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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

Have I Got a Birthday Gift for YOU!

by Chautona Havig · 15 Comments

The paper cutter sliced through another sheet of cardstock—another. One by one, I stacked sheets in piles. The base, the image layer, patterned paper, ribbons, tags…

Once I’d gathered all the pieces, assembly began. Some needed coloring, others just layering. As much as I love to use ribbons and brads and all that funness, I tried to keep them semi-flat.

It’d get expensive to make and pay double-postage for hundreds of cards a year. But that’s what I was going to do—mail hundreds of cards.

The first batch went out. The next. And yet another one followed. Occasionally, I got behind and people got their cards a few weeks late, but I kept it up pretty well the first year. The list doubled. I still managed okay the next, and then it happened. I got one back. Wrong address.

Talk about discouraging. That first one was easy to fix. I had the email, and in less than a day, it was on its way to the proper place. With just a quick email, I was back on track.

If only it had lasted.

More came back as more people moved. Every time I received one back, it became harder to find where it should have gone. That’s when I got more than a month behind. More like two or three. Still, I kept trying. You see, I love making cards, and I love blessing people. Birthdays are important.

I wanted to celebrate yours.

There was a hidden benefit for me in the whole thing. I got to make cards. Since that kind of creative outlet really does bless my socks off, it was a win-win situation. When it worked.

But the further behind I became, the heavier the guilt was. So, I did the only thing I could think of. I closed my address book, put it back on the shelf, and told myself it just wasn’t the season to do it anymore.

Every time I see that address book, my heart squeezes.

You see, I want to do that. And yet, I couldn’t.

I can’t tell you when the idea hit me. Part of me thinks it was in Las Vegas at the convention. Actually, I’m pretty sure of it. I could still do the birthday club. I just needed to adjust it to a more manageable form. I’d streamline it—just a bit.

No more making cards for everyone. As much as I love that, it’s not the season of my life to do it. Some people will get the handmade card—at least one a month. However, most people will get a postcard with custom artwork I commissioned from one of my launch team members. Sometimes I’ll color it myself, and other times I’ll leave it for you to color. It just depends.

To learn more about Florence and her artistry, you can visit her HERE.

But you guys know me, right? You know that wouldn’t be enough for me.

So, like when I come up with a plot point, I kicked it up a notch. I decided I wanted to give everyone a gift, too. I mean, birthdays mean cards and presents, right?

That was it. I’d have to do it. It took a while to figure out what to do and how… but I did!

Have I Got a Birthday Gift for YOU!

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Have I Got a Birthday Gift for YOU!

I decided I’d create an exclusive short story that you can only get by joining the Birthday Club for 2019. At the end of the year, I’d publish it, and write a new one for 2020.

Everyone receives a card with a handwritten note from me… and a link to that short story.

Birthday cake with pink candles

The short story for 2019? How about Kari’s birthday? “Many Happy Returns” is just that. Kari’s last birthday before the opening of Past Forward. I thought it would be hard to write, knowing what would happen just four months later, but…

It was nice. I loved getting to see Kari and Willow’s life through Kari’s eyes. And now you can, too! How? I’ll tell you!

But first, a few things.

  1. To receive your birthday card, you’ll have to sign up for the birthday club and give me a physical address where you can receive postal mail. This offer is NOT limited. I’ll mail it worldwide. A long as you can receive mail, I will send it.
  2. By signing up, you are giving me permission to send you mail. I may, at times, send you some encouraging note during the year. However, I will NEVER give or sell your address to anyone, I will keep it in a password protected place, and I will not use it to send junk mail. I hate it, too, and Cassie would hurl Think at me if I wasted paper that way.
  3. Signing up also is a silent agreement that you will not distribute my short story. Your friends are welcome to their own copy. In fact, if they sign up AFTER their birthdates, I’ll still send their card—even if it’s November and their birthday was in January. Just please allow me the privilege of being generous. Please don’t take that joy from me and do it for me.

How do you sign up?

Glad you asked!

You just go HERE

Or fill out the form below.

So, Happy Birthday, to everyone. I can’t wait to send YOU your card and access to the short story! 🙂

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Filed Under: General Information, Giveaways, Short Stories

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Comments

  1. Marleen Viola says

    January 2, 2019 at 9:57 am

    I love this idea and I love you and your stories! Sometimes they are all that make me smile in a day (besides my family) and that makes me happy! One day you should look into doing a secret sister on your website or FB page. I would love to get to know one or more of your other readers even if it was a pen-pal type of thing 🙂

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      January 4, 2019 at 5:07 am

      That is a FABULOUS idea! I’m going to have to think about this–the best way to handle it. I mean, how cool would THAT be???

      Reply
  2. Sharon Smith says

    December 31, 2018 at 9:59 am

    I have the hardest find typing anything on your.blog site. I cannot see what I am typing.

    Reply
  3. KristiIRL says

    December 30, 2018 at 9:09 pm

    I love you, lady! Love the idea, too!

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      December 30, 2018 at 9:41 pm

      Love you, too!

      Reply
  4. Florence Wright says

    December 30, 2018 at 3:33 pm

    Thank you so much for the mention. It was my pleasure to help you out with that little task 🙂 God Bless You!!!

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      December 30, 2018 at 6:45 pm

      You so blessed me. Thank you!

      Reply
  5. Huanne Woodward says

    December 30, 2018 at 2:16 pm

    Thanks! I love your stories

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      December 30, 2018 at 2:26 pm

      Aw, thanks!

      Reply
  6. Rosalyn Rooney says

    December 30, 2018 at 12:17 pm

    I love this!!!! I live in England and not everyone sends things internationally! I’m so happy you’re willing to do so! I can’t wait! 😀

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      December 30, 2018 at 1:56 pm

      Cards aren’t very expensive to mail, and I always hate that laws and things often prevent me from doing things for my international folks. Even our Canadian neighbors can’t win my giveaways thanks to their government saying no. THIS I can do. 🙂

      Reply
  7. Faith says

    December 30, 2018 at 10:02 am

    Can’t wait for the short story! This is a great way to handle the birthday club. I thought my daughter was out of her mind making 100 cards for family and friends for 2019. 🙂 Your “fix” should work and I think you are so sweet to remember your readers in this way! Praying this will be your best birthday club year yet! BTW–when is your birthday?

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      December 30, 2018 at 1:56 pm

      100 cards would be so doable. 30 a month got to be a bit rough. 🙂
      My birthday is in July. I was born on the first anniversary of man landing on the moon!

      Reply
  8. JoAnne A Baker says

    December 30, 2018 at 4:31 am

    I love this! I can’t wait to get the short story. Past Forward was the 1st book I read of yours and now I am hooked on anything that you write! Thank you.

    Reply
  9. patty-anne Lea says

    December 30, 2018 at 2:03 am

    I have my birthdate correct but not the year of my birth. But then I thought. Well my birthdate is 2018 as well and each passing year.

    Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 162: A Chat with Author, Nancy Naigle
byChautona Havig

Hey, we’re back after a couple of weeks of vacation, and boy did I need it. And, have I got a fabulous interview for you. Nancy Naigle and I talked about her books, her most recent release, What Remains True as well as her Christmas books and the one I’m most anxious to read, The Shell Collector. Listen in and learn about what Nancy says about this bet she has going on in What Remains True. Great stuff!

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Need a Great Romantic Read to Wind Up Your Summer Reads?

As I said in the podcast, a while back, someone told me I’d LOVE The Shell Collector–one of those people who recommends books you HAVE to read if they say you do.  So I bought it and it’s been sitting on my shelf ever since. Well, now it’s on my GoodReads shelf, and I’m about to start it (and I optimistically thought I’d be done with it by the time this episode released. Oh, me of too much faith in myself and my time management!)

Author of over thirty books, not to mention a bestselling author who also has movies made of her novels (And The Shell Collector has been optioned! EEEP!), Nancy loves to write Christmas books and small-town stories. Seriously, as we talked, I felt like she was talking about me half the time. We’re so very alike in so many ways. It was fun.

Nancy also pointed out that her first books (if you go WAY back) are not Christian fiction and are a bit spicier than she prefers to write and definitely more than she writes today. So be warned there, but she did assure us that they are all closed-door books.

What Remains True by Nancy Naigle

One woman wants to win a bet. One man wants to become a rodeo champion. One little girl may give them both something even better—from USA Today bestselling author Nancy Naigle.

“A commitment-phobic rodeo star and a divorcée with secrets find love in this wholesome romance. . . . As uplifting as it is sweet.”—Publishers Weekly

Working at a little shop on Main Street in a small town is exactly the break that executive Merry Anna Foster needs following her divorce. She’s made a bet with her ex-husband that she can live on the amount of money she’s giving him in alimony. If she can do it, then Kevin will have to stop complaining and leave her alone. But after three months of this new life, will she even want to leave Antler Creek?

Adam Locklear, bull rider and owner of the local feedstore, is having the best year of his rodeo career. He’s also a bit distracted by the pretty new neighbor living in his old bunkhouse. But Adam has no time for matters of the heart. He’s got his future all mapped out, and that future doesn’t involve a woman just yet. It doesn’t involve parenting a little girl either. However, Carly Fowler still suddenly leaves five-year-old Zan—the daughter Adam didn’t know he had—in his care.

Is it possible that the future holds a life even better than what Merry Anna and Adam had each dreamed of? One that includes both tenderness and even love—not just for each other but for Zan too?

You can learn more about Nancy’s books and movies on her WEBSITE.

Oh, and PSST… I’m loving the audiobook of this one!

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Episode 162: A Chat with Author, Nancy Naigle
Episode 162: A Chat with Author, Nancy Naigle
August 9, 2022
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Episode 153: A Chat with Historical Author, Tracie Peterson
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