By Susan Carlisle

Susan Carlisle

“Hey, Miss Maggie.”

“Hi darlin’. How you doing?”

Miss Maggie poured a cup of tea and placed it on the bar in the kitchen as I slid onto one of the stools.

“I’m great. I’ve just been sitting by the fire reading a romance. ”

“Then maybe you can help me. Since it’s almost February, I was wondering if you had any ideas about good romantic books that I could read?”

“Shoot, yeah.  How about the oldie but goodie Pride and Prejudice, Dr. Zhivago or maybe the Sound of Music. Another that always gets me is Gone with the Wind. What’s not romantic about Rhett Butler?

Miss Maggie’s white curls bobbed as nodded. “I’ve read most of those. Got any more modern day ones that might be super romantic?”

“How about Shanna, The Perfect Hope, Flirting with Forty. Oh, this one is one I think you will really like. Love Comes Softly. Maybe Winter Sea. Or one written by my housemates, the Petit Fours and Hot Tamales!”

“I already know that those are romantic.” Miss Maggie chuckles.

“Thanks for the tea. I’m off to find another good book in the Library.”

Can you help Miss Maggie out with a romantic book recommendation? She’s a voracious reader and could use a long list.

Events in our lives shape these traditions.  I use to make a popcorn garland for my tree every year but now, with my beagle, my tree would be destroyed if I dressed my tree up in her favorite treat.

I always find traditions fascinating.  Staying up until midnight, popping the bubbly, and ringing in the New Year.  Sharing a kiss, sometimes with a stranger, the first kiss of a new year.  Some people stay up all night and greet the sunrise.

Did you know that the most commonly sung song by English-speakers on New Year’s Eve – and also the song that almost no one knows the actual lyrics to – is Auld Lang Syne by Robert Burns in 1796?

Robert says that he refined the lyrics after hearing an old man in Ayrshire, Scotland singing it.  Auld Lang Syne literally means “old long since” and means “time gone by.”  The song asked if old friends and times will be forgotten and promises to remember people of the past with fondness.  ”For auld lang syne, we’ll tak a cup o’kindness yet.”

Traditions are everywhere and different all over the world.

In Britain, they celebrate with First Footing – this was someone special who would come to your house baring gifts.  People hit the streets at midnight, visiting houses.  Usually, you would be visited by a neighbor who would bring coal for the fire or shortbread.  It was considered especially lucky if the first visitor to your home on the New Year was a tall, dark, handsome man.

The Dutch actually burn Christmas trees in the street on New Year’s night.  They, its a great way to make sure you get rid of your tree for the coming year, right?

Over in Spain, to insure twelve prosperous months, they eat twelve grapes at midnight.  While in Greece, they bake Vassilopitta – or St. Basil cakes.  This is a cake with a gold coin baked inside.  Whoever gets the coin will be especially lucky that year.

New Year’s is the most important holiday in Japan as it is a symbol of renewal.  They hold Forget-the-Year parties all through December to bid farewell to the problems of the past year and prepare for a new beginning.  Grudges and misunderstandings are forgiven and major cleaning is done to the house.  It is said to be very bad luck to start the year off in a dirty house.

At midnight on New Year’s Eve, Buddhist temples strike their gongs 108 times to expel 108 types of human weakness.

On New Year’s day, no work is done.  A day of joy, children recieve small gifts with money inside.  Sending New Year’s cards is a very popular tradition in Japan.  In fact, if it is postmarked by a certain date, the post office guarantees delivery of all New Year’s cards by New Year’s Day.

Then you have the various American traditions.  Watching New York’s ball drop – we also have the Peach Drop here in Georgia.  The New Year’s Ball in Time Square actually started in 1907.  Back then, the ball was made of iron and wood.  Now its made of Waterford crystal.

I didn’t really watch the ball or Peach drop until I was much older.  Even now, its rarely on my television.  Probably because I didn’t grow up with it.

My tradition came because of my situation with my parents.  They divorced when I very young, not even two yet.  As I grew older, I would spend Christmas with my mother and New Year’s with my father.  This means that my dad and his girlfriend would be passed out drunk before ten and my little brother fell asleep watching some movie.

I’d stay up late, curled up on the couch with a soda and a book, reading until I heard the neighbors shooting off fireworks.  Looking up, I would see it was a few minutes passed midnight and everyone in the house was sleeping.

Getting up, I’d so out on the porch, freezing cold and clutching my paperback and I’d watch the fireworks the neighbors were shooting off.  This was in Alabama, too, so they were really good fireworks.

Its funny because fireworks and noise makers are in most New Year’s traditions.  It goes back to ancient times when people thought that fire and loud noises would keep evil away.

My father-in-law, in fact, rings a giant bell that hangs outside in his yard every year at midnight.

When I got older and started staying in Georgia to ring in the New Year, I did go to my share of New Year’s Eve parties.  But I find now that I am married with a home, I am content to spend New Year’s at home, curled up with a good book and drinking pink champagne as my husband plays video games.

This year’s reading choice:  Last Chance to Run by Dianna Love.

While that might seem boring or sad to some people, honestly, I love having that time to dive into a great story.  Do I feel like I missed out sometimes because everyone else was sleeping?  I used to but not so much anymore.  I had my own tradition, even if it wasn’t a common one and now its one I take comfort in.

New Year’s day we’d come home from Daddy’s and my mom would fix collards and black eyed peas and to this day, I go to my mom’s New Year’s day for just that meal.  After all, collards brings dollars and peas bring pennies for the coming year.  Its important to eat lots of them. hehe

What are your traditions?  Do you have any non-traditional traditions of your very own or are you our partying until the sun comes up?  Share with me and you could win your own, brand new copy of Last Chance to Run - the very book I ran in 2013 with just a few days ago.  A fabulous Romantic Thriller autographed by Dianna Love herself.  It’ll be personalized with the winner’s name and believe me, this is one fun and riveting read.

And I just want to take a moment to thank Dianna for her donation.  I’ve been enjoying this book and was thrilled when she agreed to give away a signed copy of it on our blog today.

Oh, and for anyone out there even a little curious about what they’re singing when the clock strikes midnight:

 Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp,
And surly I’ll be mine,
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

We  twa hae run about the braes,
And pou’d the gowans fine,
But we’ve wander’d monie a weary fit,
Sin auld lang syne.

 For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

We twa hae paidl’d in the burn,
Frae morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin auld lang syne.

 For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

And there’s a hand my trusty fiere,
And gie’s a hand o thine,
And we’ll tak a right guid-willie waught,
For auld lang syne.

 For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

But college and young adulthood, especially those years when my children were small, left me little time for free reading. More recently, I have spent most of my free moments working on my own novel and reading nonfiction selections on the subject of writing craft. Digging into a juicy novel seemed like a decadent pleasure, right up there with dark chocolate and red wine.

But is it?

In his great book On Writing, author Stephen King says:

The real importance of reading is that it creates an easy and intimacy with the process of writing; one comes to the country of the writer with one’s papers and identification pretty much in order. Constant reading will pull you into a place (a mind-set, if you like the phrase) where you can write eagerly and without self-consciousness. It also offers you a constantly growing knowledge of what has been done and what hasn’t, what is trite and what is fresh, what works and what just lies there dying (or dead) on the page. The more you read, the less apt you are to make a fool of yourself with your pen or word processor.

Those are strong words but they ring true. How can I call myself a romance writer if I don’t read books by a variety of authors in that genre? How can I be fresh and original if I don’t know what else is out there?

Since the beginning of the year, my goal has been to finish a book a week. Here are a few tricks I use to carve out extra hours for reading.

1.    Listen to audio books. Download the Audible app and listen to books on your iPhone, Android or mp3 player. That way, you can “read” while driving your car or working out at the gym. With over 85,ooo books available, there is something for everyone. And books in the public domain are free.

2.    Carry a book with you wherever you go. It beats the heck out of reading a two-year-old magazine in the waiting room at the dentist or staring into space while your child is at a music lesson. Tuck a small paperback into your handbag; better yet, invest in a Kindle or Nook and you will have a small library with you wherever you go.

3.    Read a book with a partner. Knowing you will discuss it with someone provides added depth to the reading experience.

4.    Join a book study group. Or start one. I would have never made it through Jane Austen’s novels without the accountability provided by my little book study group. And I started an online book club on my personal blog so that I would finally get around to To Kill A Mockingbird. I am enjoying the community on Goodreads, too. It is fun to watch that virtual collection of finished books grow.

5.    Read what you love. If you truly enjoy what you are reading, you are more likely to return to it and you will probably get through it faster. And you won’t be arrested by the book police if you decide to abandon a book because you simply don’t like it.

Describe your reading habits. What was the last novel you finished? Do you recommend it? Why or why not?

Steve Jobs recently said that 40 percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. That’s hard for me to fathom, since I read one to three books a week.

Everybody reads at their own pace. My sister reads two pages of a book and falls asleep. I sometimes stay up all night reading. It takes my husband about six months to finish reading a book, about as long as it takes me to write one.

For my birthday this year, my husband bought me a Kindle 2. It will represent a new way to read for me. I love the feel of hardback books so I’m sure it will take some getting used to. But I’m looking forward to being able to travel on a plane without lugging five books with me.

The library is my Cheers. Everybody there knows my name. I get calls every day that “the book you have on hold is now available.” I also love shopping for books.

But I’m intrigued by the idea that when one of my favorite romance writers comes out with a new book, I can own it and read it instantly.

For me, the Kindle came just in time. Lately the books I’ve bought or checked have been overtaking my house. I have books stacked up on the table in my hallway, books on the coffee table in my living room, books on shelves, books on the kitchen table and books on the nightstand in my bedroom. So many books, so little time. Hopefully, the Kindle will help manage the clutter.

A sign of the times

I am one of those people who don’t like to read a newspaper on line. I hope it won’t be the same for books. My husband does read newspapers on line as well as have them delivered. He says our daughters will never read a physical newspaper. The new generation does thing differently. For example, my younger daughter doesn’t even have a land line. She’s tied to her cell phone. She uses it to tell time instead of a watch like I do. If she wants to see a movie, she looks it up on line, whereas I look in the Living section of the newspaper. Unfortunately, in the last few weeks, one of the major theater chains stopped advertising in the local paper and if you want to find out what’s playing you either have to go on line or drive by and look at the marquis outside the theater.

And speaking of theaters, I am approaching the age where I can qualify for the senior movie discount. The husband of a friend of mine always tells his wife to stand off to the side when approaching the ticket seller because he thinks he won’t get the senior discount when they see how young she looks. Isn’t that romantic? He, on the other hand has gone completely gray so no one questions his age, even though he doesn’t yet legitimately qualify for the senior discount. I don’t think the young whippersnappers behind the cash register could even distinguish us as anything but senior citizens and they tend to dismiss us as such with one pitying glance. Much the same as I look at the kids on my old college campus and marvel at the fact that they seem to be getting younger and younger every year.

Times, they are a changing. And I suppose we have to change with the times.

I just downloaded my first book on the Kindle, “The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest.”

I’m looking forward to this new experience. How many of you have some form of e-reader and do you like it? What are some of the differences you notice between your generation and the younger generation?

I like to read about mature heroines, though. Really, I do. I guess I’d like to think that, if I found myself single again, I’d have the option to find love and romance again.

The mature heroines I enjoy seem to have certain traits I admire. They have the guts to modify their circumstances or their habits, to step out of their comfort zone and embrace change in order to give their lives more meaning. For instance, if an empty-nester has been “coasting’ through life as a wife and mother, wrapped up in the minutiae of day-to-day survival so much that she’s lost sight of who she once was, she takes steps to rediscover the things that once made her excited about life.

Do you like reading about mature heroines? If so, what makes her interesting to you? What traits do you find you admire in them or expect to see them adopt and make their own during the course of the book?