan and reach the edges. If you find there just isn’t enough, remove a scant spoonful at a time from the bowl and add to the pan until the pan is covered. Use another bowl to divide the remaining batter in half; tint one half green and LEAVE THE REMAINING HALF YELLOW UNTIL NEXT STEP. Spread the green batter in the second prepared pan. You may add a spoonful of untinted batter, mixing carefully in the pan, until the pan is completely covered. Finally, tint the remaining batter red; spread into last prepared pan.

6. Bake in moderate oven (350º) about 15 minutes until edges are lightly brown. Center should not be sticky or shiny. Note: layers will be very thin; less than a quarter inch.

7. Immediately upon removing pans from oven, invert each layer onto the waxed paper you laid out in Step 1. Peel off the baking liner paper carefully, trying not to tear layers. Cool completely.

8. Heat preserves; strain. Use the waxed paper to carefully lift the green layer onto a jelly roll pan or other flat pan that will fit into a refrigerator. Spread a thin layer of preserves onto green layer; spread to all edges. You may remove any remaining lumps, if desired.

Use the waxed paper to carefully lift, align and flip yellow layer on top of preserves-topped green layer. If you do not align edges properly, CAREFULLY try to slide layer into place without tearing. Spread another layer of preserves on top of the yellow layer; spread to all edges.
Use the waxed paper to carefully lift, align and flip the red layer on top of the yellow layer.

9. Cover tightly with plastic wrap; weight with large book (phone book or textbook) and refrigerate over night to encourage the layers to adhere.

10. Next day: Melt chocolate in microwave until smooth. Add cream or Crisco to keep the chocolate from re-hardening. Spread chocolate over top of assembled cake. Smooth to all edges. Let set in refrigerator, about 30 minutes. Optional: Top with ice cream sprinkles or nuts.

Trim the rough edges from cake and discard. Cut trimmed cake into 1 x 1 inch squares with a very sharp, non-serrated knife. (Serrated knives ‘saw’ the cake, grinding the fragile layers.) It helps to cut a length off the cake and flip it on its side to slice into squares so the chocolate layer is not ruined.

Patty’s YouTube tutorial: https://youtu.be/yZWbrk_CcxI

Me. Us. Misogyny. Truth. Author Roxanne Snopek talks about coming to her truths with the Malones as she wraps up her recent series.

November 21, 2024 · Posted by Tule Publishing

This is Me

If you’ve been reading me for a while, you know I like big meaty stories, drama, angst. Even my romantic comedies tend to have dark backstories. Despite years of trying, I can’t seem to write “light,” so I’ve decided to lean into it and the Malones of Grand, Montana, is the result. Children, torn from their mother! A lover, gone! Life, changed forever! Heartache, despair… then: hope, redemption, growth… and love.

This Is Us

Recently, I had an evening to myself and I decided to catch up on the Netflix drama This Is Us. (My husband and I started it a few years ago but it had too many tears and not enough car chases, so it became a “me” show, not an “us” show.) I immediately picked it up where we left off and it felt as if I’d never left. This Is Us is my kind of story. And after I went to bed that night, I realized that I’d unknowingly written many of the same elements into my lost Malones of Grand, Montana series: Triplets. Loss of a beloved partner. Adoption. The search for identity.

Wow, no wonder I love the show! There’s the original love story of Jack and Rebecca that mirrors my Heather and JP. The challenges their grown triplets face have some similarities to those facing Heather’s triplets Brade, Leila and Lucas. Rebecca grieves the loss of her beloved Jack. Heather grieves the loss of JP and her children, but without any closure, and is eventually reunited with them. Unlike Rebecca, however, Heather (or Honey as she was known to JP or Hetty, as others called her) was burdened with shame for being single when she became pregnant. 

This Is Misogyny 

And this is where the inspiration for these books really took off. My series begins when Heather Hudson finds herself about to become a single mother, in a time and place where this was the worst thing that could happen to her. Did you know that in the USA, between the 1940s and the 1970s (to the end of the 1980s in Canada) illegitimacy was considered the result of psychological deficits on the part of the mother? 

Single parents have always been part of society, but for the first time in history, unmarried pregnant white girls and women were shunned as “neurotic” and “immoral,” in need of rehabilitation. They were told, emphatically, that the best chance at a normal life for their babies, who were deemed “bastards,” was adoption by white married heterosexual couples. Relinquishment was the right thing to do—if they truly loved their babies. 

In the USA during these decades, an estimated 4 million mothers surrendered their newborns, half of those during the ‘60s alone. Some women did this willingly but most were given no choice. 

Interestingly, single Black mothers did not receive the same pressure to relinquish their infants, though they still bore immense social stigma. In all cases, the fathers of these children were barely considered. They bore no social cost, their lives were not changed and involvement or even acknowledgment of their children was entirely their choice. 

This Is Truth

Today, the popularity and availability of DNA testing and genealogy research has resulted in a flood of real-life reunion stories. Women in their last few decades of life are finally telling long-hidden truths and finding closure and peace. This is what inspired me to write the Malones of Grand, Montana. Fiction is truth wrapped in story and I wanted to tell the truth of many real women by wrapping it in the story of one imaginary woman who overcame this traumatic start to motherhood, and who didn’t just survive, but thrived, and rose above it to build herself a life and yes, even a family. I wanted to tell the story of the adopted infants and their search for identity. I wanted to show all these different iterations of parents and children finding mature relationships build on honesty. And, of course, I wanted them all to find love.

I hope you love my lost Malones as much as I do. Thank you for reading!

About the Author.

USA TODAY Bestselling Author Roxanne Snopek writes contemporary romance and women’s fiction. She loves grand gestures, kindness, and people who leap far out of their comfort zones to do the right things. Her stories often touch on timely topics such as the human-animal bond, community responsibility and modern family dynamics. Her books have won numerous awards, enjoyed much time atop bestseller lists and been optioned for film.

Roxanne writes from her lakeside home in southern British Columbia, Canada, where she lives with her partner of 36 years and their prescient miniature poodle. She also bakes bread, battles weeds, enjoys Happy Hour with neighbors, and occasionally grabs the karaoke mic.

Her list of favorite authors is ever-changing and includes Barbara Kingsolver, Stephen King, Barbara O’Neal, Robyn Carr, Mary Doria Russell, Jane Porter, and on and on… you get the picture. She loves to connect with other booklovers, so please stop by her various social media pages. And be sure to click FOLLOW on this page, too, to receive updates about her new releases.

Jeannie Moon LOVES this recipe for her favorite Italian Christmas Cookies.

November 20, 2024 · Posted by Tule Publishing

Delicious recipes straight from the kitchens of your favorite Tule authors.

I love these cookies. They have a cake-like texture, and are wonderful with a cup of tea or coffee. They are exactly the kind of cookies Lina would make at her cafe in Compass Cove. These are so pretty when they’re done, but they aren’t complicated and are great fun to make with kids. You can twirl them into all kinds of shapes.

 

Ingredients:

4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1⁄2 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 1⁄2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
6 teaspoons water

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375°

Sift the flour and baking powder together into a bowl.

In a large mixing bowl cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and add vanilla, then pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix. I use a stand mixer—add the dry ingredients a half cup at a time.

Turn out the dough on a floured board or silicon baking mat. Gently knead for a minute or two, adding flour as needed to keep dough from sticking to hands. Pinch off dough, roll in your hands to form a log and then twirl into shape. Place on greased cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Combine the last 3 ingredients to make a creamy icing:
Dip cookies into icing. Place on wire rack with wax paper on counter to collect the dripping icing, then add sprinkles.

From the desk of Marie-Claude Arnott: Why Did I Write a Memoir Instead of a Novel?

November 20, 2024 · Posted by Tule Publishing

My book, Biography of a Friendship, was a promise to my friend, who was dying. It should have been a memoir, but it started as, what I thought would be, a ‘biographical novel.’

There was a reason for that choice. Writing a novel would give me more freedom. I could use my true story and weave in fictional elements. I could invent people and places and add suspense with fictional scenes and dialogues. What’s more, it wouldn’t be deemed a ‘personal story.’ 

But I couldn’t start writing at first; I had just lost my friend, and it was too hard. Then, eight months later, I stumbled on the NaNoWriMo challenge and dived in. The result was a very disjointed draft. I felt so lost that I put the manuscript away. 

Then a coincidence led me to a memoirist. I told her about my ‘biographical novel’ and how nothing about it felt right. She convinced me it was NOT a biographical novel because it was MY story. I finally understood why it didn’t feel right; I was letting someone else speak for me.  

The story needed to be told in the first person. 

Now I had to face all the reasons I didn’t want a memoir in the first place! 

(1) It would be difficult to get it published. Except for travel memoirs, it seems only public figure’s memoirs end up in bookstores. Publishers like them because they already have a great platform. Since I wasn’t a public figure, I didn’t have such a platform.

(2) I knew that the word ‘cancer’ in a submission would raise a red flag. Two agents had taken my story under consideration, and even though the illness is only a part of the story, they both said it would take time to sell. Sadly, there are too many memoirs about cancer.

(3) Finally, writing a memoir was daunting because it must be truthful and accurate. Yet memories can only be as honest as one can remember them. And, accuracy requires a lot of fact-checking, which I spent an insane lot of time on. 

However, even though I had to adjust to my new perspective, the writing process was easier than I thought. Everything fell into place naturally because I was writing ‘I’ instead of ‘she.’ I wasn’t pretending to be a fictional character anymore. 

In the end, I am so grateful that my story found its genre because it gave it a credible mission. 

The friendship angle would help other women, and the illness angle would help anyone who lost or is losing a loved one, especially from pancreatic cancer. More than that, Biography of a Friendship is now my friend’s legacy. 

About the Author.

Marie-Claude Arnott is thrilled to have joined the Tule Publishing Group as the first author of its new nonfiction imprint. Her memoir Biography of a Friendship was released in March 2024.

She lives in Vancouver with her husband and regularly visits her family in France and California. As a fourteen-year-old writing expressive letters to her best friend’s father in a long-term facility, she was told she should be a writer. Instead, she studied foreign languages early on, then got a BA in International Studies and a diploma for a two-year distance learning course from the London School of Journalism, later. She wrote for a citizen journalism site, SEO-based content, travel stories for an award-winning digital magazine, and a column for a newspaper. A collection of nonfiction stories and a novel inspired by a true story are in the works. She is a member of the Federation of British Columbia Writers, the North Shore Writers’ Association, and the International Women’s Writing Guild.

Golf, gardening, the sunsets of the Northwest, the fun of fashion, and French pastries are a few of her favorite things.

Anne McAllister talks about getting in the holiday spirit alongside Jess and Alison (plus a cookie recipe!) for recent release.

November 19, 2024 · Posted by Tule Publishing

Hi Everyone,

So glad you’ve dropped by to join me on the Tule blog today as I’m welcoming  the release of my book, Wanted: A Cowboy for Christmas, and getting into the spirit of the holiday season.

Back when I was five years old, I imprinted on a cowboy.  He was my stepdad’s much younger brother whom I was meeting for the first time.  He came to stay with us on his way to Army basic training – and he brought his saddle.

I was enchanted.  I followed him everywhere, like a duck.  He was quiet – barely said two words if one would do.  He was tall – pretty much everyone is tall to a five-year-old.  And of course he was handsome.  I had found the prototype hero of my dreams.  And, honestly, I’ve never looked back.

My heroes have not always been cowboys, though. My husband of many many years was a college professor for most of them.  But he is quiet, tall and handsome. He’s also honorable, kind, steadfast, responsible and good with kids and dogs.  So he fit the bill from the start – and he still does.  Which is to say, I guess, that while my heroes – real and fictional — have frequently done other jobs, they all have a cowboy core and a cowboy heart.

None of them has more of a cowboy core – and heart — than Jess Cooper.   He, too, is a man of few words, one who is tall enough, and of course, he is drop-dead gorgeous besides.  But Jess also has a fair amount of history that convinces him he’s not marriage material.  Marriage would ask too much of what he’s not sure he can give.  

Alison Richards knows better.  She sees the core – and the heart – of  Jess Cooper. She has since she was a child (she wasn’t quite as young as five, but still…).  Alison knows a good man when she sees one, when she spends time with him, when she pins her own heart on her sleeve for him. Not literally, of course, but Alison is an adult now. She doesn’t hide her feelings. She doesn’t hide her love.  She lets him in.

All of which is pretty terrifying to a guy like Jess.  It makes him want things he’s sure he has no business wanting.  Spending time with Alison awakens a part of him that he’s determined to bludgeon into unconsciousness.  If he can just hold it together – and her off — until she goes away, as she inevitably will, well, he’ll survive.  Jess is, after all, a survivor.

But Alison isn’t going to make it easy.  She’s wanted this particular cowboy for half her life.  She’s a survivor, too.  But she’s convinced that they’ll do more than survive if they have each other.  

Now all she had to do is convince Jess.

That they had to deal with each other at Christmas made it that much more fun for me as an author. I got to make them trundle around in knee-deep snow in southwestern Colorado, borrowing and tweaking the ranch that my grandparents owned.  I fell in love with it when I was six – and uniting Jess and Alison with the ranch I loved was a no-brainer.  In fact, to be honest, the whole book is probably an homage to many of the people and places and things I loved as a child.

One of the things that didn’t make it into the book (at least I don’t remember that it did) was a cookie recipe that my grandmother made every year. She made it at other times than Christmas because it is not a traditional Christmas cookie. But it was simple and good, it always made an appearance at Christmas, too. 

I had lost the recipe for a lot of years, but fortunately my cousin still had it and shared it with me last year.  So I made these cookies with my grandkids right after Thanksgiving, and they wanted them again as soon as the first batch was gone.  And so we made them again. And again.  I think I may start making them earlier this year. Like tomorrow.

I thought I’d share the recipe with you in case you’re up for a very basic, homey, easy recipe that doesn’t call for anything you might not have around.  But if you don’t, well, go get what you need because Grandma’s Frosted Chocolate Drop Cookies are worth it.

Jess and Alison, the Prof (my husband) and I, all the kids, grandkids and (yikes!) great-grandkids, along with the current dog, Gib, all send our warmest holiday wishes to you!

Frosted Chocolate Drop Cookies 

1  c brown sugar

½ c butter or margarine

1   egg, well beaten

1   tsp vanilla

2  1 oz. squares of unsweetened chocolate, melted

1 ½ c flour

Pinch of salt

½ tsp baking soda

½ c milk (regular or sour)

Cream brown sugar and butter; add egg, vanilla and melted chocolate. Blend well. 

Sift together dry ingredients; add alternately with milk to the sugar/butter/egg

mixture. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes

at 350 degrees. Let cool briefly on sheet,  then continue cooling on wire rack. When cool, frost with frosting made from:

1 ½ c powdered sugar

3 TBSP butter

1 tsp vanilla

Milk as needed to spread

Cream together.   Spread on cooled cookie.  

Let icing dry in the air before storing in container.

About the Author.

Years ago someone told Anne McAllister that the recipe for happiness was a good man, a big old house, a bunch of kids and dogs, and a job you loved that allows you to read.  And write.  She totally agrees.

Now, one good man, one big old house (since traded for a slightly smaller house. Look, no attic!) a bunch of kids (and even more grandkids) and dogs (and one bionic cat) and seventy books, she’s still reading.  And writing.  And happier than ever.

Over thirty plus years Anne has written long and short contemporary romances, single titles and series, novellas and a time-travel for Harlequin Mills & Boon and for Tule Publishing. She’s had two RITA winning books and nine more RITA finalists as well as awards from Romantic Times and Midwest Fiction Writers. One of the joys of writing is that sometimes, when she can’t go back in person, she can go back in her mind and her heart and her books.

Delicious holiday biscotti from the recipe book of Tule author Katherine Garbera.

November 18, 2024 · Posted by Tule Publishing

Delicious recipes straight from the kitchens of your favorite Tule authors.

Need the perfect companion for that morning coffee or late night cocoa? Author Katherine Garbera’s got you covered with her special holiday biscotti – a family and friends favorite!

 

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1 cup dried sweetened cranberries
3/4 cup shelled natural unsalted pistachios
6 ounces white chocolate, chopped

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 325F/190C/Gas 4.
  2. Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the plain flour and baking powder in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the caster sugar, butter, lemon zest, and salt in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time.
  3. Add the plain flour mixture and beat just until blended. Stir in the pistachios and cranberries.
  4. Form the dough into a wide log on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until light golden, about 40 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes.
  5. Place the log on the cutting board. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 1.25cm to 1.8cm thick slices. Arrange the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake the biscotti until they are pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool completely.
  6. Stir the chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. Dip half of the biscotti into the melted chocolate. Gently shake off excess chocolate. Place the biscotti on the baking sheet for the chocolate to set.

Note: for a fun and festive twist, sprinkle red and green sugar crystals over the dipped chocolate parts of the biscotti.

Trying My Hand at Watercolors: An Artistic Experiment Inspired by Christmas Baby for the Cowboy (PLUS, a GIVEAWAY!)

November 18, 2024 · Posted by Tule Publishing

Hey, everyone! Today I wanted to share a little behind-the-scenes peek into my writing process for Christmas Baby for the Cowboy—specifically, the artistic journey Loretta’s character led me on. Loretta, as you’ll meet in the story, is an artist with a knack for expressing herself through her paintbrush. She’s got an eye for the beauty in everyday life, something she hopes to bring to her new life with Taylor and their little one.

As I was developing Loretta’s artistic side, I thought, Why not dive in myself and try painting? That’s right—I decided to give watercolors a go! “Spoiler: it’s as unpredictable and spirited as a rodeo bull on a Saturday night!”

Watercolors 101: The Learning Curve
To start, I got a nice watercolor set, a stack of good paper, and a couple of brushes. I had all these grand ideas in mind—a landscape here, a bouquet of wildflowers there. Then I discovered watercolors have this lovely habit of flowing exactly where you don’t want them to. You dab one color in a perfect spot, and it’s like, “Nah, I’m just gonna slide over here…”

Lesson One: Watercolors do what they want.

Despite the wobbly lines and accidental color splotches, I found myself having so much fun with the process! One piece started as a sunset and somehow transformed into something that looked more like, well, a blob of sherbet. But I was charmed by it! After all, Loretta’s art isn’t about perfection, and neither is mine.

Channeling Loretta’s Creative Spirit
While Loretta may be working on a piece that perfectly captures her world in Last Stand, Texas, my masterpieces were…let’s just say “abstract.” I could almost hear Loretta’s encouragement to embrace imperfection. And I have to admit, I felt more connected to her journey by being “in the messy middle” of creating, just like she is in her life.

By the end, I had a small collection of paintings—some resembling sunsets, others maybe flowers (if you squint). But each of them has its own charm, and each of them helped me understand a little more about Loretta and her world.

My Takeaway?
Watercolors are unpredictable, like love, life, and—apparently—rodeo! Much like Loretta and Taylor’s relationship, they require patience and a sense of humor. They’re a reminder that not everything goes as planned, but that’s where the real beauty lies. So whether it’s art or relationships, sometimes you’ve just got to let go of the need for perfection and enjoy the wild, colorful ride.

Watercolors, Cowboys, and a GIVEAWAY!

To celebrate Loretta’s artistry and Taylor’s cowboy spirit, I’m giving away a cuddly stuffed highland cow—perfect for those cozy reading sessions!

How to Enter:
Since watercolors are all about embracing happy accidents, share a story in the comments about a time you tried something new, even if it didn’t go quite as planned! Maybe you attempted a new recipe, painted a “masterpiece,” or went on a spontaneous adventure. I’d love to hear about your colorful experiences!

I’ll pick one lucky commenter to win the adorable stuffed cow. So go ahead, share your tales, and let’s celebrate the beauty of unexpected results together!

About the Author.

USA Today bestselling author, Jamie K. Schmidt, writes erotic contemporary love stories and paranormal romances. Her steamy, romantic comedy, Life’s a Beach, reached #65 on USA Today, #2 on Barnes & Noble and #9 on Amazon and iBooks. Her Club Inferno series from Random House’s Loveswept line has hit both the Amazon and Barnes & Noble top one hundred lists. The first book in the series, Heat, put her on the USA Today bestseller list for the first time, and is a #1 Amazon bestseller. Her book Stud is a 2018 Romance Writers of America Rita® Finalist in Erotica. Her dragon paranormal romance series has been called “fun and quirky” and “endearing.” Partnered with New York Times bestselling author and former porn actress, Jenna Jameson, Jamie’s hardcover debut, SPICE, continues Jenna’s FATE trilogy.