I may or may not have mentioned that this year, I decided to start a few new Halloween traditions. My family has traditions for nearly every holiday. So far, the only holidays that have been free of family obligations (and I say that with love…I happen to enjoy being with my family…call me weird, but there you go) were Valentine’s Day and Halloween. My husband and I celebrate V-Day very low key because our anniversary is just a few weeks later. So Halloween is my new project.
My mom doesnt’ remember if we carved pumpkins. I’m sure we did…but I know we didn’t trick or treat in the traditional sense…we got into our costumes and went and visited family because our neighborhood wasn’t exactly trick-or-treat friendly. But I’m pretty sure we had a pumpkin. Anyway, I think my lack of traditional trick-or-treating is why I love my neighborhood so much. It’s trick-or-treat central. We had at least 75 kids come to the house last night…and it was surprisingly light since the weather was so perfect. Anyway, because my neighborhood is so great, my youngest brother has gotten into the tradition of coming over with his four kids. My parents, who last year finally realized that none of us were going to give up trick-or-treating in order to shove our kids in the car to go visit family, finally came by last year and got a taste of the fun. My older brother’s kids are beyond trick-or-treating (sort of…my 15 year old nephew will use any excuse to wear the very expensive velvet robe he bought during his “goth-like” stage) but they’re always up for a free meal. So I cooked and we had a party before those of us with little ones hit the street in search of candy and comaraderie.
Now, keep in mind that for some inexplicable reason, I’m homeroom mom for my daughter’s class this year. Her school celebrates Bookaween, and since she’d chosen to go as Hermoine Granger this year, I didn’t have to come up with two costumes. I never do, actually, as my daughter usually chooses literary costumes…last year she was a Greek goddess. Anyway, being homeroom mom means helping out with the big parade, organizing an activity for afterward which includes snacks, etc. So not only was I planning dinner for 18, I also had snacks and crafts for 22!
I’m happy to report I survived it all. I’m totally wiped out, but we had a great time. My daughter’s class is wonderful, her teacher is a goddess and we had a great time. The food for dinner was great and my mom did most of the cleanup, which in and of itself is fabulous. But tomorrow, I have to return to the daily grind, get back to work and stop thinking about any obligations beyond my writing.
And post-Halloween is the perfect time for me to share some ultra-exciting news…I just sold two books to Signet/NAL! They have a paranormal theme…and the most remarkable thing is that the first book in the series is one I conceived of over twelve years ago! I feel strongly I nearly sold that book, too…but the time wasn’t right. But although my writing style has changed so much that I can’t use an original word of that manuscript, I’m really psyched to bring the characters back to life in an even more complex and emotional story than they had the first time. I’m going to start writing in January after I finish the Blaze I’m working on. I know paranormal romance isn’t for everyone…but I can promise my readers will get a super-sexy, emotional rollercoaster of a read with my 18th century, gypsy cursed hero and my modern, take-no-prisoners heroine. I’ll tell more as I progress with the stories…but you heard it here first!
By all reports, Julie Leto was a sweet child once, somewhat shy, preferring to play quietly in her room making up stories. However, being raised with three brothers in a loud, primarily Italian household did have its influences and Julie discovered her inner tough girl. That’s probably why most of her heroines kick serious butt. Writing sassy heroines has worked out, as she’s sold over forty books to four publishers featuring strong, confident women. Julie lives in Florida with her daughter, a spoiled dachshund, a haughty lynx-point Siamese and a wide range of relatives all within driving distance.
Blazing Midsummer Nights
Dirty Little Secrets
Karma
Through The Night
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Sounds like a fun time Julie. Btw, congrats on selling more books! And I love that an idea that came to you 12 yrs ago is being made possible now – that’s very cool.
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:bat: What great Halloween news!:bat: I like the concept of making halloween the “big” holiday. It sounds like everyone had a great time. I was disapointed this year, we had no trick-or-treaters.
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Congrats on the books Julie!!! I too love Halloween, but had no trick or treaters this year. Kindof sad since I know there are tons of kids in the area.
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Congratulations Julie! I can’t wait to read more about the books! As for Halloween, we do trick or treating every year. But prior to that, our family tradition is pumpkins. We visit a nearby pumpkin patch and everyone picks out their own pumpkin (that’s five pumpkins). Then we come home and yours truly cleans them out. Then we all sit around our table and carve them. We’re really into it, too. This year, we carved a witch, a haunted castle, a ghost, a cemetary and a cat. It’s a lot of work, but I’ve noticed that the kids look forward to it every year. My oldest son grew up thinking everyone did this. Now he’s realizing that we’re some of the few that take the pumpkin carving thing so seriously. His favorite quote now is “Our pumpkins kick butt!”
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Yay!!! New books from Julie!! I can’t wait. I am not a strict romance only reader so these are right up my alley.
Congrats!
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Congrats on your books….also congrats for surviving Halloween. I, too, surivived Halloween (two costumes for my four year old: one for school, one for trick or treating….one for my oldest….plus, they hibernated at school requiring pjs (they are learning about bears) and one costume for my youngest…). My little 22 month old was quite good at trick or treating. He carried his bucket and walked around and actually wanted to stay at a few of our neighbor’s houses because they gave him candy. Too funny.
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Congrats on your book(s) sale, Julie.
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That’s great news about the books, I’ll look forward to reading them! Halloween wore me out too.
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I’m very excited about your paranormal romance series, I have a new found love of them.
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that is great. me too, so tired:party:
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My neighborhood doesn’t get a lot of trick or treaters but last night was an all time low! I had 1 group of 7 kids with adults supervising & 1 lone child, adult in the background, that was it! Now I have all this candy! Yes, I did buy candy I like–why not!!
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Congratulations on your book deal Julie………..
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Sounds like Halloween was a great time with your family and enjoying the trick or treaters and treating. I love it. This year I even dressed up as a goth spiderwoman with the webs painted on my face and everything. It was so much fun. :bat:
I’m so excited about your new books…can’t wait to read them.
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Julie,
I am so excited for you!!!!!!
:cheer::cheer:
Way to go!
This year for halloween we carved pumpkins for the first time. The kids really enjoyed it. They also, helped hand out candy and enjoyed that so much. It was great to see the pleasure that they derived from giving.
Have a super day!
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Congrats on your new book deal, Julie!:cheer::cheer:
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Julie- What great news about the books!! I love the paranormal, so I will be looking forward to them!!
I grew up on a farm whose main crop was pumpkins, so by halloween I had no desire to carve ‘em. Now, though, I go all out decorating the outside. I usually get tons of kids, but didn’t this year for some reason. The weather was so warm too.
I also followed another tradition- hit the stores today to see what I could get on sale!! good thing I have a storage room to hide this stuff in!! Now I am putting up Thanksgiving and getting some of the Xmas stuff up so I don’t have to do it in the cold and snow!! It will be ready to turn on Thanksgiving Night.