Friday, December 23, 2016

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

My girls ask for these cookies every year. I started making them when they were kids and I don't even use a recipe. My hands know what to do to make these Christmas delights. But for everyone else's sake, I decided to write a recipe down. These cookies are our family's favorite. Maybe they'll be yours too!

Merry Christmas! And have a blessed New Year!

Linda

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

1-cup white sugar
1-cup butter, softened
1-(3 oz.) package of cream cheese, softened
½-tsp salt
½-tsp almond extract or vanilla extract
1-egg
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

First cream the sugar, butter and cream cheese together in a mixer. Add extract, egg and then dry ingredients (salt and flour). Chill dough overnight for best results.

Roll out dough on a lightly-floured surface 1/3 at a time and use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes. Place on cookie sheet. I use silicone sheets now, but if I didn't own silicone baking sheets, I would lay down parchment on my cookie sheets to bake these. Sure makes baking and cleanup a lot easier.


Bake for 9 minutes at 350 degrees.




Linda Kozar, is a successful author of over 16 books, speaker, and radio host of Chat Noir Mystery & Suspense and Network Coordinator for the Along Came A Writer Network on BlogTalk Radio. Founder, former president, and current board member of Writers On The Storm, The Woodlands, Texas Chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers, she was the recipient of ACFW’s Mentor of the Year award 2007. She is currently a PR Director for the Christian Authors Network and is a member of Chi Libris, ACFW, RWA, AWSA, and CAN. Linda and her husband of 28 years, Michael live in The Woodlands, Texas and enjoy spending time with their two grown daughters, wonderful son-in-law and their spunky Jack Russell Terrier, Gypsy.

Saturday, July 16, 2016

CAN Scavenger Hunt!




WELCOME TO THE... CHRISTIAN AUTHOR'S NETWORK SCAVENGER HUNT!
(SCAVENGER HUNT STOP #12)

I'm LINDA KOZAR and I interviewed fellow author and friend, SHERRY KYLE. I got to meet her at a literary agency retreat (Books & Such) in 2010, and we hit it off like peas and carrots. I hope you win one of her books! She's giving away a BONUS book on her blog, which is the next stop on the hunt. Read on...






Sherry, tell us about your latest book.

It’s hard to talk about my latest book without also mentioning the one that came right before that since I had two new books for tween girls releasing a month apart.

The Girl’s Guide to Life (RoseKidz, Feb 2016) is an easy-to-use book full of stories, crafts, activities, and tips that will encourage and help the reader to make good decisions everyday. It’s packed with Christian advice about many of the issues girls face today, such as dealing with family, friends, boys, school, money, nutrition, fitness, and standing firm when temptations appear.

But the book that is part of this scavenger hunt and will be added to the grand prize is…

Love, Lexi: Letters to God (Tyndale, March 2016). This book follows seventh grader Alexis Dawn Cooper (Lexi) as she navigates middle school and being a middle child. But this is no ordinary middle-school novel. Love, Lexi is a unique combination of fictional story combined with a devotional and journal to help girls contemplate their own place in God’s eyes.


What inspired you to write it?

I love to write books that bring girls closer to God. With Love, Lexi: Letters to God, I wanted to show girls that they can tell God anything—even their worst days and most embarrassing mistakes—and He’ll listen. I also wanted girls to be encouraged by the devotionals and inspired to share their own stories through journaling.

Who is your favorite character from this book or out of all your books?

It’s hard to pick a favorite character from my books because I love them all, but I have a special connection to Lexi since I’m also a middle child. J

What's the most important message in your books?

Each one of my books has a different theme, but the overall message is to seek God first.

How did you get started as a writer?

I won an award in the fourth grade for a story I wrote titled, “Friends Can Be So Mean,” but I didn’t pursue writing until after I was married and had children. Every couple of weeks I would take the kids to the library to get a pile of books when it hit me. I could write stories like the ones I was reading! So I enrolled in online classes through the Institute of Children’s Literature, and have gone to writing conferences every since. Now I have seven books published—four for tween girls, and three novels for women.

Tell us about your family. What is the most fun thing you've done together as a family?

I’ve been married to my college sweetheart for twenty-eight years, and have four children, two boys and two girls, between the ages of sixteen and twenty-three. We live along the coast in central California, and have taken many fun trips to Tahoe to ski/snowboard in the winter or raft down the Truckee River in the summer. Fun times!

What's next on the writing horizon?
I have several writing projects, including books for tween girls as well as a novel, being considered for publication. I’m also working on a gift book for moms. J

Author bio:

Sherry Kyle is the author of books for tween girls, including a Gold Mom’s Choice Award winner, and new releases The Girl’s Guide to Life and Love, Lexi: Letters to God. She also writes novels for women set along the coast of California where she makes her home with her college sweetheart and their four children. When she’s not writing, Sherry spends her time reading, having coffee with friends, and decorating her beach home. You can visit her at www.sherrykyle.com, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.


BONUS*BONUS*BONUS*BONUS*BONUS*BONUS*

The Girl’s Guide to Life Novelist and Children's Author Sherry Kyle is GIVING AWAY a copy on her blog to a random entry as an extra bonus. http://www.sherrykyle.com/christian-authors-network-2016-scavenger-hunt/


New releases:
The Girl's Guide to Life (RoseKidz juvenile nonfiction, Feb 2016)
Love, Lexi: Letters to God (Tyndale juvenile fiction with devotional/journal, March 2016)


Link to the next blog: http://www.sherrykyle.com/

Phrase: book lovers 

If you're ready to enter the contest, click here to send in your entry: 
http://christianauthorsnetwork.com/newreleases/
 



THE CAN AUTHORS PARTICIPATING IN THIS EVENT ARE:

Darlene Franklin, Rebecca Ondov, Sandra Orchard, Davalynn Spencer, Winnie Griggs, Kathy Collard Miller, Sarah Sundin, Dianne Barker, Lena Nelson Dooley, Anne Greene, Linda Koza, Sherry Kyle, Jocelyn Green, Cheri Cowell, Margaret Brownley, Susan G. Mathis, Angela Breidenbach, Peggy Sue Wells, Pam Farrel, Kathy Ide, Elizabeth Goddard, Janet Bly, Miralee Ferrell, Andrea Kahn Boeshaar, & Linda Rondeau

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Cozy Mysteries by Linda Kozar

Gate Beautiful Radio Show--November 21, 2013

Family Reunion--Oregon 2012

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Meet The Christian Authors--2011

Meet The Christian Authors--2011
@ Barnes & Noble, Houston, TX