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'Tis the Season

By Teri Rizvi

Scrambling for holiday gift ideas? Creativity coach Julia Roberts developed a terrific list of 50 quirky and creative ideas — everything from “stocking stuffers to showstoppers” — for the writers in your lives.

Fifty ideas not enough? Here are 59 more from Farrah Daniel on The Write Life. Gifts you didn’t even know you needed, such as No. 38, “things that smell like books.”

The Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop is still offering free shipping on our Erma Collection — coffee cups, wine glasses, books, prints and more. Please choose the free shipping option and use this coupon code: FREESHIP. The shipping charge will be taken off when your order is fulfilled.

How about the gift of laughter and learning — a registration to the Virtual Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop? For the special holiday offer of $99, writers can laugh and be inspired by six keynote speakers, 25 faculty-led sessions, an attendee stand-up comedy show and Pitchapalooza, billed as “American Idol for books, only kinder.” All the sessions will be available through the end of 2021, allowing writers to experience the workshop at their convenience, no matter the time zone.

Books for the season always make great gifts. Here are a few receiving some buzz this holiday season.

Latkes for Santa Claus, a debut picture book by Janie Emaus has been nominated for the Sydney Taylor Book Award presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience. 

Bruce Cameron’s latest bookA Dog’s Perfect Christmas, is being hailed as a “beautiful, poignant, delightful tale of what can happen when family members open their hearts to new possibilities. You’ll find love and tears and laughter ― the ideal holiday read.”

Looking for a magical gift for young readers? Bestselling author Amy Ephron's The Other Side of the Wall is now available in paperback.

Don’t forget books tailor-made for the times we live in. Here are two serious suggestions, and two to make readers laugh.

Allia Zobel Nolan's new book, What I Like About You: A Book about Acceptance, teaches children to accept and celebrate the worth of others, no matter where they come from or what they look like.

With wisdom, reverence and grace, Susan Pohlman delivers a lyrical meditation on midlife and motherhood while traveling the cobblestoned streets of Italy in her new book, A Time to Seek: Meaning, Purpose, and Spirituality at Midlife.

Bob Eckstein and Michael Shaw’s The Elements of Stress and the Pursuit of Happy-ish in this Current Sh*tstorm, is billed as “a humorous handbook to help readers better deal with the challenges and headaches of our time.”

"Erma Bombeck meets Dorothy Parker in this topical and often laugh-out-loud funny take on our modern malaise." That's how Kirkus Reviews describes Annabelle Gurwitch's newest book, You're Leaving When? Adventures in Downward Mobility. Scheduled for release on March 2, 2021, it’s available now for pre-order.

For all of the newest books published, visit Who’s Publishing What? on the workshop’s website. To submit info about a new book, send a description and cover photo to erma@udayton.edu.

(Photo credit: KnobCreekMetalArts on Etsy)

Previous Post

Who's Publishing What: The Elements of Stress

Bob Eckstein and Michael Shaw's The Elements of Stress: And the Pursuit of Happy-ish in This Current Sh*tstorm is a parody of The Elements of Style, perfect "for anyone who has had it up to here."
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Who's Publishing What: Black Dog, White Couch, and the Rest of My Really Bad Ideas

Dawn Weber's newest book, Black Dog, White Couch, and the Rest of My Really Bad Ideas,” is a laugh-out-loud confessional.
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