An Early/Late Christmas Gift: Nightingale’s Nest ARC Giveaway!

In early December, I found out something rather remarkable, to me anyway.

My next book, Nightingale’s Nest – you know that one I wrote a couple of years ago, and knew no one would publish (too quiet, too weird, too Texan, too literary)? But I had to write it anyway, because it was demanding to be written, and I couldn’t rest until I had done it? That book I loved so much, it made all my other books jealous? 🙂

That book got THIS. A STAR!!!

Turns out, Kirkus didn’t think Nest was too weird. They thought it was (an) “Unusual, finely crafted story of loss, betrayal and healing.”

Cover for Nightingale's Nest

Pretty much made my Christmas merry and bright!

So, to celebrate, I’m doing a giveaway of one Advance Reader Copy of Nightingale’s Nest. All you have to do is leave a comment here – “Merry Christmas” will do just fine! (And put your email address, too, so I can notify you if you win!) *Bonus: If you leave your favorite Christmas memory/tradition/story in the comments, I’ll give you TWO entries.

Then I’ll have my kid draw a name on Christmas Eve, and mail the winner a late Christmas gift on Boxing Day (12/26). Merry Christmas! May your skies and eyes be filled with wonder… and stars. 🙂

 

Posted in Children's Fiction, Miscellaneous on 12/16/2013 08:37 am

43 Comments

  1. My fav Christmas memory is about a candy jar my mom had. It was a round snowball and the top was two teddy bears sledding on a candy cane. She would fill it with rolos and York peppermint patties(oh the pretty red and green and gold foil!) and we were allowed to eat as much as we wanted. I loved seeing it make its appearance every year! Oh, and a very Merry Christmas to you and yours. =)

    Reply

    • Nikki Loftin

      Merry Christmas, Leandra! So… did you get sick eating all that candy? I had an entire jar of divinity fudge one year. I was sick and happy.

      Reply

  2. Oops, forgot my email: leandrawallace@gmail.com Thx!

    Reply

  3. Merry Christmas, Nikki! I had to share your good news on my blog. : )
    NIGHTINGALE’S NEST is my #1 book to read. Can’t wait.
    My favorite holiday memory has actually become a tradition in my house. My mother would spend all week before Christmas writing a series of clues that led to our “biggest” gift. And the clues were all little poems that she made up herself. I had so much fun reading the seven clues that led to my present–I looked forward to the clues more than the gift. I don’t know how my mother managed to write a set of seven clues for each of her four kids, but I’m so glad she did. Now, I do the “treasure hunt” with my kids.

    Reply

    • Nikki Loftin

      What an amazing Mom, Lori! That’s a great tradition. And thanks for sharing! I hope you have a great Christmas.

      Reply

  4. Mary Alexander

    Nikki, you are a wonderful, charismatic person with a great deal of talent you share with the world. You bring happiness into people’s lives through your books, your Zumba classes, and the joy you radiate into the lives of people around you every single day. You have made a big difference in my life. You have helped me discover a talent for dancing which I never knew I had. You have helped me learn to love my body. You have brought out the glamorous lady inside me. For all these reasons I thank you and I know that many others in your classes are grateful to you for similar reasons. We all love you.

    Reply

    • Nikki Loftin

      Oh, Mary, you are so lovely! Let’s make dancing together our new Christmas tradition!

      Reply

  5. Mary Alexander

    My favorite Christmas gift was the butterfly net and kit my parents gave me when I was in third grade. It gave me a new hobby. In 1969 the Zilker neighborhood in South Austin was still covered with wildflowers which attracted butterflies of many different species. My younger brother and I chased and caught lots of them. We identified them in a butterfly handbook, mounted them, and typed labels with their names. This was actually very educational.

    If I had known that by 2013 butterflies would be a rare sight inside the Austin city limits, perhaps I would have spared more
    of their lives. But as a child, I merely loved the chase and
    the beauty I was able to preserve and hang on the wall. I was very proud of the butterflies I could show to my small world.
    To this day I love and appreciate every butterfly I see, and most of the time, I can identify the species. Thank you, God for
    butterflies.

    Reply

  6. OF COURSE it’s getting stars!!! We all predicted it would. Congrats, Nikki! xoxo

    Reply

    • Nikki Loftin

      Oh, lovely Kimberley. When I think of you I can’t help but smile — my world is better for having you in it. Merry Christmas!

      Reply

  7. Nikki, this book looks wonderful!! I can’t wait to read it! Congrats on the terrific Kirkus review!
    Hmmm… a Christmas memory..
    Okay, here’s one that’s not exactly drinking eggnog by the fire.

    To this day, my mom, who is 87, loves to decorate for Christmas. In her tiny apartment in the assisted living place, she has a tree with a toy village underneath and a toy train set surrounding it. The village was her father’s. Every year, after we decorated the tree (which had so many ornaments on it that it took two days to finish), we’d set it up. There were rules. The bull dog stood outside the gate keeping watch. The lady with the umbrella spoke to the minister on the stairs of the church. The skater always stood on the mirror pond. And the trains must circle round. One year, my mom set up the trains so they chugged all over the house. You had step over the tracks when you walked from room to room. But that wasn’t the only decorations that you had to work your way around. The house was filled with carolers and angels and churches and northpole scenes–and every Christmas-themed school project created by her children, her friend’s children, her children’s friends, the little kid down the street, the little kid down the street’s friends. Somehow they all found a place in the house. Once Christmas came, it was hard to find a nook or a cranny that wasn’t adorned or a hall that wasn’t decked. I’m talking about dancing elves in the bathroom.
    But the oddest decoration was a Santa that my mom made. It was four feet high with a cloth face and a beard made out of the itchiest material known to man. If you dared to touch it, you got a shock. The eyes were oversized and they had a habit of following you as you walked around the room. We called it Scary Santa and even when I was in my teens, I’d sometimes make it face the wall so it wouldn’t watch us when we opened up our presents.
    At the end of the Christmas season (which was in February in my house) there was always a sigh of relief when Scary Santa got put away. My mom would take the big green cloth toy sack and place it over its head before she put it in the closet. The problem was that the holiday closet was in my bedroom. So on a summer night when the thunder rolled in and the lights flickered and there was strange noise, I’d sit up in my bed and think about scary Santa with this head in that sack just on the other side of the wall. Merry Christmas, Nikki.

    Reply

    • Nikki Loftin

      Possibly the best Christmas story yet, Nan! I SO want a Scary Santa now. Also, your mom put a sack on his head? Why? Is there something she KNEW??? (Voodoo Santa? Undead Santa?)

      Reply

  8. Merry Christmas! I adore this review.

    Dressing is called garbage in our family because of me. When I was three I was chattering away to my mom in the kitchen as she prepared Christmas dinner. I’d seen her cook dinner before and she sometimes used a “scrap/trash bowl” so when she dumped all the chopped celery and onions together in one bowl, I assumed they were scraps/trash. I was appalled when she added them into the big pan with the crumbled cornbread and started mixing them in. When my (much) older sister and her husband arrived for dinner, I met them at the door and warned them not to eat the stuff in the big pan because it was garbage. I assured them I knew this for a fact because I saw Mom make it. We still enjoy the garbage the way Mom always made every year. And yes, someone always feels the need to tell the story of how it came to be known as garbage. 🙂

    Reply

  9. Chris Mandelski

    Congratulations, Nikki! A STAR for a STAR 🙂 One of my favorite Christmas memories? Growing up we always had a real tree and we seemed to often have a problem with wonky trunks that wouldn’t sit right in the tree stand. It was always a challenge my dad met with gusto. One year I was home from college and the trunk was so crooked my dad actually had to anchor the tree to the corner with string. I’ll never forget one night sitting in our living room with my family in front of the TV. The string apparently snapped and we watched the tree fall into the middle of the room, as if in slow motion. It was not a small tree, but it was so surreal that we just sat there and watched in disbelief, and then we laughed and laughed! And then we picked up the mess, set up the tree again and found a thicker rope! Good times 🙂 MERRY CHRISTMAS NIKKI! And again, CONGRATS!! xox!

    Reply

    • Nikki Loftin

      Funny! Our tree was knocked over by our cat one year – terrible, as it broke almost all the special ornaments we’d collected over the years! Had to start over… Here’s to staying upright this Xmas! LOL

      Reply

  10. Kathleen Trail

    So much fun reading all these memories… I have a bunch of favorites, but one that stands out is of me & my brother, both college-age and home on Christmas Eve wrapping presents late (& very last-minute).

    We had gotten my dad some overalls (he had a farmer-hippie streak in him) & a shirt as two of his gifts. We decided it would be funny, instead of wrapping these items, to stuff the clothes with newspaper & then put a basketball as the head & my dad’s boots, all propped up in the rocking chair for Christmas morning. After we had assembled this creature, it kept scaring the crap out of us as we continued to wrap gifts, every time we’d turn our backs & then catch him in our peripheral vision.

    Unfortunately, it also scared the crap out our mom on Christmas morning before we woke up to explain it to her. Sorry, Mom.

    Reply

    • Nikki Loftin

      I have a feeling this wasn’t the only prank you two pulled. Am I right? 🙂 Happy Xmas!

      Reply

  11. Jessica Capelle

    Yay for stars!!! (Although I’m not surprised!)

    My favorite tradition is hanging up my stocking that my grandma made for my first Christmas as well as a wall hanging she made of the Twelve Days of Christmas. She died when I was in high school, so keeping that tradition every year makes me feel like she’s there with me.

    Hope you & your family have a wonderful holiday, Nikki!
    -Jess
    jessicacapelle (at) gmail (dot) com

    Reply

  12. We always open our gifts on Christmas Eve and then open our stockings on Christmas day! Then we watch The Thin Man ( murder mystery from the 1940’s that is set at Christmas).
    -Karen DeWysockie
    k.dewysockie (at) gmail (dot) com

    Reply

    • Nikki Loftin

      Um, I haven’t EVER seen that one! Maybe a new Xmas film for after the presents… 🙂

      Reply

  13. Hi, Nikki!

    I don’t know that this is my FAVORITE Christmas memory, but the one that sticks out the most is the year we were in Chicago, and on Christmas morning my Grandpa Hinz said he heard something outside, and grabbed the gun he kept by the door and went to investigate. My parents weren’t up yet, and my brother and I were eating breakfast. Grandpa comes back in, throws a Santa hat on the table, and says “I finally got the bastard! No more coal in my stocking!” And walked out. My brother was traumatized. I was stunned!!

    Reply

  14. Nikki! So excited! I can’t wait to read this book!!

    My favorite tradition is my family Christmas party we have on Christmas night, after everything else has settled down. I have 13 first cousins, and they all bring their spouses and kids and the uncles are loud and the aunts give lots of hugs and drink a lot of wine. A guitar or a piano and loud bellowing are usually involved. It’s way too much fun. And it’s at my house this year! Yay!

    Congrats on all the love for your new book! I’m so happy for you! Merry Christmas!

    sharonmorse (at) gmail (dot) com

    Reply

    • Nikki Loftin

      Sharon, that sounds perfect! We’re pretty loud – and musical, too. Have fun hosting the crowd!

      Reply

  15. My favorite Christmas memory is probably the first Christmas I can actively remember: the Christmas of first grade, when I believed in Santa Claus. I remember being super excited when I woke up, and ran to the living room of the apartment to find my wrapped present. I loved Beanie Babies back then (and still do!) and when I opened it to find a multi-colored seahorse named Neon, I was ecstatic.

    I can’t for your book! It sounds wonderful, and yay for the lovely cover!

    Reply

  16. Yay! A star from Kirkus is AWESOME, Nikki!

    My favorite Christmas memory is making sour cream sugar cookies with my mom. MMM… The dough was almost better than the cookies themselves. Almost. I’ve been missing them since I went gluten free, but my mom and dad visited just before Thanksgiving. My mom got some gf flour and made me the cookies! I was so excited. AND there was enough of the flour left to make another batch, so I started the tradition with my kids. 😀

    Anyway, have a wonderful Christmas, and congrats again! <3

    Reply

  17. COMMENTS 10 TRILLION TIMES!

    But really, my favorite christmas tradition is just all the holiday baking 🙂

    Reply

  18. Happy Holidays! My favorite Christmas tradition is fast becoming cooking. I’m game for anything!

    deadtossedwaves at gmail dot com

    Reply

  19. Congratulations on your excellent review! I am fortunate to have many “favorite” Christmas memories. One year I was living and teaching in Turkey. I didn’t have much money and we didn’t get a Christmas holiday, only a Ramadan break. This particular year, Ramadan fell at the same time as Xmas. My dad, who rarely leaves home (SC), agreed to drive with my mom to my brother’s house in Chicago. We surprised mom and had a rare Christmas together.

    Reply

  20. Deborah Graff

    The book sounds delightful, and I think both my 10-year-old daughter and I will enjoy it. One of our favorite Christmas traditions is a simple one: making rolled sugar cookies and decorating them with way too much frosting and sprinkles. We are making them today. 🙂

    Reply

  21. Trying to have the last present to open by hiding one without my brothers noticing
    Happy Kirkus story

    Reply

  22. ginny rohlich

    Congratulations! I am happy for your success. My favorite Christmas tradition is Chinese take-out with my family the eve before Christmas eve. Merry Christmas to you.

    Reply

  23. My favorite memory of Christmas is when I was around 13 and my dad and I got up early to put the turkey in the oven. We were listening to the radio and this wonderful comic play version of The Twelve Days of Christmas written in the form of letters back and forth between giver and givee was on. We’d never heard it before and I remember how funny it was and how it felt like this special little treat put on just for my dad and I.

    Merry Christmas, Nikki.

    Reply

  24. Nikki, How fabulous that you got a star from Kirkus! Wonderful and I can’t wait to read it!
    My favorite Christmas memory continues to be when my sister and I organized an effort to tear paper off presents under the tree, a little bit at a time, for days before Christmas. We just couldn’t wait. We kept ripping from the back so no one would notice. However, someone did…

    Reply

  25. Merry Christmas Nikki, fabulous yumba, goat loving, brilliant writer and poet and AroHO sista.

    I can’t wait to read this book and your next… 🙂

    My fav New Zealand traditions for a Merry Christmas are waking up to find our stockings at the end of our beds filled with goodies along with a can of condensed milk each. After we open presents we have a roast lamb dinner than hit the beach – I love summer Christmases.

    Reply

  26. Nikki–I am so thrilled for you! It makes Xmas all the more special. I love this story. It deserves to be heard.

    My favorite memory is listening to Christmas LP’s on the livingroom record player. We would all sing along and enjoy the tree.

    Congrats!
    Irene

    Reply

  27. Elissa Bjeletich

    Nikki, Nightingale’s Nest looks wonderful, and we especially excited about it because it’s your favorite!

    Here’s the most interesting Christmas story and my family, although maybe not the nicest:

    My mother was born in Denmark and adopted by a Danish couple who were living in Buenos Aires. She was raised until the age of 11 down in Argentina, until her mother decided it was time to get a clean break from her father and took her north to San Francisco. The two of them knew precious few people in the United States, and were far more proficient in Danish and Spanish then in English, but soon Christmas came and they found refuge in the familiar traditions shared across the cultures.

    In Denmark of course on every Christmas Eve the families go down and cut down their very own trees from the beautiful Scandinavian forests and carry them home to stand in the front room. Once the children go to sleep, the parents decorate the trees with beautiful candles and wonderful paper hearts and other precious ornaments and the children are surprised and delighted when they awake on Christmas morning.

    On December 24, 1961, my mother and her mother set out on the mean streets of San Francisco and promptly found a Christmas tree lot where they were delighted to find a number of Christmas trees, cut down in October in the forests of Portland, wrapped up and shipped in big trucks down to California, awaiting them. They selected the nicest one they could afford and dragged it home on my mother’s bicycle to their tiny apartment on the third floor. Now a girl of 11, my mother was old enough this year, her mother had decided, to help trim the tree so they hung it with festive paper ornaments and clipped on the beautiful Danish candles and stood back to admire their work.

    For the final touch, late though it was, they lit all the candles and stepped back , and to their horror watched flames quickly engulf the old, dry tree.

    The entire apartment building, filled as it was with Christmas gifts for all of the boys and girls who called the place home, burned to the ground.

    Not all Danish customs translate well to America.

    The End.

    Reply

  28. Elissa Bjeletich

    PS pardon the typos – on an iPhone!

    Reply

Leave a Reply