The Christmas Carriage and Other
Writings of the Holiday Season
by Alice
Jane-Marie Massa
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Collection of short stories,
memoirs, essays, and poetry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
To celebrate holiday reading, author Alice Jane-Marie Massa
invites you to join her on a snowy, imaginary carriage ride featuring her
holiday memoirs, short stories, essays, and poetry from her book, THE CHRISTMAS
CARRIAGE AND OTHER WRITINGS OF THE HOLIDAY SEASON.
Spanning from Thanksgiving through the new year, this collection includes her
remembrances of Hoosier holidays in the 1950s and 1960s. "The
Christmas Carriage" (set in Milwaukee) and "The Puppies of New Year's
Eve," along with stories about a military family, two holiday weddings,
and a homeless person will warm your heart this winter. From "Zoe's
Christmas Eve" to "Snow Dancers," Alice's poetry provides merry
and memorable reading for both adults and children.
With a beautifully festive cover, this book is one you will want to wrap as a
holiday gift, as well as a book that you will want to keep beside your chair
while you settle into the sparkle and joy of this holiday season.
For additional information about ordering this 101-page book in either print,
electronic, audio, or braille versions, please visit the author's web page:
http://www.dldbooks.com/alicemassa/
Alice also invites you to visit her weekly blog:
http://alice13wordwalk.wordpress.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
For at least three decades,
Mrs. Nevando's Christmas wish was to have a carriage ride through the city on
Christmas Eve. She never mentioned
this wish to her husband: the idea
seemed all too frivolous. Twelve
years ago, when she sat beside his
hospital bed, Mrs. Nevando dozed periodically and dreamed of a Christmas
carriage ride. Each of the past
twelve Christmases that she endured with the memories of her deceased, beloved
husband, the 74-year-old woman still entertained the thought of a carriage ride, but then routinely
dismissed the notion. "An old
woman riding in a carriage alone on Christmas Eve! What would people think?" she often found herself
wondering aloud--well, in an audible whisper.
In mid-December, Mrs.
Nevando was in her usual mode of declining all holiday invitations although she
was not receiving as many as she had in earlier years. One son was somewhere in Europe, and
the other son was on the East Coast.
Of course, they knew their mother was a Midwestern girl--old girl--who
did not care to join the masses at airports during any holiday season. After she wrote e-mails to both sons
and a few other family members, Mrs. Nevando found herself exploring the
website for the city carriage rides.
Although she read that carriage rides were available on Christmas Eve,
the cost was too expensive for her taste.
Nevertheless, she reasoned that one carriage ride was certainly way less
money than an airline ticket to Italy or even to Boston.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and
Links:
Although
Alice Jane-Marie Massa has lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for over 25 years,
growing up in the rural Indiana town of Blanford (with a population of
approximately 400) influenced the subject matter and style of her writing.
After earning master's degrees from Indiana State University and Western
Michigan University, Alice, still a Hoosier at heart, taught for 25 years,
including 14 years of teaching writing and public speaking at Milwaukee Area
Technical College. Having retired from teaching English and grading stacks of
student papers, she now focuses on her own writing.
Alice invites you to visit her
blog
where, since January of 2013,
she has posted weekly her poetry, essays, memoirs, or short stories. Her
writings on Wordwalk frequently focus on her Indiana hometown of Blanford, her
four guide dogs, her Italian ancestors, and writing. Additionally, some of her
writing pieces have been published in Indiana Voice Journal, Magnets and
Ladders, Dialogue, Newsreel, and The ACB Braille Forum, as well as in the
anthology Behind Our Eyes: A Second Look.
Away from her desk, Alice
enjoys reading, container gardening, and the television program Jeopardy. Since
March 21, 1990, Alice's guide dogs have added sparkle, spirit, and independence
to her life. Currently, most of all, she is grateful for her long walks with
her fourth Leader Dog, Willow (a black Labrador), who is following very well in
the amazing pawprints of Alice's beloved first three Leader Dogs—Keller (a
Golden Retriever), Heather (a Yellow Labrador), and Zoe (a Black Lab/Golden
Retriever mix).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFORMATION
Alice Jane-Marie Massa will be awarding a $20.00 Panera Gift Card
(US only) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Be sure to visit the other Blogs on the tour.
November 20: Christine Young
November 21: Queen of All She Reads
November 22: Books, Dreams,Life
November 22: Straight From the Library
November 24: Sharing Links and Wisdom
November 27: Mello and June, It's a Book Thang!
November 28: Fabulous and Brunette
November 29: Mixed Book Bag
November 30: This and That Book Blog
December 1: Hope. Dreams. Life... Love
December 4: Readeropolis
December 5: Locks, Hooks and Books
December 6: Independent Authors
December 7: Musings From An Addicted Reader
December 8: Welcome to My World of Dreams
The Christmas Wedding Guest by Susan Mallery
