Skip to main content

The 12 Authors of Christmas – Mary Connealy

Captain's Log, Supplemental

Continuing the 12 Authors of Christmas, here’s historical romance author Mary Connealy!

View the tour, including Rachel Hauck and Tricia Goyer’s authors, here.

About Mary:

Mary Connealy is an author, a journalist and a teacher. She has written books for three different divisions of Barbour Publishing; Petticoat Ranch, the first of a three book series of historical western, suspenseful, romantic comedies, for Barbour Trade Fiction, and Golden Days with Heartsong Presents. I’ll also be writing a three book series of contemporary, romantic comedy, cozy mysteries for Heartsong Presents Mysteries.

You can find out more about Mary through her website.
http://www.maryconnealy.com/ And the blogs she plays around on are: http://mconnealy.blogspot.com/ & http://seekerville.blogspot.com/ & http://www.petticoatsandpistols.com/

Mary’s dream is to tell love stories that make people laugh while drawing them closer to God. She lives on a farm in Nebraska with her husband, and has four grown daughters, Joslyn, Wendy, Shelly and Katy. Shelly is married to Aaron and Joslyn is married to Matt so her family finally has some boys!

Writing is great but her family is her true life’s work.

Tell us about your first Christmas memory.

I remember these tiny dolls my mom would give to us. Like three inches tall. We were really poor when we were little. Eight kids in an old country farm house and I remember my mom saying (no idea how old I was) that “We try to spend three dollars on each of you.” And I loved it. I adored those tiny dolls and there was just such delight. We didn’t get much, although both of my grandma’s would send gifts, too. So there were several gifts for each of us.

Growing up, did your family have Christmas traditions? Tell us how you incorporated them into your family life. Or, how you created new ones.

My family lived a long, long way from my mom’s mother. A three hour drive. That was forever back then and we made the trip about once a year. Of course who could blame my parents for dreading loading us up in a car, plenty of car sickness among the children, too. Me included. What a nightmare. So we almost never had Christmas with Mom’s extended family. And my dad was an only child and his mom lived right near us. So Christmas was my ever increasing number of brothers and sisters (I was third from oldest) and mom and dad and Grandma, and we’d have a big Christmas dinner at my grandma’s house. That was plenty of people

When do you put up your tree? Describe the decorating at your house.

I’m a slow starter about the tree. There really isn’t a good place for it, so furniture has to be shoved aside and nothing really fits, plus when the kids were young I had to tie the tree to a nail or two in the wall or it would always come tipping over. I still haven’t put up my tree this year. I have GOT to get on with it.
I do love scented candles, though and keep them burning a lot. And this year I have a wreath up on my back door. This is the country, everyone comes and goes through the back door. It’s beautiful.

What is your favorite Christmas song or album? (Feel free here to talk about choirs or other musical things you participate in during Christmas.)

This is so easy. It’s Manheim Steamroller’s Fresh Aire Christmas. It starts out with “Deck The Halls” and that’s just Christmas to me, that perfect instrumental music. I’m also a big Trans-Siberian Orchestra fan. All my girls have those albums, too. That’s one thing that’s been a real tradition. On the weekend after Thanksgiving, the girls all start saying, “Let’s have some Manheim.”

Relive your childhood Christmas mornings for us.

Well, it was nuts as you might imagine. We made a game out of seeing how early we could get up and trying to sneak past Mom and Dad so they wouldn’t make us go back to bed. I’m talking really early, like 3 a.m. Who ever woke up first would start nudging each other, then we’d sneak past the parents and just LEAP on the tree. It was so wonderful, that mountain of presents. Of course with eight kids it WAS a mountain even if it didn’t add up to a lot for each of us. Mom and Dad would come out when the riot started. We’d have this little middle of the night chaos, then we’d go back to bed after a couple of hours and my poor father would go milk the cows. They never really fussed though and never demanded we CUT IT OUT!!!!

Tell us about your Christmas setting--do you have a white Christmas?

Yikes, Nebraska. We have so many white Christmases that, trust me, the thrill is gone.

It’s Christmas Eve… Describe your day and evening.

Well, for years and years Christmas Eve was with my husband’s parents. He’s one of seven brothers and there are 25 grand children there. What a mob. Oyster soup and chili, everyone brought munchies and candy and cookies. And everyone had their specialties and we looked forward to them. It was really wonderful. My husband’s mom, one of the nicest ladies on the planet—she’s about my best friend in the world, now spends Christmas in Texas. I really miss that fun.
Now on Christmas Eve we have my daughters and their husbands. Just that small gathering. We have hors d’oeurves (man that’s a hard word to spell-seriously it took about ten tries before I could spell it well enough to find it online) lovely things like rumaki and crab puffs, egg rolls and shrimp cocktail, exotic cheese and fussy crackers. It’s fun to see what all we can come up with. Then we play a board game of some kind (Catch Phrase is the best) or watch a Christmas movie together, I always vote for While You Were Sleeping.

My four daughters draw names and they exchange gifts but the rest of the presents wait until morning.

Confession time. Shop on line or at the mall?

I am a very cynical shopper. Somewhere in the…oh…fifteenth year…of the girls always returning everything I’d buy for them…I quit trying. So I go into their favorite store and think, “I need to spend X number of dollars.” I’d find a clerk, point to something on the wall and say, “How much is that? Good, I want it in a size whatever. And can you make sure I get a receipt?”

It was, in effect, a box-sized gift certificate to The Buckle or American Eagle.

Once I removed the emotional component to Christmas it became very easy. I’d do all my shopping in one fairly short day.

This year I’ve done a bit of online shopping but I hate the shipping charges. Except this year the shipping is less than driving to the city (an hour drive for me). So I don’t even care much about that.

Christmas grows more and more commercial every year. Setting the hustle and bustle aside, what does Christmas really mean to you?

It’s about the humility of Jesus birth. It’s about how he came here, so lowly, taking every burden any human had to bear on himself. I’ve written many Christmas plays because I wrote them for my church and directed the Sunday School Christmas Program and I tried to focus on the normal people who responded to the call of the angels, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men. Each one of them took a leap of faith to believe the unbelievable, to respond to an undeniable call.

It’s Christmas day… what’s for dinner? Do you make cookies or other traditional foods?

Christmas Day is my family and it’s very traditional food-wise. Turkey or Ham. Corn casserole and fresh buns, pie, salad, cookies and candy. Very delicious and we always eat way too much. I’ve got one sister who always wants to try something different, which is kind of fun if we get the traditional stuff, too. So we’ve had goat and goose and duck for holiday meals. Bald eagle, too…no wait, maybe not. Ignore that.

Tell us about your favorite Christmas memory.

Too hard to explain why it’s my favorite. It’s a record player my husband gave to me about the third year we’d been dating (we were high school sweethearts). It wasn’t the present exactly, it was the way he surprised me with the perfect gift at the perfect time. But I don’t want to go into details.

What are your plans for this season?

My brother is coming home from New York. He’s got six kids and they’re getting grown up. Two out of high school. He’s never been home for Christmas with his kids. He comes in the summer because that’s when they’re free, out of school, plus it’s warm here then. But, because it’s very possible he’ll never get all six kids in that van with him and his wife again, he’s coming home. It will be a very special Christmas.

Any final thoughts on Christmas?

I think I’ve covered all the bases and written long enough. Congratulations to anyone who stuck with this until the end. God Bless You All and have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful Happy New Year.

Camy here: Thanks for sharing, Mary!

Folks, Mary’s one of the funniest people I know. She has a column on the ACFW ezine (she posts every other other month, I think), and her novel Petticoat Ranch is hilarious! If you like a good dose of humor with your historical romances, Mary’s the girl for you.

Comments

  1. Thanks Mary, i have to say your going into what you eat at christmas and the Bald eagle no wait maybe not had me laughing (Aussies do eat there Coat of Arms!)
    I did love reading your interview and i am now going to look for your book it really does look like a great read.
    Thanks again for sharing. this is something i have loved reading all december. And had got me wanting to make gingerbread and i dont even like gingerbread or have a proper recipe yet.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi, ausjenny. I was told today to buy the ingredients to make gingerbread men this weekend. My daughter is hungry for them. Keep in mind; she's 28, married, owns her own home AND can cook circles around me.
    But this afternoon at my house she's got free time. And gingerbread men do sound good.
    I hope you enjoy Petticoat Ranch. I've sent today working on details for the third book in the series and that's been really fun.
    Thanks for posting my walk down memory lane, Camy.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mary -- Eight kids??? How come I don't remember this -- surely you told me! That must be why we get along so well -- large-family syndrome (I'm one of 13). And oh my, goat, goose and duck for Christmas? I think I'll stick with ham, thank you very much. And as a travel writer, I have become most proficient at spelling "hors d'oeuvres" -- can do it in my sleep, if I have to! And finally, move over, Connealy because I want to watch "Sleepless in Seattle" with you -- one of my favorite movies EVEN THOUGH they don't even kiss!! Great interview, Camy & Mary.

    Hugs,
    Julie

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey Mary maybe i can come to your house and learn to make gingerbread.
    I htink i now have the recipe!
    I will be looking for your books in the new year. not sure my credit card would like another hammering this week but books are 25% off if i buy over $200! only i got over $100 this past week.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Laura’s Apricot Shell Shawl knitting pattern

I usually have a knitting project in mind when I write it into one of my books, but Laura’s apricot-colored shawl just kind of appeared upon the page as I was writing the first scene of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 4: Betrayer , and it surprised even me. I immediately went to my yarn stash to find a yarn for it, and I searched through my antique knitting books to find some stitch patterns. I made her an elegant wool shawl she could wear at home. The shawl ended up tagging along with Laura into the next book, Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 5: Prisoner , where it imparts some comfort to her in her trying circumstances. The two stitch patterns are both from the same book, The Lady’s Assistant, volume 2 by Mrs. Jane Gaugain, published in 1842 . A couple excessively clever and creative knitters might have knit these patterns in the Regency era, but they would have only passed them around by word of mouth or scribbled “recipes” to friends or family, and it wouldn’t have been widely use

Narrow Escape contest for January!

I’m so excited because my January Love Inspired Suspense, Narrow Escape , is now available! Here’s the back cover blurb: KIDNAPPED IN BROAD DAYLIGHT Arissa Tiong and her three-year-old niece are snatched off the street by members of a notorious drug gang. Having lost her police officer brother to a drug bust gone bad, Arissa knows the danger she's in. But she has no idea why they want her. Desperate to protect the little girl, Arissa escapes and runs straight to Nathan Fischer. She knows the handsome, weary former narcotics cop hasn't told her everything about the night that ended her brother's life and Nathan's career. But he's all that stands between her and dangerous thugs who are after something she doesn't even know she has. This is the 4th book in my Sonoma series , but each book is stand-alone. The hero is Nathan Fischer, who had a minor role in the 3rd book, Stalker in the Shadows . To celebrate, I’m giving away 10 copies of Narrow Escape ! Her

Keriah’s Pyrennees Shawl knitting pattern w/ @knitpicks Palette

Why I knit this shawl: I wanted to knit the sunset-colored shawl Keriah was wearing in chapter 5 of my book, Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 2: Berserker , so I looked for an antique pattern that might have been used during the Regency era. This one caught my eye, even though it was published in a knitting book a few decades later than the Regency era. The Spider-Net border pattern was most definitely in use in the Regency period, but it’s also remotely possible that the Alice-Maud stitch and the lacy border stitch patterns were also in use during the Regency, being passed on from knitter to knitter via hand-written receipts, by verbal instruction, or with knitted sampler squares (like how many Shetland lace patterns and Bavarian cable patterns were shared). My/Keriah’s version of this shawl would have been lacy but warm because it is knit with fingering yarn on small needles. Since Keriah was cold, I think she would have grabbed this shawl rather than something more elegant and airy.

No Cold Bums toilet seat cover

Captain's Log, Stardate 08.22.2008 I actually wrote out my pattern! I was getting a lot of hits on my infamous toilet seat cover , and I wanted to make a new one with “improvements,” so I paid attention and wrote things down as I made the new one. This was originally based off the Potty Mouth toilet cover , but I altered it to fit over the seat instead of the lid. Yarn: any worsted weight yarn, about 120 yards (this is a really tight number, I used exactly 118 yards. My suggestion is to make sure you have about 130 yards.) I suggest using acrylic yarn because you’re going to be washing this often. Needle: I used US 8, but you can use whatever needle size is recommended by the yarn you’re using. Gauge: Not that important. Mine was 4 sts/1 inch in garter stitch. 6 buttons (I used some leftover shell buttons I had in my stash) tapestry needle Crochet hook (optional) Cover: Using a provisional cast on, cast on 12 stitches. Work in garter st until liner measures

New contest!

I haven’t had a contest since October! Here’s new one just in time for Christmas. I’m picking 3 winners to each be able to choose 10 books from my Christian book list! And yes, that list includes my books! 1) You get one entry into the contest when you sign up for my email newsletter at http://www.camytang.com/ . If you already belong to my email newsletter, let me know! 2) You get a second entry into the contest if you Like my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CamyTangAuthor . If you already Like my Facebook page, let me know! 3) You get a third entry into the contest if you join my Goodreads group: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/49078 . If you already belong to my Goodreads group, let me know! 4) You get a fourth entry into the contest if you follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/camytang . If you already follow me on Twitter, let me know! 5) You get extra entries into the contest if you get someone else to join my email newsletter. Just email camy {at] c

Toilet seat cover

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Update August 2008: I wrote up the pattern for this with "improvements"! Here's the link to my No Cold Bums toilet seat cover ! Okay, remember a few days ago I was complaining about the cold toilet seat in my bathroom? Well, I decided to knit a seat cover. Not a lid cover, but a seat cover. I went online and couldn’t find anything for the seat, just one pattern for the lid by Feminitz.com . However, I took her pattern for the inside edge of the lid cover and modified it to make a seat cover. Here it is! It’s really ugly stitch-wise because originally I made it too small and had to extend it a couple inches on each side. I figured I’d be the one staring at it, so who cared if the extension wasn’t perfectly invisible? I used acrylic yarn since, well, that’s what I had, and also because it’s easy to wash. I’ll probably have to wash this cover every week or so, but it’s easy to take off—I made ties which you can see near the back of the seat. And

Chinese Take-Out and Sushi for One

Captain’s Log, Supplemental My agent sent me an article from Publisher’s Weekly that discussed this incident: Chinese Take-Out Spawns Christian Controversy And here’s also a blog post that talks about it in more detail: The Fighting 44s This is Soong-Chan Rah’s blog: The PCS blog In sum: Apparently Zondervan (yes, my publisher), who has partnered with Youth Specialties, had put out a youth leaders skit that had stereotypical Asian dialogue, which offended many Christian Asian Americans. In response to the outcry, Zondervan/Youth Specialities put out a sincere apology and is not only freezing the remaining stock of the book, but also reprinting it and replacing the copies people have already bought. I am very proud of my publisher for how they have handled this situation. The skit writers have also issued a public apology . (I feel sorry for them, because they were only trying to write a funny skit, not stir up this maelstrom of internet controversy. I’ve been in youth work long enou

Wasabi Wednesday – Year of the Rat mug

Captain's Log, Stardate 01.09.2008 Get free short stories and info on exclusive book giveaways when you subscribe to my newsletter! The winner of Abandoned Identity by Tamara Tilley is Amanda Congratulations! Blog book giveaway: To enter to win today’s book, leave a comment on this blog post, giving your name and saying you want to enter. International readers are welcome to enter! Please leave a WORKING email address or website where I can contact you (please use this format with the brackets--you [at] yourmail.com--or something like that to prevent spammers from trolling for your email address). Please make sure your email address works—I’ve had several winners where my email to them bounced and I couldn’t get hold of them. It is the winner’s responsibility to check to see if you won and to email me if you haven’t yet heard from me. You have a week to comment--I'll pick a name out of a hat on Wednesday, January 16th. (BTW, you can post a comment and NOT enter, too.) Doing s

I GOT A CONTRACT!

Captain’s Log, Stardate 03.29.2006 I had a wonderfully funny blog post planned for today, but I got sidetracked by some news yesterday! Zondervan has offered me a three-book contract on my Asian chick-lit series ! I’m still stunned by everything that’s happened. The series is actually a 4-book projected Asian chick-lit series about four cousins who fall under the infamous family title "Oldest Single Female Cousin," and their ruthless, wealthy grandma applies pressure on each of them to improve their lack of love interests. I think the first book is tentatively scheduled to be released in August 2007. The blurb on the series is on my website here . Brandilyn Collins posted to the ACFW loop about my writing journey, and Tamara Cooper asked that I share it. And since you all know how much I like to talk , here it is. My writing journey: Like most writers, I have wanted to write since I was very young. (In high school, I wrote a fantasy novel that will never see the light of day

Poll for the title of my book!

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Blog book giveaway: My Thursday book giveaway is The Wedding Caper by Janice Thompson . My Monday book giveaway is Thanks for the Mammogram! AND Reconstructing Natalie , both by Laura Jensen Walker . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on the blog posts above . On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for The Wedding Caper and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Pick my title! The Zondervan Marketing Department is torn about which title would be best for my debut novel. So you guys get to weigh in! Here are your choices: Solo Sushi Sushi for One Single Sushi Solo Sashimi Leave a comment about which you prefer and WHY. I’ll run this poll for a couple weeks to figure out which will be the title for my new book! TMI: Writing: I posted another "Health and the Writer" post at WriterQuotes , and an agent post at my Story Sensei blog . And in case you missed it, my review of The Guy I’m Not Dating by Trish Perry is