Trying Again for Jolabokaflod by Eileen O'Finlan

 

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I have been fascinated with the Icelandic tradition of Jolabokaflod ever since I found out about it. Jolabokaflod roughly translates to "Christmas book flood|." Beginning during World War II, people in Iceland have been purchasing books from a catalog sent to every household in Mid-November. They give these books to friends and family. Gifts are opened on December 24th. According to tradition, the recipients start reading the books right away. A cozy Christmas Eve is spent with hot chocolate, a sweet treat or two, and a brand new book. It sounds like heaven to me.

Last year, I decided I would try my own version of Jolabokaflod by getting everything ready early and then spending the entire evening reading. Unfortunately, I did not plan well enough. I host Christmas dinner for a few family members at my house so a lot of Christmas Eve is spent cooking what I can ahead of time, cleaning, and playing Santa for my cat. (Yes, she's very, very spoiled.) I miscalculated how much time I would need and never got my long evening of reading.

I do try to learn from my mistakes, so this year I intend to do everything I can do ahead of time on December 23rd so that on Christmas Eve I can curl up in my favorite comfy chair next to the Christmas tree and indulge in my favorite pastime - reading. A couple of cookies, a mug of hot chocolate, and my cat lounging nearby will make my Jolabokaflod complete.

I will have to take time out to fill Autumn Amelia's stocking with catnip toys and place her special treats under the tree.  I don't mind, though, in fact I like doing that for her. She loves Christmas. Besides, she's my muse and the inspiration for one of the main characters in my Cat Tails series books, so she's earned it. After all, how could anyone deny Christmas joy to this face?

                           

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My December Blog by Deb Loughead

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 December Blog—Deb Loughead

Ever since I picked up a pencil and started learning to make words and sentences, I began to fancy myself as a writer. My mother read stories to me and told me stories from the very start, mostly because I was an antsy little girl and it was the only way she could ever get me to sit still for longer than a few minutes. Which might explain why I always lived with an insatiable desire to create my own stories.

            Inspiration was everywhere, as is evident in the poems and stories I was writing as a preteen and have saved for posterity (just in case I’m ever famous lol). Like so many fellow wordsmiths, I’ve always been enthralled with the whole concept of the changing seasons, so many of my earliest poems are based on the natural world in all its various marvelous vestments throughout the year. But what inspired me the most was winter and Christmas. They excited me every year and sparked the wordplay in my brain.

            Snowflakes and snowscapes, bring it on! Sleigh bells and church bells, music to my ears! Christmas trees and old Saint Nick, welcome to December! There are so many diverse ways of appreciating the season of snow and frost and ice. In fact a couple of my earliest published poems were winter based. And Christmas too. I was obsessed as a child and, well, I guess I might be called a bit of a Christmas freak. Annually by mid-November a few bits and pieces of Christmas decor begin putting in an appearance around my house. Time to deck the halls!

            So, in keeping with the spirit of the season, here are three of my earliest published poems.

 

Snow Sliding

 

Swift snow sliding,

cross-country skis,

quite trails through

sleepy winter woods.

Snow dusted evergreens

ice crusted stream,

and swift snow sliding…

 

Hush! 

Into whose realm

do skis intrude?

With swift silent leaps

a red fox hurries away.

 

First published in Spires magazine, December 1978

Winter Morn

 

A frosted, glittering world

greets the sleepy eye

the morning after a blizzard.

A quiet bright world.

an unfamiliar,

muffled white world,

where rooftops glisten

            gift-wrapped,

where sidewalks glimmer,

            fleece-napped,

where fence posts glister,

            snowcapped,

and fir boughs low bow

with the weight of their

sparkling robes.

The backyard is almost edible,

with its gleaming ice-cream

snow drifts,

fancy-iced hedge cakes,

and twinkling tree-stump sundaes—

landscape unforgettable.

The crisp air is alive,

awhirl with a flurry of

shimmering flecks.

Show showers on a sunny winter morn—

A winter reverie newborn.

 

First published in The Atlantic Advocate, December 1981

 

 

And There’ll Be Clowns

 

We’re going to the Santa Claus parade.

That jolly old elf, himself,

is coming to town.

 

And there’ll be brassy marching bands

and flashy floats

parading up the streets and down,

 

Kids decked out in costumes

shiny bright,

and there’ll be clowns…

 

And the Survey Says by Renee Duke

 

       

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Writing for teens requires an ability to remember how the adolescent mind works. One example: their attitude towards adult ‘probes’ into their inner feelings disguised as school surveys. High schools sometimes get students to complete questionnaires about individual learning styles, and while some questions might have relevance, most fill kids with an urge to answer them something like this:

Q.  Before starting an unfamiliar task, do you prefer to have someone tell you the proper way to do it?

A.  As opposed to wading in without the vaguest notion and doing it all wrong, yes.

Q.  Do you think it’s important that a teacher understand the subject he or she is teaching?

A.   Now there’s a plan.

Q.  Do you frequently like to have the significance and interdependency of supplemental graphs and diagrams as they relate to concepts addressed in the corresponding texts or lectures explained to you?

A.  I think I’d like to have the above question explained to me.

Q.  Do you write out your notes in paragraph form, or make graphs and charts, to help you understand concepts better, even if the teacher doesn’t require you to do so?

A.  You’ve got to be kidding.

Q.  Would you rather copy notes off the board or work with hand-outs?

A.  Photocopy machines were a wonderful invention. So were highlighters.

Q.  What do you think it means if you doodle in your notebook during class?

A.  It usually means I’m bored.

Q.  Are your notes covered with circles, arrows and other symbols?

A.  Yes.  Even though, by the following day, I have no idea what they mean.

Q.  If you sit near a classroom window, can you be distracted by what’s going on outside? 

A.  Depends if watching two crows square off over a walnut is more riveting than Pythagoras’s Theorem. (Answer: yes.)

Q.  Do you find it easier to think when you have the freedom to move around?

A.  The school rather frowns on students wandering the halls because they’re ‘thinking’.

Q.  Do you often tap your foot or pencil when you’re thinking?

A.  Doesn’t everyone?

Q.  Do you get restless if you have to sit still for an extended period of time?

A.  Doesn’t everyone?

Q.  Do you enjoy studying English literature?

A.  The operative word is ‘English’. Things like, “Bifil that in that seson, on a day,” no longer qualify as English.

Q.  Do you read for enjoyment?

A.  I don’t have time to read for enjoyment.  I’m too busy reading assigned downers like Wuthering Heights and wicked wastes of paper like The Metamorphosis.

Q.  Do you have trouble spelling unknown words when writing an essay?

A.  If they’re unknown, how would I know to use them?

Q.  How much do you enjoy giving presentations in class?

A.  I wasn’t aware it was supposed to be enjoyable.

Q.  Do you find it difficult to accept views opposite to your own?

A.  No.  The world is full of ignorant people.  One has to have tolerance.

Q.  Do your parents have to nag you to do your homework?

A.  I don’t know if they have to.  I think it’s pretty much automatic.

Q.  Do you resent it when teachers who have taught your older brothers and sisters have high expectations of you?

A.  Having taught my older siblings, they generally don’t have high expectations of me.

Q.  Do you find it difficult to set goals during teacher/parent/student conferences?

A.  My parents have usually made it pretty clear what ‘my’ goals are going to be.

They don’t–or at least, shouldn’t–answer that way of course. They’d be put down as maladjusted and made to do six more questionnaires designed to figure out why.

Old is the New Pretty by Julie Christen

 

I've decided. I'm going to start the latest trend. Just like in the fashion world, where "Silver is the new gold," or "Leggings are the new jeans," and "Gray is the new black," I hereby declare ...  

"Old is the new pretty!"

It really is just a mindset, isn't it? After every new trip around the sun, my friends tell me, "Age is just a number." I smile and nod in my typical, agreeable fashion. It's how you feel that matters, right?

Well, some days, I feel old. And some days, I look old.

I try my darndest to combat it, what with expensive wrinkle creams that promise to "take years off," cure-what-ails-you morning drink mixes that will make me "feel twenty years younger," a yoga mat laced with good intentions of helping me touch my toes again, and a LOT of BioFreeze Roll-on gel. I watch celebrities age with grace and beauty because they do "this ONE thing."

I say enough already. 

When I look at my favorite antiques, I think their rust and scratches and dents and dings are part of what makes them special. The tarnish on my grandma's silver is just a coating of nostalgia that revives visions of holidays past. Those rustic, run-down buildings in the middle of abandoned farmland look like amazing stories yet to be told. 

When I pull on a pair of old, out-of-style jeans and they curve loosely around my rear and bear memories of caught fences, party stains, or glitter craft remnants, why would I ever say goodbye? 

When I run my hand along the sway back of an old horse, the gray muzzle of a senior dog, or the mottled fur of an aging cat, all I see are the sure-sign markings of beloved, faithful friends who have gifted endless smiles, wisdom, and comfort. 

That's pretty.

So when I feel aches and pains, I will celebrate the hard work I'm still capable of doing that makes them so. When I look at my reflection, where some would see blemishes, I will choose to see beauty marks. When I draw a comb through gray hair and see crinkles at the corners of my eyes, where some would see flaws, I will choose to see high fashion. When I hear creaks in my bones and pops at my joints, I will choose to hear the rhythm of time and the wisdom that comes with it.

So say it with me, and repeat it often. 

"Old is the new pretty!"

And we will consider ourselves in good company.

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Research like a detective by Donalee Moulton

 

Hung Out To Die- A Riel Brava Mystery, by donalee Moulton — Books We Love Publishing Inc.

In historical settings, investigators often have limitations modern detectives don’t—and this goes well beyond technology. Everything from restricted travel, class barriers, rigid gender roles. These limitations can be opportunities to connect with your reader. Lean into them; they nudge creativity and add tension. 

 

The sleuth’s personality and background should also reflect the era while also offering traits—curiosity, stubbornness, empathy—that transcend time. 

 

Research like a detective, not an archivist  

If your detective needs to walk down a street in 1912 Montreal, you should know what that street smelled like, whether cobblestones rattled under carriage wheels, and how likely your character was to meet someone selling newspapers on the corner. 

 

Sources for rich and authentic detail include: 

• Newspapers and periodicals from the time (full of language, concerns, and advertisements) 

• Diaries and letters for personal perspectives (where possible) 

• Historical maps for accurate geography 

• Material culture research—what fabrics, foods, and objects were common 

 

The goal is to take readers into this world by recreating it for them without overwhelming them with facts that will weigh your story down and bore readers. Instead, let historical details work like seasoning—enhancing the flavour without overpowering the dish. 

 

Layer in historical conflict 

The best historical mysteries don’t just place a modern crime in an old-fashioned setting—they weave the mystery into the fabric of the time. A theft in 1920 might be tied to Prohibition smuggling. A murder in 16th-century Spain could intersect with religious persecution. These historical tensions add stakes and make the story more than a puzzle; they transform it into a lens through which readers experience the era. 

 

Make dialogue a cornerstone 

Language is one of the quickest ways to immerse readers in the past, but it’s also a common pitfall. Too much archaic phrasing can make dialogue stiff and hard to follow, while overly modern speech breaks the illusion. 

 

The key is selective authenticity: 

• Use period-appropriate vocabulary for objects, occupations, and social customs. 

• Avoid slang that didn’t exist yet (dictionaries can help here). 

• Keep sentence structure readable for modern audiences. 

 

Keep pacing tight 

While the past moved at a different pace, your plot shouldn’t drag. Balance richly detailed scenes with moments of action and revelation. In historical mysteries, tension often comes from the slow build—delays in communication, the time it takes to travel, the risk of misinformation spreading—but every delay should raise stakes, not stall the plot. 

 

End on a deeper note 

When the mystery is solved, consider how this crime fits the morality of the era. Would a killer from a higher social class face justice? Would certain motives be more understandable—or unforgivable—back then? The ending of a historical mystery should leave readers feeling they’ve solved more than a crime, but that they’ve understood something about the world that once was.