Christmas Spotlight Saturday with Paul R. Hewlett, author of Lionel's Grand Adventure series

Hi, everyone!

Welcome to another edition of Spotlight Saturday at Darlene's Book Nook, where we feature authors and their books!

To celebrate the holiday season , we will be featuring Christmas books for the entire month of December Spotlights!

We will be joined today by Paul R. Hewlett.


About Paul:

Paul R. Hewlett is the author of the Lionel’s Grand Adventure series. Lionel’s Christmas Adventure: Lionel Learns the True Meaning of Christmas is the third book in the series. His debut book, Lionel’s Grand Adventure: Lionel and the Golden Rule, was released in December of 2011, followed by Lionel Turns the Other Cheek in March of 2012. In addition to writing the Lionel’s Grand Adventure books, Paul co-authors a children's /young adult blog called Sher A. Hart: Writing As Art.

CONNECT ONLINE WITH PAUL:

Freado| Goodreads | Sher A. Hart: Writing As Art blog | Twitter | Facebook

Welcome to Darlene's Book Nook, Paul!

Paul has written a guest post, so I will now turn the floor over to him!

Hello everyone, Paul R. Hewlett here. I'm thrilled to be writing a guest post on Darlene's Book Nook. Thank you so much for having me here today. Since we are smack dab in the middle of the Christmas holidays I thought I would discuss some Christmas traditions we had when I was growing up. My family is small and spread out, so most of the time it was just my parents, my two older brothers, and me. Upon occasion, my grandparents would visit, but that was the exception, not the rule.

First tradition, we always got one main present. This would be something that needed to be set up. I remember tearing, yes tearing (more on that later) out of the bedroom to see what Santa had left for us. There stood three main presents in all their glory, set up and ready to go. To better describe what I mean by "set up" let me tell you some of my gifts. One year was the Fort Apache, another was the Death Star, and another was Castle Grayskull. That's what I mean. Santa would put together and have these wonderful gifts all laid out for us, just like they were in the catalogs (remember catalogs?). I remember running out and seeing the Death Star all built and set up. I dashed straight to it, examining every square inch of it, the way the trash compactor really closed, the elevator, the different levels. It was wonderful. The rest of the gifts were wrapped and under the tree and our stockings were stuffed as well.

Second tradition, we had to wait until everyone was ready before we could go out in the living room. Why should this be a big deal? Surely three wound up little boys (my brothers are three and four years older than me) would all be up and ready to go right? Well, my oldest brother was quite the entrepreneur. One of his many endeavors was a paper route, and yes, the papers had to be delivered Christmas morning. My dad would take him in the car on Christmas morning to speed things up while my other brother and I would jump up and down on the bed, barely able to contain our excitement. I'm sure that in reality my dad and brother set record times finishing the paper route, but it seemed like forever to me.

Lastly, this tradition just kind of evolved due to the size and geographic location of my family. We always stayed home for Christmas. After opening all of our gifts, we spent the day together playing with them. I see many families today that run their kids all over from family member to family member on Christmas day. I'm not judging that as right or wrong, but I chose to continue our tradition when I had a daughter of my own. I always felt, in large part due to my own childhood I'm sure, that she deserved to get to stay home and play with her toys on Christmas day. I couldn't have imagined anything worse growing up than having to get dressed and leave my home and toys behind while we left to visit relatives. I decided not to do that to my daughter. We did our visiting on Christmas Eve and anyone that wanted to come over on Christmas Day was more than welcome.

Now my daughter is grown up and on her own, my mom & dad and brothers live spread out and we get together far less than we should. Things are a lot different around the holidays now than they were, but I cling to those memories fondly. I wouldn't change them for the world. I will forge a new path as I have a new grandson and my daughter has her own family. I will fall in line with their traditions, but a Christmas morning won't go by that I won't think about bouncing up and down on the bed waiting for my brother to finish his paper route so that we could tear into the living room to see what Santa left for us.

Thanks so much for joining us today, Paul, and sharing your Christmas traditions with us!

Grand Prize (Canada/US): Paperback copy of Lionel's Christmas Adventure: Lionel Learns the True Meaning of Christmas by Paul R. Hewlett.

Runner-up Prize (Worldwide): Digital copy of Lionel's Christmas Adventure: Lionel Learns the True Meaning of Christmas by Paul R. Hewlett. 

Have you ever wanted something you couldn't have? Meet Lionel, a loveable bully-magnet who desperately wants a new sled and will do anything to get it.This fun Christmas book follows Lionel from Larrystown to the North Pole. His magical Three-Toed-Potbellied Walbaun foot is back and is as unpredictable as ever. Whether Lionel's sledding, ice skating, or in a life-sized gingerbread village, it takes him on some grand adventures. Filled with great Christmas imagery, this book is perfect for young readers and family story time. This 2012 holiday, be careful what you wish for, you never know what might happen!

Buy Link:

Amazon

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