JENN McKINLAY: Two days, people! Two days until the e-novella IT HAPPENED ONE CHRISTMAS EVE is available. That would be on Dec 6th!!! Just in time to get you in the mood for the holidays or to help you hide from them with some laughs on the side.
BUY LINKS (because I don't like promoting at just one place):
So, where did the idea for this novella come from? Honestly, I had Covid (boo, hiss) last January and I didn't have the energy to do anything other than watch old romcoms.
I used Rotten Tomatoes list of the top 100 to guide me. Well, the number 1 is It Happened One Night with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. I'd seen it a million years ago and decided it was time to revisit it. There are outdated stereotypes that were problematic for me among other things but that's another blog post. Suffice to say, I loved the forced proximity of the heroine and the hero and decided I wanted to write my own holiday modern version of a madcap romantic escapade. So I did.
Here's the story: Claire Macintosh is about to get engaged to a man she doesn't love at the holiday gala she is hosting as director of the Museum of Literature. Her mother, Hildy Macintosh, has made it clear that if the museum is to continue to receive the enormous donations from the family trust that Hildy has approved all these years then Claire will marry the man Hildy has chosen for her and start to produce some grandbabies. At forty and single, Claire feels she has no choice. But when the horse and carriage arrive at the gala with the driver dressed as Santa to deliver Claire's engagement ring, she just can't go through with it. She hijacks the horse and carriage with Santa still on board and escapes!
Reporter Sam Carpenter thought he was being so clever convincing his friend to let him step in as Santa so he could get up close and personal to the subject of his upcoming magazine expose. He is completely unprepared for the events that unfold and finds himself dashing through Central Park with a runaway would be fiancé. Now the only way to save his story is to broker a deal with Claire Macintosh. In exchange for his help in getting her to her cottage in Maine by Christmas Eve, she'll grant him an exclusive interview. As their journey takes a series of unexpected twists, turns, and misadventures, both Claire and Sam realize that there's more than their careers on the line. And it's going to take a Christmas miracle to find their happily ever after.
Woo hoo!!!
This is the third and final romcom novella of my series set in a fictional place in NYC called the Museum of Literature. It has been an absolute hoot to write these and I am really enjoying the shorter format (100p/30K wds). FUN!
Now, how about you Reds and Readers? Are you a fan of the old madcap romcom movie? Or do you prefer the angsty dramatic love stories?
Jenn, I loved the two first romcoms and preordered this one. I think Christmas time is a good time for this kind of book or movie
ReplyDeleteDanielle
P.S. where is everyone today ? There is no comment on my post at 8 AM.
running late
DeleteI think the post was delayed this morning, Danielle. I came here earlier and wasn't up yet.
DeleteIt was probably me. Blogger and I have been at odds this week. *sigh* Thanks for the support, Danielle
DeleteJenn, I love rom coms! Love them! And you are so good at writing them. IT HAPPENED ONE CHRISTMAS EVE will drop onto my Kindle in two days and I am thrilled! I recently acquired all three Bluff Point Romances in audio format and listened to the last one this past week. What a joy!
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy romances as well, but rom coms are definitely more fun.
Thank you, Judy! YOu're the best. I am romcom all the way. I feel like I have enough angst in real life :(
DeleteGive me any movie with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, those were great classics. So yes, I prefer the old madcap romcom movies.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Dru! Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn are the masters of the romcom!
DeleteAbsolutely agree!
DeleteAgreed, though I would add Katherine Hepburn with Spencer Tracy to the masters list.
DeleteI'll take romcoms for $100, Alex! A few favs: Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn (Charade), Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck (Roman Holiday), Alan Rickman and Juliet Stevenson (Truly, Madly, Deeply). You get the picture, Jenn!
ReplyDeleteYes, I do, Flora. Clearly you're my people.
DeleteTruly, Madly, Deeply makes my all-time fave list, tool.
DeleteDeborah: "What're you doing?" "Warming my lips," said in Alan Rickman's swoon-worthy voice.
DeleteYours are the only romcoms I read, Jenn! Can't wait for this one. I'll have to rewatch Happened One Night.
ReplyDeleteIt is dated - in some horrifying ways like His Girl Friday - but I like to think that it shows society's growth.
DeleteCongratulations Jenn! sounds very fun! I didn't receive the link in email and had to go looking for the post, which may be why there are few comments today.
ReplyDeleteAh, Blogger is feeling salty today :)
DeleteYes to rom coms. And yours are so fun to read, Jenn. I would add An Affair to Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr -- and Nora Ephron's brilliant modern take Sleepless in Seattle with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. I could watch that over and over...
ReplyDeleteOh, I absolutely cannot wait to read this! It sounds amazing! Jenn, you are such a powerhouse! And your pictures from yesterday were absolutely adorable. And yes, I am a huge fan of those movies. The clothes were always so marvelous, and the martinis, and the dialogue.. Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, and Jimmy Stewart, and Jean Arthur, and Grace, Kelly, and ohh, all of them . At Crime Bake this year, Jonathan and I dressed up for the 1940s party as Tracy and Hepburn, except we had Jonathan be DICK Tracy. Not one person thought it was funny. Except me.
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha! I think it's funny! Thanks for the support. You're lovely.
DeleteHank, you guys were great looking.
DeleteWell, that was weird.
ReplyDeleteBlogger is being mooooooody this week.
DeleteYes, who doesn't love madcap movies and books, old and new! Can't wait to read this one!
ReplyDeleteJenn, I must tell you, when I read a couple of your books earlier this year and saw that your character was wearing cow pajamas, I had to find some. Maybe they were trendy a couple years ago and I missed it but now I needed them to surprise my granddaughter. I was sure she would love them. Finally I discovered an Etsy store that would make them for me, exactly as I wanted. Her birthday is Tuesday and I just know she will love them. So thanks, Jenn!
That's hiiiiiilarious!!! I hope she loves hers as much as Chelsea did in the book.
DeleteJENN: I love the premise of your new novella. I already have the first and second novellas. And I already preordered your novella. Look forward to reading it on Tuesday. I am a big fan of Hallmark Christmas movies. I think I like them all with a few exceptions. When my TV was working, I used to watch Hallmark movies all year. I am a romantic at heart.
ReplyDeleteWatching Christmas movies is amongst my favorite Christmas traditions.
Bummer about the COVID. I find myself wearing double masks because more and more people are unmasking.
Happy Sunday!
Diana
Thank you, Diana! I love that you're a romantic at heart - me, too!
DeleteYours are the only rom coms on my shelf! This one is pre-ordered already. Your women are smart, like Katherine Hepburn's best characters.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. I do love a smart sassy woman!
DeleteJenn, that's a cool new twist on a runaway bride story! Rom-coms are pure escapist fun, aren't they? There's a reason why the Hallmark Channel has been such a long-running success: almost everyone fantasizes at least once about a HEA scenario.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I stay with my mom we try to spend an evening watching such movies. She has a hard time hearing, so the only way she can enjoy them is at full volume when no one else is home. The TV in her room doesn't have the Hallmark Channel, so we sit in the living room in front of my brother's massive television. Even at nearly 93 she loves seeing these improbably fast relationships blossom and end with joy.
I prefer the older movies like While You Were Sleeping and When Harry Met Sally, and the even older Cary/Tracy/Hepburn films. Some of those couples were in so many movies together; today's Hallmark revolving cast members remind me of this. A movie starring one lead is followed by another with her in a completely different role and a different leading man.
True confession: I've never watched the Hallmark holiday movies. I keep meaning to - but DEADLINES. I'll watch when they make a movie out of one of mine. LOL!
DeleteI also was a huge fan of Doris Day in her heyday. She made movies with Cary Grant and Rock Hudson among others. She was the perfect girl-next-door, which I knew I would never be, even back then.
ReplyDeleteLove Doris Day!!! She always made me smile.
DeleteIt sounds like a madcap romantic adventure all right. ❤️
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, some of those old movies would be vastly improved without the scenes where Mr. Hero proves to Miss Heroine what a little fool she's been. And she agrees.
My all time favourite romcom is Holiday (1938) with Cary and Kate. The one where Cary almost marries the Wrong Sister (you'd think he'd figure it out from the start....) with a wonderful supporting cast. I watch it every year as I'm taking down the Christmas tree.
Excellent choice. I may have to watch it tonight. I could use some holiday cheer!
DeleteNope, no, no, no angsty stuff for me, real life holds enough of that. When my sisters in law were comparing favourite movies a few years ago, Braveheart, Titanic, etc. I was ashamed to admit my top movie was Ghostbusters (original version). But it still is. Old movie, Bringing up Baby or Desk Set.
ReplyDeleteKatherine Hepburn was feminist enough in those days for me.
Agreed. Life carries enough angst - give me laughs, every time.
DeleteSo brilliant! Such fun!! Love the idea of falling in love with Santa... I do love madcap romcoms. The philadelphia story? Bringing up baby? Where's Katharine Hepburn when you need her?
ReplyDeleteRight???!!! She was the bomb.
DeleteOrdered, Jenn, and can't wait! I loved the first two! My scales definitely tip for rom-com over angsty romance. I loved the classics, Tracy/Hepburn, etc. But my #1 rom-com would probably be The Holiday. Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Cameron Diaz, and Jack Black. Winslet and Diaz were so good in those comedic parts--wish they'd gotten to do more of them.
ReplyDeleteThat is one of my favorites, too, Debs! Astonishingly, Jack Black won my heart in that one!
DeleteOh, I love that one! It's delightful :)
DeleteI’ll watch just about anything with Cary Grant! There are no actors today who even come close, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteDebRo
Right, Deb!
DeleteAgreed. Dude was suave+
DeleteBack from church and happy to see Blogger finally put this post up . . . . I love the old movies, and have always enjoyed this Clark Gable Claudette Colbert silliness though I must admit that Katharine Hepburn is a special favorite in this genre . . . .
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Jenn, on the new book . . . I'm definitely looking forward to Tuesday!
Thank you, Joan! KH seems to be the universal fave with which I agree.
DeleteJenn, what a great story It Happened One Christmas Eve is for the season. I have it pre-ordered and look forward to it helping enhance the Christmas spirit. I do love the madcap romcom movies of old, with the Doris Day ones being my favorite (as I mentioned above). Rock Hudson and James Garner were my favorite leading men for her, with Move Over Darling being my favorite DD movie. I love when her character Ellen hires Chuck Conners to be her Tarzan from the island, instead of the real one, Don Knotts, to make James Garner jealous. Polly Bergen and Thelma Ritter were fantastic, too.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite romcom movies is not a well-known one. It stars David Tennant and Kelly MacDonald before they became big stars. The Decoy Bride is a British romcom where a famous Hollywood actress comes to Scotland to have her wedding to an English author (Tennant). A local girl (MacDonald) is hired to act as a decoy for the actress to steer the press away from the actress and to the decoy. Well, it's madcap, of course. Now, I'll have to watch it again. It can be found on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and the Roku Channel.
Thanks for this, Kathy! Never heard of it but will look it up!
DeleteOh, fabulous! I'm absolutely looking for this one.
DeleteI love the old Hollywood romcoms from the thirties and forties. The Bride Came C.O.D. with Bette Davis and James Cagney. The Man Who Came to Dinner. My Man Godfrey with Carole Lombard and the ever smooth William Powell. Anything with William Powell!
ReplyDeleteOh, those are all wonderful!
DeleteI read this blog every morning but haven’t commented in quite a while. I preordered Jenn’s novella as soon as I could. I love the previous two stories. All of the old movies already mentioned are my favorites. I love a good rom com. My sons can quote lines from You’ve Got Mail because I watched and rewatched it. Teri
ReplyDeleteYou've Got Mail is such a good one. Thank you, Teri!
DeleteIt's like the classic pre-dinner question: Red or White? Yes! Hmm. Chardonnay for Sleepless in Seattle and Merlot for Love Actually?
ReplyDeleteLol, Leslie! How about the white first then the red?
DeleteLOL!
DeleteOh, Jenn, I'm not a big rom-com book fan though I like it in (very good) movie form. Charade might be the lifetime #1. But I was laughing while reading your book description, so I will certainly have to go find it ASAP/ Maybe I will buy one for my daughter too.... :-)
ReplyDeleteI will bring you to the romcom light side, Triss!!! LOL.
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