25 days until Christmas

Josi grew up hating to read until her mother handed her a copy of The Witch of Blackbird Pond when she was 13. From that day forward, she read everything she could get her hands on and accredits her writing “education” to the many novels she has “studied” since then. She began her first novel in 1998 and hasn’t stopped. Her novel, Sheep’s Clothing won the Whitney Award 2007 for Mystery/Suspense. Lemon Tart, the first book in the Sadie Hoffmiller Culinary Mystery Series was a Whitney Finalist for 2009. Book six in the series, Pumpkin Roll, was released in September 2011. Josi currently lives in Willard, Utah, with her husband, four children, one dog, and varying number of chickens. For more information about Josi, you can visit her website at www.josiskilpack.com or her blog at www.josikilpack.blogspot.com.

Connect with Josi: WEBSITE | BLOG | Twitter | Facebook

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LDSWBR: What Christmas-related activity would you like to do this year that you have never done before?

JOSI: In Ogden they have a Christmas Village set up around the courthouse on 25th street. I’ve driven by it a few times but never taken the time to walk between the houses and look inside the windows. It seems that Christmas always gets to full, but I hope to make time for the Christmas village this year.

LDSWBR: If you could find one book under the tree this year, what would it be?

JOSI: My Family 2010-2011 digital scrap-book…preferably finished by someone else :-)

LDSWBR: What is your favorite childhood Christmas memory?

JOSI: My parents wouldn’t let us leave our bedrooms until 7:00. They slept upstairs, on the same level as the Christmas Tree, and the kids were scattered throughout the basement. Starting around five a.m. we’d start waking up and congregating in my oldest sister’s room. At exactly 7:00 we would run upstairs and crawl into bed with Mom and Dad. There were nine kids, so this was quite the feat to fit us all in there. We’d giggle and wiggle for ten minutes or so, until Mom and Dad finally agreed it was time to go in. The anticipation of the morning and the connection to my family that happened in those moments will always be priceless memories to me.

LDSWBR: What a sweet memory. Thanks, Josi!

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Buy Pumpkin Roll by Josi S. Kilpack

DESERET BOOK | AMAZON

Read Mindy’s review of Pumpkin Roll.

What time did your family wake up Christmas morning when you were a child? If you have children, did you set a time for them to wake you up on Christmas morning?

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To enter the Countdown to Christmas 2011 contest, complete the following and then tell us what you did:

• **Required entry (+1) – Leave a thoughtful comment on this post. (More than just “Great contest!” please) You must leave a comment on this post for your other entries to count. If you are reading this post through email or an RSS reader, please click through to leave a comment.

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• By leaving a comment and entering the Countdown to Christmas 2011, you agree to the contest information found here.