It all began in Branson, Missouri!

Years ago, I was a full-time, 24/7 bed and breakfast innkeeper. Everything was simply lovely... uh, except the cash flow! It was impossible for me to get a part-time job away from the Inn. I needed to generate some extra income while Branson was at one of its low spots in its ongoing roller-coaster-boom-town ride.

With the huge celebration of Ozark Mountain Christmas every year in the hills of the Ozark Mountains, Branson had become the focal part of the celebration. The entire town turns into a magical wonderland of Christmas celebration. Today, Ozark Mountain Christmas has been named one of 100 event destinations in the entire nation!

With my passion for cooking and unending collection of recipes, I decided to pen an Ozark Mountain Christmas cookbook. I got busy and called all my celebrity friends and asked them to contribute a recipe for my book. The response was great. I designed the cover with a foil imprint of the logo for Ozark Mountain Christmas at the time (see logo above). It was to be an incredible "gift book"!

Today, the celebration of Ozark Mountain Christmas begins around Halloween, but back in the 90s, the little town almost shut down the first week in November to prepare for the festivities, rehearsals and fine tuning of the Christmas shows.

This created quite a challenge with my book, because not only was I dealing with a local, regional book but also a seasonal book with a window of no longer than an 8-week selling cycle!

In the adventures of self-publishing this book, as the book hit the presses I lay awake wondering if I could develop a recipe to eat these books with salt and pepper if they didn't sell.

Thousands of copies of the Ozark Mountain Christmas Recipe Collection were sold and it became a year-round seller. I've had many requests for the book, published in 1996, which is out of print. I'm currently posting the entire book at no charge on one of my blogs: OzarkMountainChristmas.blogspot.com, a couple recipes at a time. (Please check it out, you'll see why I love the recipes!)

That brings us to what is going on in my writing world today. I'm currently in Branson on a writing sabbatical. I've had so many requests for the Ozark Mountain Christmas Recipe Collection year after year that I'm penning an all new Branson Christmas Cookbook to be released for the 2009 Ozark Mountain Christmas celebration season.

So much in Branson has changed since I was an innkeeper, and I'll be writing about some of these changes on my blog. Some things, however, never change, and one of those is my love of the beautiful Ozark Mountains and Ozark Mountain Christmas! Born and raised in a farming community in Illinois, right here in the Heartland, I'm no stranger to great food and fabulous recipes!

Cookbook lovers and collectors are going to love the new book, A Taste of Ozark Mountain Christmas Recipe Collection. All 224 pages will be overflowing with a broad variety of festive recipes to satisfy every holiday occasion. Spotlighted chapters will be dedicated to some very special foods that come but once a year! A Taste of Ozark Mountain Christmas Recipe Collection will be a great keepsake and a thoughtful gift. I've even designed the cover with elegant gold foiling, to reflect the original 1996 book.

I'll be scheduling book signings, tastings and even some cooking classes around Branson during October, November and December. I'll be tickled to sign your copy of A Taste of Ozark Mountain Christmas, whether it's for you or a special gift! Please follow me and the progress of the book on my blog, OzarkMountainChristmas.blogspot.com, and on Twitter @BransonRecipes.