Laurie (L.C.) Lewis is the author of four published novels: Unspoken (2004), and her Free Men and Dreamers series, Dark Sky at Dawn (2007), Twilight’s Last Gleaming (2008), and her most recent release, Dawn’s Early Light (2009). Currently, Laurie has three completed manuscripts on her hard drive. If Dawn’s Early Light does well, book four in the series, The Morning Breaks, will debut in the fall of 2010. Laurie is also working on tender romance, and a suspense novel with “some quirky characters” that could make 2010 a busy year for Laurie.

Click here to read the backliner and three chapters of Dawn’s Early Light.

Dawn’s Early Light is available for purchase at Deseret Book, Seagull Book, Amazon and wherever LDS books are sold.

Visit Laurie on her website: www.laurielclewis.com and her blog: LAURIE LC LEWIS: A VIEW FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE HILL (in honor of passing the “fifty-something” hurdle).

LDSWBR: What favorite holiday traditions do you and your family participate in every year? Will you be starting any new traditions this year?

LAURIE: Decorations and food are where most of our family Christmas traditions lie. I decorate to the extreme with lights and greenery over most doorways, and I hang a set of 30-year-old Christmas chains made of aluminum foil in the kitchen. My mother made the first set when she was a girl. Her family was too poor for decorations for the tree, so after WWII, when tin foil was again available, she made chains to hang on the tree and the mantel. She kept making them until she had enough to hang from corner-to-corner in the kitchen. We had a set growing up, and unbeknownst to one another, each of my siblings also made sets for their homes. I made mine while sitting at church basketball games with my first baby toddling about. (He’s 31 now!)

Homemade Cinnamon Buns on Christmas morning mark another tradition. But I cheat… or I’m creatively lazy. I buy frozen bread dough and let it thaw. Then I roll it out, slather butter all over, followed by a thorough covering of brown sugar. Next, I sprinkle cinnamon all over, and roll it up into a long log. Cut it into 1-1/2 inch slices and allow to rise. Then I bake them at 350 degrees. The icing is a stick of butter, 3 Tbsp. milk, 1 tsp. vanilla, and a pound of powdered sugar. If the icing is too thick, add drops of milk. If it’s too thin, add more sugar.

These are inhaled at light speed at our house, and the aroma is divine!

LDSWBR: Those sound so good!! – (wiping drool from keyboard) – What books are on your Christmas wish list, Laurie?

LAURIE: I’ve been privileged to read and review so many great books this year, but I made sure to have 1776 by David McCullough on hand, as well as Christmas Jars by Jason Wright, and Rebecca by Orson Scott Card.

LDSWBR: What books have you purchased/will you purchase for loved ones this Christmas?

LAURIE: All the kids are set to get a copy of Famous Family Nights, and I purchased The Santa Letters for a friend, and several copies of Mark Mabry’s newest collection of photos, Another Testament. And of course, I’m giving copies of Dawn’s Early Light to my family members and friends who have been waiting for volume three.

LDSWBR: Thank you for sharing with us, Laurie (especially the cinnamon bun recipe!). Merry Christmas!

I had never heard of nor seen aluminum foil Christmas chains before reading about Laurie’s traditions. I’ve made plenty of paper chains counting down the days until Christmas (only 2 days left!) but aluminum foil chains are something new. Have you made chains out of aluminum foil? Have you ever used something beside paper to make Christmas chains?

LDSWBR will hold a drawing on Christmas Day for a $25 eGift Card from Deseret Book, as well as a variety of books being offered by some of the LDS authors that will be featured on the blog. Simply post a thoughtful comment on the Countdown to Christmas author posts to enter. Here are the rules:

• LDSWBR reserves the right to decide what determines a “thoughtful” comment.

• Only one comment per person per “Countdown to Christmas” author post will be entered into the drawing. This allows the potential for 24 entries per person at the end of the contest. Feel free to comment more than once per post if you’d like, but only one comment will be accepted as an entry.

• Contest ends at 12:00 Midnight MST on December 24, 2009. Drawing winners will have until 12:00 Midnight MST on December 31, 2009 to claim their prize. After that time, another name will be drawn to receive the prize.
  

• Book prizes can only be shipped within the contiguous United States.

Books that have been generously donated by the author for drawing prizes:

• Loyalty’s Web by Joyce DiPastena
• Hidden Branch by G.G. Vandagriff
• Altared Plans by Rebecca Talley
• A Modest Proposal by Michele Ashman Bell (includes a bonus copy of Michele’s Christmas booklet, A Candle in the Window)
• Her Good Name by Josi Kilpack
• MISSING by Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen
• Famous Family Nights by Anne Bradshaw
• Love Letters of Joseph and Emma (autographed copy) by Angela Eschler
• Family Home Evening Adventures by Rebecca Irvine
• Counting the Cost by Liz Adair
• Shudder by Jennie Hansen
• Mormon Mishaps & Mischief by D. N. Giles & C. L. Beck
• Dawn’s Early Light by Laurie (L.C.) Lewis
• The Fairy Thorn (brand new release!) by Dorothy Keddington
• Torn Apart (signed copy) by Diony George
• Pursued: A Maggie McKenzie Mystery by Lynn Gardner
• Girl in a Whirl by Victoria Gunther (just added!)

Thank you so much!