Books Are The Best Gifts

It's the giftiest season of the year and you've got a long list of people to treat. Some of them you know well. Some you don't know well at all, but for whatever reason, you have some obligation to purchase them a gift. So what do you do?

Giftcards are small and convenient, yes, but they can be impersonal. Electronics are expensive, household items can send the wrong message (you need to cook more! your house is ugly!), and holiday themed items can only be used once a year. Clothing in general is dicey, and holiday sweaters in particular are best suited for ugly sweater parties. Food items are perishable. Except for fruit cakes, but chances are if you give somebody a fruit cake, you're gonna get it regifted to you next year. In the exact same condition as when you gifted it in the first place.

What about books? They're portable, economically feasible, varied, multipurpose, and there's one to fulfill anyone's interest. Even nonreaders (gasp!) might enjoy certain how-to volumes, magazines or coffee table type photo books. Plus, the purchase of books as gifts keeps the publishing industry, and authors like us, in business.

Just think of it. One trip to one bookstore (or online bookstore), and all your gift shopping could be OVER. Oh, the pleasure!

So what books do you want as gifts this holiday season? What are some great book gifts you've given in the past to people you knew really well or didn't know that well? What are some books you might have been given (or given) that really missed the mark?

Tell us all about your book gifting experiences and wishes in the comments! And don't forget, anyone who comments on this blog until December 21st is entered in our Cool Yule contest to win FREE BOOKS!

Jody W.
http://www.jodywallace.com
A SPELL FOR SUSANNAH--In Paper, Samhain Publishing
LIAM'S GOLD--In Electrons, Samhain Publishing

PS: If you must buy a giftcard, make it a bookstore giftcard!

8 Days, A Realization, and A Gift

My first novella SHIFTING PASSIONS comes out in 8 Days on February 26th…and I forgot. I made plans for the day to meet with a new friend and workout and have an afternoon of it. When I finally looked at the date I recalled again, but for a moment I’d misplaced it. For a moment, there was no expectation for the day save the sharing of the afternoon with a friend and I had to laugh out loud when I realized I’d let the most anxious day of this part of my life slip my mind. Then I realized that a wonderful blessing had happened and the day is still about spending the afternoon with a friend.

I want the novella to do well and to pave the way for the full length novel coming after it. I want my world of preternatural politics, hot shape-shifters, kick-ass sprite assassins and vampire infiltrators to sweep you all up and leave you wanting more. The first taste of a much larger world starts with my poly-romance novella and the friends-turned-lovers-turned-friends-turned-triad story of Half-Therians Lena, Nathan and Armand. They are the appetizer of what I see as a seven-course meal and beyond, which makes them, and their little story, incredibly important.

And yet still, the day is about an afternoon spent with a new friend.

I’ve let it all go. Yes, I have promo plans in place and ideas of how to continuously promote it once it debuts. But in truth I’ve stepped away from it. The story itself is out of my hands. I’ve done all I can with it and it now belongs to all of you. Whether you buy it and read it first thing on Tuesday or come to it and my Therian World over time, it’s now yours. It moved through me, I gave it form; I passed it on, and now it’s about everyone else. That’s how a gift works. You can buy it, wrap it and fret over how it’s received but the moment you hand it over, you can’t take it back. It’s out there and someone is going to unwrap it and have a time.

I didn’t know it was going to feel like this. I didn’t know it was going to be this peaceful of an experience. Sales, reviews, fans, critics, none of that has gripped me as the focus and so in and of themselves, no one of those things seems important. In the end, having picked it out, wrapped it and handed over, all I can do is hope you like my gift.

So next week log on, pick it up, and take a look inside. I got it just for you and wish you great enjoyment. Me, well I’ve got a friend to meet, a workout to do, and of course, a little something more to whip up for you for next time around.

Off to pick out more gifts.

Gift Realization Ramble Done :)

~X