by Michelle Sass Aleckson, @MchelleAleckson
If you’re a novelist hoping you’ll find a little more than a partridge in a pear tree this year, here is my Christmas gift to you. Simply send your loved ones a link to this blog post and they will know what to give you! You can thank me later. 😉
If you love a novelist and don’t know what to gift them, worry no more! Read on for some of my top ideas!
Time. No surprise here, but writing a novel takes a few hours and there never seems to be enough of them. Give your loved one the gift of writing time with no strings attached. Maybe a coupon book with entries like “I’ll take care of dinner tonight so you can write!” Or “Coupon for a coffee date with your laptop.” And if you have a heftier budget, a night at a hotel or a weekend at a guest lodge or B&B could be an inspiring time for your favorite writer to up that word count. Whatever it is, be sure you have someone lined up to take care of meals and kids and pets and all the things at home. We always write better when we know our people are taken care of!
Gift cards. Along with time, a gift card to your writer’s favorite coffee shop or book store is always appreciated. Need a laptop upgrade or writer tech tools? Try a gift card to an electronics store. Ask your writer if there are any computer programs they’re looking at that would make their writing time easier. Scrivener is one example and it’s less than $50.
Experience. A subscription to a writing course by a well-known author or money for a writers conference will bring your novelist much joy. Think about giving an experience that would help their research or inspire their next novel. For instance, if your person writes historical fiction they might really enjoy a membership to a local history museum. If they write true crime stories, look for subscriptions to a streaming service like Discovery Plus that includes crime documentaries. Services like professional editing or a one-on-one with a favorite author might also be the thing they’re hoping for.
Book-Lovers Stuff. For all book-lovers out there, there are plenty of gift ideas that you can wrap up and put under the tree. You can consider your writer’s favorite snacks and fill their stocking with those, along with their preferred beverage, like gourmet cocoa, tea, or coffee, and favorite pens. You can also think of giving custom bobbleheads that are designed to resemble them, so they can place it on their writing desk and take inspiration. Additionally, there are planners, bookish t-shirts, and socks made especially for writers that will make their Christmas bright. Craft books, writing books, and their favorite novels are also great options to add to their Christmas wish list!
But most of all we writers want your love and support, for us and our craft. It’s a gift we don’t take for granted, it never expires, and it won’t cost you a thing.
Merry Christmas!
Sled dog musher and outdoor adventurer Nick Dahlquist doesn’t mean to be a loner—he just feels at home in the woods, with his dogs, and online in his vlogging world, where he’s amassed nearly a million viewers. But he’s just a simple guy, with simple goals—care for his dogs, teach people how to survive the cold, and run the Iditarod. Unfortunately, life turns cold when his lead dog is injured, and he’s low on funds. Good thing he has LadyJHawk to chat with. She’s become an online friend he can turn to, and he’s starting to need her more than he’d like to admit. But the last thing he wants is for some random woman to show up on his doorstep…
Chopper pilot and Texas gal Jae Lynn Washington has been following Nick’s DogQuest videos and Get Lost in the Woods vlogs since she inherited her deceased boyfriend’s military working dog. Two years later, his online friendship has made her wonder if he could be more than a friend. What if she moved to Deep Haven? Would that be considered stalking, even if she got a bonafide job on the Crisis Response Team?
When Jae shows up in Deep Haven—and on Nick’s doorstep—he’s not at all the man she met online. And when Nick is tapped to train the team, he’s pretty sure petite, summer-loving Jae won’t last a moment in the brutal cold—a fear he pours out to LadyJHawk. As their training takes a personal turn, their chilly start begins to thaw. But what will happen if he discovers that Jae and LadyJHawk are one and the same?
When a blizzard strikes, and the CRT is called out into the storm, more than just their relationship is at risk…
Cozy up to this delightful twist on You’ve Got Mail set in the snowy escape of Deep Haven.
After growing up on both the east and west coasts and traveling the world, Michelle Sass Aleckson now enjoys living the country life in central Minnesota with her husband and four children. She loves rocking out to 80’s tunes on a Saturday night and playing board games with family and friends. She’s a graduate of Novel Academy’s Storycrafter course, and she won the 2018 Genesis Award for Romantic Suspense and the 2018 Cascade Award for Contemporary Fiction.
She writes contemporary stories full of romance, grace, and, yes, a little sass too. You can connect with her at michellealeckson.com!