Guest Diane Burton Talks Holiday Aftermath and SciFi Romance Sale

Veronica sez: I've known today's guest forever! We've been on weekend snippet hops together and on group blogs...happy to have Diane Burton here today to talk about the aftermath of the holiday!

Diane: Thank you so much for having me as a guest.

I hope your Thanksgiving was better than expected. Family get-togethers can be stressful. One year, my brother and I squared off over politics. Geez, I should know better. I’ve always admired my youngest sister who is so laid back. She doesn’t let herself get rattled or stressed, especially when hosting family dinners. My other sister is the opposite. Everything has to be perfect. She jumps in before anyone even thinks about helping then gets upset because she does all the work.

I’m somewhere in the middle. I used to stress over holiday meals. Not anymore. If you see dust, don’t tell me. LOL Now, my daughter says it’s her generation’s turn to host. I do like having the family at our house, but she’s seen how physically difficult it is for me and how tired I get. Good daughter. After she first married, she set a tradition, alternating Christmas and Thanksgiving between the two families. This is our year for Christmas.

So we had Thanksgiving dinner at my niece’s. We watched parades and lazed around since no one had to prepare anything—or it was already prepared. Football captured the guys’ interest. While the Lions have been doing pretty well lately, football is not my game. My middle sister wanted to watch the dog show. Then it was time for dinner. Yum. Everyone brought something. We were asked to bring rolls. Really hard work there.

After dinner, we all went into a tryptophan coma. Naps were definitely in order.

I didn’t go shopping on Black Friday. First, I hate shopping. Second, I hate crowds. I’ve been shopping online. Will I do more shopping tomorrow? Am I crazy?

No matter how you spent Thanksgiving, the meal itself wasn’t that important. (See, that’s how I’ve changed.) It’s family and friends who are important.

Diane's Wedding

My daughter and her husband and me and mine (bad not  grammar, I know) celebrate something more than Thanksgiving. We were both married on Thanksgiving Day. This family tradition started with my mom’s parents. Thanksgiving was the only day my grandfather got off work so they married on that day. My dad was in the service and was able to get furlough for Thanksgiving Day and the day after. So that’s when my parents married. I thought it would be cool to follow their example and Hubs agreed. (Great guy!) That was 44 years ago. Then our daughter married on Thanksgiving 18 years ago. Daughter and I agreed that we’ll both emphasize to her daughter that she doesn't need to be the 5^th generation to marry on Thanksgiving. Will she listen? I hope so. Who needs that pressure.

I hope all who traveled returned home safely.

Starting tomorrow, I’m participating in a 3-day free and 99 cent sale on sci-fi romances at http://www.smschmitz.com/promo. My book Switched will be offered for 99 cents. Check out the list at this site! (Veronica NOTE: I have two books in the sale as well!). 

The blurb for Switched:

As if being kidnapped by aliens isn't bad enough, Jessie Wyndom discovers they grabbed her by mistake. She wise cracks past her fear especially when she learns she was part of an experiment separating Terran twins before birth. Her twin just took Jessie's place back in Ann Arbor, Michigan while she gets to twiddle her thumbs on an Alliance of Planets starship. The only good part is the hunky captain. Except. He's so unemotional he could be Mr. Spock's double.

Captain Marcus Viator's well-organized life is turned upside down by the free-spirited female from Earth. Problems with the starship prevent him from returning her to her home. Together, they discover treachery and true love.

Revised version of book published in 2001.