Christmas Cards From Home can do this

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The goal of my latest publication was achieved when I received the first reviews from readers who purchased it and sent me their thoughts about feeling what I hoped they would. Christmas Cards From Home was intended to make them not only feel a sense of nostalgia for the old days, but also one of coming home to a time more friendly and for awhile finding everything as it was then. Those personal recollections that were shared by the many contributors brought me into the book with them and that is a feeling I hoped would be felt by everyone. Some of these pages went back as far as the 1930s and gave us a glimpse of the spirit of Christmas that existed around the old south end of Columbus before many of us were even born. What I found most striking was the similarities in the stories that were shared, regardless of the time frames that were written about. It seems we all did things just about the same way. This truly is a book for anyone who is or was a fan of publications such as Reader's Digest or the nostalgic themed magazine, "Reminisce". Is it too bold to compare a home-spun publication like this one with such giants in the world of print? I don't think it is at all, because like those well known magazines Christmas Cards From Home was built through recollections of regular people sharing regular memories and putting their hearts into their words. They didn't seek fancy, seldom used words to tell their stories and none of them tried to be poets, all of them wrote the way most of us would speak in a normal conversation. It is how I write every story I have ever shared and I believe it is a style that many others appreciate. I write in a style for the casual reader as much as I do in hopes that bookworms and scholars will like it. I believe that writers who look for clever words and clever ways to impart them sometimes lose the feeling of the messages they hope to convey. Personally, I have never been too impressed with sophisticated vocabularies that rely more on proving a writer knows a lot of words or more than the average reader. When I read essays and themes that are more about showing off a style than about good honest content I am prone to put it down without finishing. Good books can be like lessons learned in English class, but sometimes a better book is one that was written by someone who was only content in making readers feel comfortable. To me a wider vocabulary sometime reads like the author looking down on his or her readers and saying, "look at my amazing use of written text!"  None of the stories in Christmas Cards From Home can be accused of any such attempt and if they were I probably wouldn't have used them. This is a book that can be read for personal enjoyment and one that can be read aloud to anyone of any age and everyone gets it. 

A review I received from Alice Holland who lives in Edina, Minnesota states "I am not from Ohio and I have no idea of where the south side of your town is or much about its history, but I am beginning to know and understand its people through this classic collection of personal memories shared in Christmas Cards From Home. I read it cover-to-cover in about two and half hours while resting after a long day and I enjoyed every page. I am 67 years old and even though I know nothing at all about your special park I grew up in an area that was just like it. We also had a special hill and a special lake that made winters very special. My friends and I did the same things your people did and as I read a few of the stories I was nearly overcome with emotions. I hope your book does well and will be read by anyone who misses someone at Christmas."

I only know Alice as someone who follows my blog and my facebook page, and I hope she reads this post and knows how special her note is. Christmas Cards From Home is meant to be just that; seasons greetings to all who miss something special about this time of year, from total strangers-to total strangers and former neighbors who may have lost track of one another. Come back to not just a familiar place but a familiar time as well. There are flurries in the air tonight and the temperature is plummeting but the heart can be warmed for about the price of a magazine. I believe this one can do that. Now that is a bold statement! Thanks to all who helped make it merry!

http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Cards-Home-South-Columbus-ebook/dp/B00Q7L3R38/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417297588&sr=8-1&keywords=christmas+cards+from+home