With the holiday upon us, I’d like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. It’ll be a little quieter than usual at our house this year but we’ll all be together, and in light of the recent shooting in Newtown, Connecticut I’m aware of just how special that is. It reminds me to appreciate those I love and relish in the simple things in life. It’s a reminder, too, that the best gifts in life are rarely things.

The best writing gift I ever received came at a time of high emotion. I was thirty, an established broadcast journalist, but just beginning my writing career. I’d had a few articles published, but no books, despite my efforts. My grandmother was in the hospital. When I went to see her, she introduced me to the nurse as ‘my granddaughter who writes books.’ My grandmother died three days later. I consider that her last and possibly most important gift to me. The belief she had in my abilities (sometimes more than I had in myself) and her utter conviction that it was only a matter of time before I was published in book length fiction gave me the courage and push I needed to keep going. I dedicated my first book to her.

As the year draws to a close and we welcome 2013 may you be blessed with love, laughter and the presence of the people you hold dear. And may we all be blessed with the greatest gift of all: peace.