13 days until Christmas

Julie Coulter Bellon loves to write international romantic suspense novels because she gets to travel to distant lands to research and add an authentic feel to all of her books. Her favorite cities so far are Athens, Paris, Ottawa, and London. She’s learning to play the bagpipes and though she has yet to master the instrument, she’s working on it. You can find out more about Julie, her eight kids, and all her writing projects at http://ldswritermom.blogspot.com or www.juliebellon.com

Connect with Julie: WEBSITE | BLOG | Twitter | Facebook (Julie Coulter Bellon Author)

* * * * *

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

JULIE: One thing I would like to do that I’ve never done is to cut down our own Christmas tree. But I think it would end up being like that scene in the movie Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase where the kids are rolling their eyes, and we end up thigh high in snow and forget a chainsaw, so until I can make sure that won’t happen, I’ll just have to stick with my fake tree.

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

JULIE: The book I would like to find under my tree this year is Josi Kilpack’s Pumpkin Roll and/or Sarah Eden’s Seeking Persephone. I can’t wait to read those two!

LDSWBR: What is your favorite childhood Christmas memory?

JULIE: My favorite childhood Christmas memory is being with my younger brother. He was my best friend and during our Christmas break we would make a pond out in our back yard, wait for it to freeze and skate on it, and when we were done with that, we would make igloos and go tobogganing, have snowball fights and make snow angels. On Christmas morning we would wake up at 4 a.m. and sit in my room and whisper about what we thought we’d gotten from Santa Claus. Sometimes we would even sneak upstairs to take a peek at the gifts under the tree and then run back to my room and make more guesses based on the size of the boxes. It seemed like it took forever for our parents to get up and it was always hard to wait, but it was fun having someone to share that with.

LDSWBR: Thanks, Julie! Merry Christmas!

* * * * *

Buy Ribbon of Darkness by Julie Coulter Bellon

DESERET BOOK | AMAZON

Read Shanda’s review of Ribbon of Darkness.

Do you prefer a real tree or a fake tree?

* * * * *

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.

• Bonus entry (+1) – Leave a comment on Julie’s blog then send an email with the link to the post you commented on to ldswbr (at) gmail (dot) com. Julie posts often on her blog. One of my favorite features is her First Page Friday. I learn a lot from the editor’s feedback.

• Additional entries (one time +1 entry each) – 1) Subscribe to LDSWBR through email 2) Follow @LDSWBR on Twitter 3) Like LDS Women’s Book Review on Facebook (all found at the the top of the right sidebar on the LDSWBR blog). NOTE: If you already subscribe through email, follow us on Twitter, or Like us on Facebook you must tell us in a comment for the extra entries to count.

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

***If you haven’t read the contest rules and info, read them here.***

Book prizes donated by their authors: