Getting to Know Christmas Style

Subject: Getting to know your friends--Christmas edition
You all know the drill...you answer the questions and send back to me, and anybody else you want to answer the questions.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Hot chocolate with marshmellows

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Mom and Dad wrap presents. Santa puts his by the tree unwrapped

3. Colored or white lights on tree/house?
White lights everywhere

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
I always forget

5. When do you put up your decorations?
The day after Thanksgiving. They come down the day after Christmas.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Stuffing!

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child:
My Dad taking his time drinking his coffee. It drove us kids crazy. We couldn't open presents until he was done. This became a game and treasured memory

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
Fourth grade from a mean red haired boy

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Any gifts arriving in the mail are opened as soon as they arrive

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
The grandkids come over and decorate. The adults "rearrange" when the smaller ones drink their hot chocolate

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
Love it!

12. Can you ice skate?
Not at all

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
My daughter (born on Dec. 17) or my wedding set

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Being with family.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
Cherry pie

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Christmas morning at home with hubby and the kids.

17. What tops your tree?
An angel

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?
Giving...but I do enjoy the presents, too.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
Mary Did You Know and Emmanuel (God With Us)

20. Candy Canes?
Can live with them or without them

Thanksgiving

I love the holidays. Everything about them. We had twenty-four people for dinner on Thanksgiving. Yes, it was loud, it was crazy, and it was fun! The kids raised the decimel level way past the sound barrier, but that was okay, too. If it got to be too much, the adults just stepped outside, or ran the kids out.

Way too much food. Six different types of pie, plus we always celebrate one of our son's birthday, so there was also a triple layer Black Velvet Cake.

The smells so warm and homey. The sights so welcoming, cementing precious memories into us. The sounds, loud but thank God I could hear them. The holidays heighten our senses. This holiday season we should not only thank God for the abundance of food, family and friends, but also for the gifts he gave us: smell, sight, hearing, touch, taste, etc.

Hazardous Duty

Definitely a fun read. While Gabby St. Claire is cleaning a crime scene, she uncovers evidence pointing toward someone other than the suspect being held in jail. The closer she gets to the truth, the more suspenseful things become. As if trying to avoid being killed isn't enough, she finds herself torn between two men who are interested in her. One of whom practices a faith in God that intrigues Gabby.

Christy Barritt has written the first in what I hope is many Gabby adventures. I look forward to seeing where her interest in Christianity and her love life takes her.

NaNoWriMo

Well as of this morning, I've only written 17,116 words. I should be crowding 35,000. I don't think I'll reach my goal of 50,000 words, but at least I'm making a good dent and, hopefully, with have the first draft of, Buried Beneath the Midnight Blue, finished by the end of this year. This is the novel I'm hoping will cut the ice with the publishers. It's a humorous cozy romantic mystery. My critique partners are really enjoying it. This genre is totally new to me, difficult to write (my mind likes the scarier stuff), but a lot of fun.

A Mile From Sunday

Finally, a "real" heroine. Below is my review of Jo Kadlecek's, A Mile From Sunday.

Jonna Lightfoot McLaughlin is a heroine for today’s Christian reader. She’s smart, ambitious, loyal, loves a pint of ale after work and smokes. Although, she is trying to quit. As the city’s number one religion reporter, Jonna is looking for a “good” front page story and falls into a trap of fraud and danger.

Jo Kadlecek has finally given us a heroine we can relate to. One that is not perfect, a bit of a slob, looking for her love-match, and striving for a better relationship with God. This book is a must read for readers of any genre. – Cynthia Hickey, author

Writing Ups and Downs

What a rollercoaster! I entered the Harvest Rose contest with Romance Writers of America, and while I didn't win, the positive feedback was astonishing. These women liked my story, liked my writing, and had excellent points. Finally, uplifting feedback.

I've also joined NaNoWriMo. The event where you write 50,000 words during the month of November. Today is the second, and I've written a little less than 2,000 words. Not much considering what is left. I'll keep ya'll posted if you're interested. I'm also following a course on the ACFW forum where you write a novel in thirty days. I've read a book on this. Basically, you have to write 5 pages a day for a 300 page novel. The publishing line I'm going for only wants 60,000 - 65,000 words, so it ought to be easy, right? Yeah!