Holiday Thoughts Linda Nightingale Author of Her General in Gray

Happy holidays to all!  Give a big welcome to Linda Nightingale, author of Her General in Gray.  Have a seat and grab an insulated mug. I’ve got hot chocolate, hot cider and coffee. Choose your pot, they’re labeled. Pick your choice of a Snicker-doodle, Chocolate Chip or Peanut butter cookie from the plate. Yep, I baked them myself. Find out a little about Linda’s holidays and what Her General in Gray is all about.  Thanks for joining us! Take it away Linda!

I love the holidays, especially the Christmas season from the turkey to the hustle and bustle of shopping.  Since my oldest son, his wife and 3 children live in Yorkshire, England, I have to do, at least, that part of my gift buying early. I usually use Amazon since international shipping is so expensive.

In fact, I do most of my shopping for the season on-line.  I don’t like crowds, and I can avoid that hustle and bustle mentioned above by browsing my computer. My gift to myself will usually be a formal dress (that I rarely get the opportunity to wear—still I have lots of them!)  It’s about time to start my Christmas and birthday gifts for the English branch of my family.

What are your holiday traditions? Was there a special gift you prayed Santa would bring?

As a child with an immediate family of three, we didn’t have many traditions, but the holidays were warm and loving. I’d wrap all the presents with holiday gifts while Christmas carols played. Some of my favorite childhood memories are of Christmas. Like all kids, I was excited to see what Santa had left for me. With high hopes, this only child and devoted horse lover would rush to the door and peer out to see if there was a pony tied to one of the many trees surrounding our hose. Alas, until I was 13 and no longer galloped to the window in search of Santa’s ultimate gift, there was never a pony tied to the tree.  At 13, but not at Christmas, my parents bought me my first horse—a black-and-white pony I named First Fling.

I’ve loved horses all my life. It’s a wonderful sickness from which you never recover. I don’t own horses now.  I live in a cottage in the city in my hometown, but I love them no less.  At one time, I lived on our horse farm, breeding, training and showing the magnificent Andalusian horse.

It’s time for me to start shopping. I’ve made my list; checked it twice. Ready, set, go! How about you? When will you begin your search for the perfect presents?

I dedicated my sweet romance, Her General in Gray, to my parents, and named the hero after my maternal grandfather, John Sibley Allen.

Click on the cover to read more or purchase

Linda, tell us a little about Her General in Gray.

Autumn Hartley purchases Allen Hall at a steal, but the northern lass gets far more than a beautiful plantation in the South Carolina Low Country. The house comes complete with its own ghost, a handsome and charming Civil War General—for the Confederacy. The stage is set for another civil conflict.

John Sibley Allen died in battle from a wound in the back, the bullet fired by the turncoat, Beauregard Dudley. The traitor’s reincarnation is Autumn the Interloper’s first dinner guest. Sib bedevils her date and annoys her with fleeting, phantom touches, certain he can frighten her away as he did previous purchasers. As time marches on, her resident ghost becomes more appealing while her suitor, Beau, pales in comparison. Autumn finds her ability to love didn’t perish in the divorce that sent her south seeking a fresh start.

After over a century in the hereafter, Sib discovers he is falling for none other than the feisty Yankee girl, but what future could a modern woman and an old-fashioned ghost possibly hope for?

How about a  peek between the pages of Her General in Gray.

“You are not there.” Autumn dropped her book and leapt to her feet, shaking her fist at the apparition standing beside the fireplace.

The frolicking blaze shone through the whatever-he-was lounging by the hearth, his arm stretched along the mantel.  A ceramic clock beside his hand chimed the hour—seven golden notes. Tall candles in brass candlesticks flickered in an eerie fire dance. He appeared to be a Civil War soldier of the South, his opaque uniform gray with a nasty red-stained hole near the heart.  Double rows of gold buttons decorated the coat. Three gold stars and a wreath on the collar glittered in the firelight. No blood spilled from the apparition.  Except for his wound, he looked perfectly healthy—for a dead man!  He nodded and bowed elegantly…as much so as his lost society had been, regardless of the strong backs supporting that way of life.

“Oh, but I am, Miss Hartley.”  He straightened, longish hair gently curling over his face.

A chill raced over her, but she suppressed the tremor of apprehension.  Autumn swallowed hard and adjusted her white cotton blouse.  “I don’t believe in ghosts.  You’re not welcome here. I bought this house and am struggling to pay for it.  Get your Halloween self out of my living room.”

He smiled.  “It’s not 0048alloween, and we share this house.  It was mine, you know, and still is.  I’m willing to share it with you—even if you are a Yankee.  After all, the conflict is over, and I’ll hold no grudge against the Northern aggressors. Even though the South will never surrender.”

“Northern aggressors?”  She inhaled sharply, the vanilla scent of the candles on the dining room table drifting into the living room.  Everything about Allen Hall was beautiful. She loved the house. But this conversation with an arrogant spirit solidified defiance.  “And, for your information, the South did surrender.”

“A point of history.” He shrugged and gave her a condescending glance. “No more.”

Buy link: http://a.co/9smNAEW

Also available in Audio on Audible.com

Book Video:  https://youtu.be/y3y46-i9xjE

About Linda:

Born in South Carolina, Linda has seen a lot of this country from the windshield of a truck pulling a horse trailer, having bred, trained and showed Andalusian horses for many years.

Linda has won several writing awards, including the Georgia Romance Writers Magnolia Award and the SARA Merritt.  She is now a finalist in the 2016 SARA Merritt. She is the mother of two wonderful sons, a retired legal assistant, and member of the Houston BMW Club. In a former life, she must have had to walk everywhere because today she is into transportation: loving horses and hot cars! She likes to dress up and host formal dinner parties.

You can find line on social media at:

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/LNightingale

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/LindaNightingaleAuthor

Web Site:  http://www.lindanightingale.com – Visit and look around. There’s a free continuing vampire story.

Blog:  https://lindanightingale.wordpress.com/ – Lots of interesting guests & prizes

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4839311.Linda_Nightingale

Pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.com/lbnightingale1/

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Linda-Nightingale/e/B005OSOJ0U

It was wonderful having you with us today.  Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Her General in Gray! Enjoy your holidays.

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