Book Club Cookbook’s Guest Author Blog

Some stories just won’t get out of your head until you write them down.  That’s what happened to me with The Christmas Clock.  Being known for writing romance, I had written a spicy historical Christmas romance set around Sherman’s occupation of Savannah on Christmas Eve.  It was great fun to write.

This was different.  This was serious fiction, a story concept that began with an old woman named Lottie Sparks who was stricken with Alzheimer’s and her orphan grandson, Teddy.  I felt compelled to write this book.  My husband’s mother, beloved to both of us, had suffered and died of this terrible disease and I’m sure that’s where the first kernel of an idea for The Christmas Clock began.

There were other characters in the story, of course, but every time I tried to write the book, I felt as if something was missing.

Then I realized that, being a romance writer, I was looking for the once-in-a-lifetime, forever kind of romance that would bring the story together.

And so I came up with Syl Winters and Joe Dixon, two lost souls whose once-unshakable love for each other had been destroyed years ago.  After months of trying to make the story come together, I had finally found the key.

For you cookbook fans out there, Syl and Joe are the batter that gives the cake its substance.  The meat in the casserole.  The eggs in the omelet.  Okay, enough of that.  The point is, once I had the core of the story, I could fold the other pieces and parts into the mix.  It took more than two years to write this book and this is not a long novel.

But as I said, it’s a tale I really needed to tell.  A story that wouldn’t leave me in peace until I got it down on paper.  It’s a heartwarming, emotional tale I am hoping readers will enjoy, the kind of Christmas miracle we all look for in our lives.  I hope you will watch for The Christmas Clock and that you enjoy.

All best wishes for a happy Holiday Season.

Kat