Sunday, December 23, 2012

Happy Holidays!




Somehow, we are here. It's the eve of Christmas Eve, it's been snowing heavily all day here in Bend, and my mind has been racing around for hours like the flurry of flakes outside, going over lists, thinking about recipes and store lists, and trying to figure out what to get my cat.

But as I sat watching the snowstorm, I took a few deep breaths (Abby Craig style) and thought for a long, long time how incredibly lucky I am. And while I have a long list of lucky things in my life, the success of the 44 series is, of course, up there at the top.

Thank you all so much for being great fans of Abby and Jesse and Kate and Ty and for making this one of the most magical years ever.





To you, my friends, I wish you the happiest of holidays, the best of Christmases, the brightest of New Years. May you be surrounded with love and joy and plenty of sweetness, this week and in the year to come.


Best and Warmest Wishes~

Jools









20 comments:

  1. Merry Christmas to you Jools - your stories are magical and I love the pictures in this blog entry!! Cant wait for more 44!!!!

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    1. Hi, SassyCassie10!
      Aw, thank you SO much!! :)
      Merry Christmas, SassyCassie, and hope you have the best of the best of holidays!
      Jools

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  2. Merry Christmas Jools. Here's hoping 2013 brings you lots more happiness and and success!
    Lots of Love
    xxxx

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    1. Hi,Tara!
      Thank you SO much for the warm greetings :) and Merry Christmas to you and your family, too!! Yay!!
      I hope the move went well and that you're able to take some well-deserved time off for some winter fun! And best of wishes for the new year as well~
      Jools :)



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  3. Thank you Jools. The move no was nowhere near a smooth one, but we are in our new home and its fab!
    However ive yet to wrap any gifts so its going to be a looooong night, but i have a bottle of yummy baileys to help me through it lol!
    xx

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    1. Baileys and wrapping presents...omg, is there anything better??!! And yay for the beautiful new home and for having the move behind you!
      :)
      Jools

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  4. happy holidays jools,you are so lucky you got snow! I was so hoping it would snow for my bday yesterday, but fail lol

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    1. Hi, Kat Yo!
      Thank you SO much for the holiday greetings...and Happy Holidays to you, too!! I hope you are having an incredible week...starting at your birthday all the way through New Years!
      I so thought you guys would have had some snow by now!!! Weren't you supposed to? Well, I'm sending some your way, so maybe with a little luck and magic, you guys in the city will get in on a white Christmas!
      And Happy belated Birthday~I hope you had a great day :)
      Jools

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    2. lol thanks jools, your magic worked! i hope you enjoy holidays too :)

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    3. YAY!!!!!
      Hope you're having a great week Kat Yo, with great fun plans brewing up for New Years :)
      Jools

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  5. Finally got back to reading book 6. Went from like 15% to 100% in 2 hours. I just Couldnt stop reading!!! Cant wait for book 7 and the new series!! Do you know when that will be coming out? Hope you and your kitty had an amazing Christmas and new years!

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  6. Hi, Lindsey!
    Yay!!! Great to hear from you! Kitty and I had quite the amazing holiday season....full of good cheer and fun!
    I LOVED hearing that you couldn't stop reading Book 6 :) Made my weekend reading your comment here...Book 7 will be out in early March...not too long of a wait, right?
    I'm afraid the new series has been delayed for a little while. It's not quite ready...but it will be out some time this year...
    I hope you had an amazing holiday season too, and that you have some fun January plans in the works. Thanks SO much for being such a great fan :)
    Jools

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  7. My sister will be so happy to hear that book 7 will be out in march. She was just telling me how she had just finished book 5 and was afraid to go onto book 6 and have to wait a long time for book 7. She then proceeded to poke at me to see if abby and ty got back together. I toldbher.. hmmmm I don't remember looks like you'll have to find out yourself haha. Of course I remember every detail about the book... but shhhhh.. haha. And of course I have lots of plans for January! Rehearsal, rehearsal, tech, rehearsal, homework, getting distracted from homework by Kitty, and did I mention rehearsal? Haha. My high schools spring musical is getting blocked right now so we stay after school pretty much everyday and learn our dances during lunch. Can I say hectic! I'm sad to hear that the other series is delayed, but it's okay. I am willing to wait. :) I'm sure it will be AMAZING!!!
    Talk yo you soon,
    Lindsey:) (and Ava the Kitty too!!!)

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    1. Hi, Lindsey!
      I LOVED your story here about you and your sister...omg, I've been smiling ever since reading it :) and very touched that you remembered "every detail of the book!" (but held back!!) haha, indeed!
      How amazing also about your musical! Which one is it and what part do you play?
      Sorry, too, about the other series being delayed. It just wasn't ready and I want it to be great. Meanwhile, Book 7 will be out a bit sooner than expected, so hopefully it won't be too frustrated!
      Hope you are having a great week, full of song and dance, and, of course, lots of fun!
      Jools

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  8. Well...I just had a 44 marathon and read 4-6 over the past few days! God, I love this series. I've got a few things to tell you:
    1.) you absolutely can NOT stop writing this series! I'm so addicted to it. I LOVE all the characters and I'm so attached to them that if their story doesn't go on for at least another 15 years, I'm going to be very very sad! And the good part is, you could totally do it with this series! There is no end to Abby and her abilities!
    2.) You've officially bumped Bend, OR to our really short list for places we may retire to! My husband is in the Navy so we move all over the country every couple years. We both grew up in CA and have always loved OR. Bend was a place me brought up about 4-5 years ago, though neither of us have ever been there. I now feel like I kinda "know" it because of your books. It sounds wonderful and over the past week I've already been scoping out houses for sale there! So silly, I know, especially because we are 9 years from retirement! ;)
    3.) I really would love to see you as a "Goodreads" author.So I'm attaching a link for you to consider along with the "generic" invite that they suggest. http://www.goodreads.com/author/confirm/4485062.Jools_Sinclair

    and here's the invite:
    Hello,

    I'm an avid reader of your books, and I am writing to invite you to join Goodreads.com, which is the largest community of book lovers online. Because you are a published author, you already have a profile on Goodreads:

    http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4485062.Jools_Sinclair

    If you join Goodreads, you can claim this author profile and make it your own!

    Here are some of the ways you can use Goodreads:
    - Connect with your readers and build a following of fans
    - Participate in an online Q&A session with your readers
    - Blog about anything and everything
    - Publicize upcoming events, such as book signings and speaking engagements
    - Share excerpts of any upcoming publications
    - Post videos about your books or anything you choose
    - And, of course, share your list of favorite books and recent reads with your fans!

    To become a Goodreads Author, follow this link:

    http://www.goodreads.com/author/confirm/4485062.Jools_Sinclair

    ok, so this is a long comment and I apologize, but I had to tell you how wonderful I think you are and I can't wait until March so I get some more Abbey, Kate, Ty, & Jessie in my life! Thankfully, I don't have much longer to wait! (but the next 6-8 weeks is still going to be torturous waiting!)

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  9. Hi, Jen!
    WOW, thank you SO much for the amazing comment here~It made my day :) I am so happy that you found the series (and then had a crazy reading marathon this last week) and I loved all your suggestions...although I did laugh at the idea of writing 44 for the next 15 years!! But, well, what the heck, right? I kind of love all the characters too so I'm open to it :)
    And I was happy to hear you are thinking of retiring to Bend someday...I think it's such a great place to live and bet you guys would love it too.. And how cool to hear that the books have helped you get to know the town!
    I'll look into Goodreads ...I've been dragging my feet on that this past year, but it probably wouldn't hurt to kick up my profile over there...thanks for the links and I'll let you know when I take some action...
    Thanks again, Jen, for all these kind words. What a treat to read this...Please stay in touch these next 15 years and I hope you've got some fun plans brewing up for the weekend!
    Jools

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  10. It seems like only yesterday when found 44-book 1 on my kindle. and now there is going to be a book 7! Amazing, how many more books do you think there will be be?

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  11. Hi, kat yo!
    What an awesome comment~Made my day!! Honestly, I can't believe it either...I remember when the first book went "live" and it really doesn't seem like that long ago...
    Right now, I'm thinking the series will go through Book 10...at least that's what I'm thinking right now :)
    Hope you're having a great week! Any fun plans for the weekend?
    Jools

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  12. That's awesome. Best of luck to you :). And the only plans I have are studying for finals :/... hope you enjoy your weekend.

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  13. Hi, kat yo! ~ hey, good luck on your finals!
    Jools

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