For the holiday season, we at Lakewater Press thought it would be a good time to share who we are with a little holiday blog hop.
Between December 1 and the 24th we’ll share holiday interviews with our authors and the Lakewater Press staff. It’s an excellent opportunity for us to get to know each other a little better, and to give our readers a peek behind the scenes–or pages!
Perhaps you’ll even find a new blog to follow, or your next favorite book!
(Be sure to read all the way to the bottom for our holiday giveaway!!)
Today’s interviewee:
Name and LWP affiliation: James L. Weaver – LWP Author 
Your blog (url): www.jameslweaver.net
Where do you live? Olathe, Kansas – a suburb of Kansas City. The name means beautiful or fine, and Olathe served as a stopping point at the Oregon, California and Santa Fe Trails.
What are your chances of having snow on Christmas Day? As of now, “a wintry mix” is possible which means we’ll be sure to get a mix of rain or sleet to make the roads treacherous for traveling and embolden my desire to move to Phoenix.
Do you have any favorite holiday traditions? We have the holiday present opening tradition of going in order from youngest to oldest. The next person cannot go until the previous person has had ample time to unwrap, admire and thank the giver of the gift profusely. During big family gatherings, this can be an exhausting experience.
Egg nog: Yes or No? Dear Lord, a thousand times no. Step One of drinking egg nog? Throw the carton in the trash.
Are you an artistic gift wrapper or a basic “paper & tape” warrior? I am a warrior. As long as the paper covers the gift and there is so much tape that the opener can’t locate a seam to start the unwrapping process, I am happy.
Do you have any special holiday memories that include books? Are there any specific titles you remember? One of my favorite memories involves the Lord of the Rings books. One Christmas, we bought my dad a J.R.R. Tolkien calendar that had this really cool artwork from Lord of the Rings. I sat on my dad’s lap and he told me the stories of each one of the pictures.
What is your earliest book-related memory? Reading “The Hungry Thing” by Jan Slepian and Ann Seidler when I was in kindergarten. We did a school play where I got the role of The Hungry Thing and asked for shmancakes and tickles and feetloaf and 
gollipops. I think the costume was just a bed sheet and a cardboard sign hung around my neck that said “Feed Me”.
Do you write/work during the holidays? I seem to have a hard time using my vacation throughout the year, so I usually take off work for the two weeks around Christmas and plan on getting quite a bit of writing done.
Can you share what you’re working on now? Right now, I’m working on Book 4 of the Jake Caldwell series. I’ve written a few chapters as I knew exactly how it would start, but was a little fuzzy on how it would end. I’m working on outlining the rest of it as we speak. I have the ending done (since you have to know where you’re going) and am plotting the middle to get me there. I don’t want to give too much away on the plot since it follows directly on the outcomes of Blackbird Road which is Book 3 of the Jake Caldwell series.
What are your goals for 2018? 2018 should be a great year! Blackbird Road will be released in early 2018 and Book 4 later in the year. Two books in one year will be pretty ambitious, but we’re going to do it! There’s also some potential fantastic news about my first self-published book Jack & Diane that I’m hoping to share. It’s been polished and revamped (and available on Amazon). I also plan to start outlining a book featuring Bear Parley, Jake’s best friend and everyone’s favorite character from the Jake Caldwell series. So, it should be a very busy writing year in the Weaver house!
Links to all the Lakewater Press participating blogs:
Rebecca Carpenter, copy editor and author 