Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Spirit of Christmas

Pumpkins may still be in the patch, but Christmas and the holidays are already upon us, and CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL: THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS - 101 JOYFUL HOLIDAY STORIES is sure to strike a cheerful holiday mood!

I'm pleased to share a personal essay with this collection. In "Meatballs...for Thanksgiving?" (page 26), I demonstrate how a turkey feast might be the norm on most Thanksgiving tables, but variations on the feast can be equally welcomed.

In addition to my essay, this inspiring, heart-warming anthology features 100 more stories that 'Deck the Halls' by tackling themes that extol gratitude, treasured traditions, holiday hiccups and miracles, getting creative amidst the joy of giving and selecting perfect presents, and experiencing the magic of the season through the wonderment of children. All bases are covered...These entertaining stories are the perfect literary pairing for the holidays!  

CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL: THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS makes a great gift for yourself and/or for those you love. Pick up a copy today!

Note: Royalties from this book benefit Toys for Tots

Happy Reading!

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to all!

Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Spirit of Christmas - 101 Joyful Holiday Stories– edited by Amy Newmark

Chicken Soup for the Soul, $16.99 paperback, 368 pages, 978-1611591262

Publication date October 24, 2025

To order this book on Amazon, link HERE

To order this book on Barnes & Noble, link HERE

To order this book on bookshop.org link HERE

To learn more about Chicken Soup for the Soul - books and other related media - link HERE

Chicken Soup for the Soul: What I Learned from My Cat

Cats (and pets of all kinds) “keep us company, provide unconditional love, and share the ups and down of our lives.”  

In the latest anthology published by Chicken Soup for the Soul (What I Learned from My Cat), I’m pleased to share a personal story (“Kat in Wonderland”) about how a clever, quirky cat cast a spell on me…Yes, dog lovers can be charmed by felines! 

To read my story and 100 others, buy a copy of this hopeful, inspirational book today! 

Happy Reading!  

Chicken Soup for the Soul: What I Learned from My Cat – edited by Amy Newmark

Chicken Soup for the Soul, $16.99 paperback, 368 pages, 978-1611591217

Publication date May 20, 2025

To order this book on Amazon, link HERE

To order this book on Barnes & Noble, link HERE

To order this book on bookshop.org link HERE

To learn more about Chicken Soup for the Soul - books and other related media - link HERE

 

Chicken Soup for the Soul: 101 Ways to Think Positive

Your attitude is a powerful tool for creating a happier life…and nowadays, couldn’t everyone benefit from a little more positive thinking? That’s why I encourage you to read the latest Chicken Soup for the Soul anthology that features 101 personal essays written by real people who have reacted to the ups and downs of life—and how employing a positive attitude helped them create a happier life.

I’m pleased to have an essay included in this anthology—a story that explores the power of finding silver linings…I hope by sharing my experience, others will be inspired to think more positively about their own lives.

 

Order a copy today!  Happy Reading! 

 

Chicken Soup for the Soul: 101 Ways to Think Positive – edited by Amy Newmark

Chicken Soup for the Soul, $16.99 paperback, 368 pages, 978-1611591071

Publication date January 7, 2025

 

To order this book on Amazon, link HERE

To order this book on Barnes & Noble, link HERE

To order this book on bookshop.org link HERE

To learn more about Chicken Soup for the Soul - books and other related media - link HERE

 

Mystery Magazine

I am pleased to share that Mystery Magazine has featured one of my comic mystery short stories in their latest issue (May 2024). 

In "My Son, My Son," a Southern woman (a wife and mother) becomes exasperated by her notorious small-time criminal son, her "do-good" of a husband, and the stifling nature of her hometown.

The issue of the magazine is available to read as an ezine (via Kindle), via select library platforms, and it can also be purchased in hardcopy from Amazon or direct from the Mystery Magazine website. 

Happy Reading! Click directly on links below to purchase: 

Mystery Magazine (May 2024) 

Kindle (digital copy) Newsstand

Amazon (paper copy) 

NOTE: Back in 2019, I had another mystery short published by this same magazine (when it was called Mystery Weekly). You can learn more about that story, "To Whom It May Concern" - a comic mystery about a corporate Client Intimacy Expert, with a very high opinion of himself, whose career snowballs into a life of crime - by clicking on the link HERE.

If you like the story (and the magazine), please consider leaving a review on Amazon...and I would also appreciate your leaving (hopefully positive) reviews for my other books/work on Amazon, as well. Reviews help (struggling) authors better promote their work. Thank you :)

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Attitude of Gratitude

Very grateful that an essay of mine is featured in the new Chicken Soup for the Soul anthology. The book offers inspiring true stories about ordinary people who have chosen to focus on thankfulness in order to find deeper joy and happiness...And I'm even more grateful that my story, "The Rolls," is the first one in the collection. Pleased and proud to be included in another Chicken Soup for the Soul project.

Order a copy today!

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Attitude of Gratitude - 101 Stories About Counting Your Blessings and The Power of Thankfulness edited by Amy Newmark

Chicken Soup for the Soul, $14.95 paperback, 336 pages, 9781611590937

Publication Date: August 16, 2022

To order this book on Amazon, link Here

To order this book on Barnes and Noble, link HERE

To order this book on INDIEBOUND link HERE

Click here to learn more about all Chicken Soup for the Soul media! 

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Read, Laugh, Repeat: 101 Laugh-Out-Loud Stories

With all the craziness "plaguing" the world right now (pun intended :), it's my pleasure to contribute a story to the latest Chicken Soup for the Soul anthology: READ. LAUGH. REPEAT: 101 Laugh-Out-Loud Stories.

In "Making a Splash" (p. 30) my beloved--however agoraphobic--Yorkshire terrier (more like "terrorist") becomes flushed with fear and hides in a harrowing, totally unexpected place. Ugh! 

This collection is a "best of" volume that will lighten your mood, help you escape and make you laugh!

Order a copy today! 

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3xzwQg9

Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/3t1xTCd

Link to Chicken Soup for the Soul on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ChickenSoupfortheSoul
Link to the Chicken Soup for the Soul Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chickensoupsoul
Link to Chicken Soup for the Soul on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChickenSoupSoul

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Read, Laugh, Repeat: 101 Laugh-Out-Loud Stories - Edited by Amy Newmark

Chicken Soup for the Soul, $14.95, Paperback, 9781611590753

Publication Date: May 4, 2021

To order this book on INDIEBOUND, link HERE

Friends: Voices on the Gift of Companionship

Pleased to have an essay featured in a new anthology: FRIENDS: VOICES ON THE GIFT OF COMPANIONSHIP (edited by Amy Lou Jenkins). This moving compilation of 24 stories examines the meaning of both having and being a friend. 

My essay, "Little Black Marks," conveys the story of a life-changing friendship that grew out of a fondness for storytelling and a love of the written word...the power of putting letters on a page and having those letters give meaning and form to life and living. 

As the dedication of the anthology reads, some gifts of friendship endure for "a day, for a season or last a lifetime." But stories...they're forever!

This tender, inspirational anthology would make a great gift for a friend you cherish or to read with your book club. 

Friends: Voices on the Gift of Companionship edited by Amy Lou Jenkins

Jack Walker Press, $14.99 Paperback, 9781945378089, 238 pages

Publication Date: October 14, 2020

To order this book via INDIEBOUND, link HERE

To order this book via Amazon, link HERE

To order this book via Barnes and Noble, link HERE

Think Positive, Live Happy

My story, “Reach Out,” has been included in the latest installment of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive, Live Happy: 101 Stories about Creating Your Best Life. This anthology, edited by Amy Newmark and Deborah Norville (Emmy Award-winning anchor/journalist of Inside Edition), is a collection of hopeful, inspiring stories about living a life filled with thoughtfulness and gratitude. My piece presents a lesson about not being afraid to reach out and do something nice for someone, even a stranger. Sometimes we second-guess ourselves, we hesitate, because we wonder if our outreach will be welcome. But in the case of the experience I share in my story, by taking a simple photograph and sharing it, two lives were changed in very special ways. This collection would make a perfect gift for the upcoming holidays…HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive, Live Happy (101 Stories about Creating Your Best Life) edited by Amy Newmark and Deborah Norville

Chicken Soup for the Soul Books (distributed by Simon and Schuster), $16.00 Paperback, 9781611599923, 368 pp

Publication Date: September 24, 2019

To order this book via INDIEBOUND, link HERE

Mystery Weekly Magazine

I’m pleased to share that one of my short stories is included in the latest issue of Mystery Weekly Magazine (November 2019). In the comic mystery story, “To Whom It May Concern,” a Client Intimacy Customer Service Expert--with an extremely high opinion of himself--tells the story of how he was forced into a life of crime that snowballed beyond his wildest dreams. The issue of the magazine is available as an ezine (Kindle), via libraries and can also be purchased as a paperback on Amazon. Links are below – click on the highlighted text to learn more. Happy Reading!

To read an excerpt from “To Whom It May Concern,” link HERE

Mystery Weekly Magazine (November 2019)

Purchase the magazine as an e-zine via the Kindle Newsstand

Purchase a hardcopy/paperback copy of the magazine via Amazon

Purchase direct via Mystery Weekly Magazine

Signs from the Other Side

Was thrilled to be a featured guest on the always-inspiring podcast, SIGNS FROM THE OTHER SIDE with host Fern Ronay. Fern is the author of the hit romantic comedy, Better in the Morning, a novel I adored - really looking forward to reading the sequel (slated for Fall 2019). 

SIGNS FROM THE OTHER SIDE is a podcast devoted to true stories of people who have had mysterious experiences and encounters with mystical forces that go beyond the realm of coincidence. 

I had the opportunity to talk to Fern and share funny stories about the (quirky, often exasperating) Yorkshire terrier that inspired my novel, The Thing Is, and how, after the dog prematurely passed, I received a series of remarkable signs  that ultimately culminated with a hair-raising 'out of this world' birthday gift from the dog!

The conversation was a lot of fun...Via the podcast, Fern certainly does this contentious world of ours a great public service by promoting what is good, hopeful and affirming (and truly important) in this life. Hope you'll tune in to the show. Enjoy!

Listen to the podcast on any of the platforms below (click on links to connect to each platform):

Listen on iTunes 

Listen via Instagram

Listen on Blog Talk Radio
Listen on Stitcher

Christmas Romances to Melt the Heart

FROM MY SHELF

Christmas--the season known to foster peace, love and good tidings of joy--is on the way. Sometimes, however, the sparkly cheer of intended amorous bliss sours at the most wonderful time of the year. Several new novels--stand-alones and additional installments of well-established series--offer feel-good stories of romantic dilemmas.

Elin Hilderbrand has expanded her trilogy of Christmas novels into a quartet with Winter Solstice, which reunites the extended Quinn family of Nantucket. This year, everyone is finally celebrating together under the same roof of the family-owned and -operated Winter Street Inn. But can the welcoming familial nest help resolve festering romantic entanglements, amid long-held traditions, heartfelt reunions and farewells?

A host of clever complications ensues in Merry and Bright by Debbie Macomber, where a single, 20-something office temp reluctantly pursues a new relationship after her well-meaning, but meddling mother and special needs brother set up an online dating profile for her during the holidays.

Ugly Christmas trees upend a whole community in Christmas in Icicle Falls by Sheila Roberts, where one resident in particular, a successful writer, learns that everything and everyone has potential--including an old, overlooked friend who just might hold the key to unexpected romance.

Sugar Pine Trail by RaeAnne Thayne centers on a kindhearted, single, small-town librarian who longs to create a sense of family for herself during Christmas. Her plans go awry when she falls for her tenant--a handsome, sexy, commitment-phobic pilot who has a notorious reputation with women.

In Sugarplum Way by Debbie Mason, the future of true love is tested. A surprising, passionate kiss under the mistletoe at the town Christmas party turns the life of a romance writer--in search of her own happily-ever-after--completely upside down.

NOTE: This column previously appeared in Shelf Awareness for Readers (11/3/17) and is being reprinted with their permission. Link HERE to read the column as originally published.

The Dog Really Did That?

Pleased to share two fun essays in a new book about dogs presented by the ever prolific--and always inspiring--Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Royalties from this particular book go to American-Humane, an organization that "promotes the welfare and safety of animals and strengthens the bond between animals and people." 

I contributed two, true stories about two different mischievous Yorkshire terriers I've shared my life with that actually served as the inspiration for the therapy dog, Prozac, who stars in my novel THE THING IS. 

One story is about a beloved (yet very quirky) agoraphobic Yorkie who loved to hide...and one day hid in a place I'd never expect. Yuck! Another story is about a Yorkie, no angel, who decided to treat herself to a sweet (off-limits) feast one Saint Patrick's Day.

Don't miss this collection - a perfect read for dog and pet lovers. Great fun!

Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Dog Really Did That? 101 Stories of Miracles, Mischief, and Magical Moments edited by Amy Newmark (Foreword by Dr. Robin Ganzert)

Chicken Soup for the Soul, $14.95 Paperback, 9781611599695, 400 pages

Publication Date: August 8, 2017

To order this book on INDIEBOUND, link HERE

Not all books require batteries

Opinion: 

Not all books require batteries

How has your local indie bookshop changed YOUR life? 

Read how 
Shaw's Book Shop 

has influenced mine.

Thank you Tom Downs at Shaw's Book Shop in Westwood, NJ!

(Shaw's will celebrate 40 years in business in 2017)

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Opinion/Editorial: "Other Views/ Guest Columnist" (Section A-7)

BY KATHLEEN GERARD

To read the article in its entirety, click on the highlighted title above

SUPPORT LOCAL INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLERS!

Making a Splash!

Thank you to the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop

for featuring a short comic piece, "Making a Splash," 

on their website about my quirky, crazy, nut-job dog -

one of the dogs who inspired my novel, THE THING IS.

To read the essay, link HERE

Happy Reading!

Interview about THE THING IS

Was interviewed about 

my novel 

THE THING IS 

on

WGVU

(an NPR affiliate, Greater Michigan area)

Link HERE to listen to the 10-minute segment

on

"The Morning Show with Shelley Irwin"

The Dog Days of Summer

From My Shelf

Now is the perfect time to lounge in a hammock, sip an iced tea and cuddle up with fictions about furry, four-legged canine companions. Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley--a funny, moving novel about an aging and infirm dachshund who changes one man's life--has become a literary sensation.

There are many other dog-centric novels about unforgettable fictionalized pooches, as well:

In A Man of His Own by Susan Wilson, a WWII veteran, Rick Stanton, returns home, broken in body and spirit. When Rick and his wife are reunited with their beloved dog, Pax, a rescued German shepherd-mix who was later volunteered to serve in a K-9 military unit, a tug-of-war for the dog ensues between Rick and Pax's devoted handler from the front lines. 

Two dogs--Dante, a super-smart Border collie, and Sissy, a sweet natured spaniel--are unwillingly dumped on Jonathan Trefoil, a floundering, unfulfilled 20-something New Yorker in Jonathan Unleashed, a romantic comedy by Meg Rosoff. The dogs' attentiveness to Jonathan--and vice versa--create refreshing new beginnings for Jonathan's thorny, uncertain life.

Hector, a fluffy little white dog owned by a widow in a small town, and Trey Barkley, Hector's 26 year-old, professional dog walker who suffers from schizophrenia, are at the center of The Chocolate Debacle by Karen Winters Schwartz. When Hector's owner is found murdered, Trey becomes the prime suspect in this psychologically astute murder mystery.

And in my own novel, The Thing Is, a crafty therapy dog, a lovable Yorkshire terrier named Prozac--with supernatural wisdom, a canine Mensa IQ and an even higher opinion of himself--sets off on an adventurous, comedic quest to rescue a blocked romance writer grieving the death of her fiancé. 

So before summer winds down, let yourself 'go to the dogs'…literarily.

NOTE: This column previously appeared in Shelf Awareness for Readers (8/16/16) and is being reprinted (in a slightly different form) with their permission. Link HERE to read the column as originally published.