Thanksgiving Traditions: Family Gatherings, Canned Cranberry Sauce, and The Turkey Pardon By Connie Vines

 

Once again, it's that stressful yet joyous time of the year. A time we paw through the mountain of frozen turkeys at the local market, praying the one we select will thaw before Thanksgiving Eve. 

Each year, Americans in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November.

The preparation of the turkey varies from family to family, state to state, and from traditional to new and improved. And then there is a time-honored tradition that I can't explain or truly understand. 

The Turkey Pardon

Each year at Thanksgiving, the president receives a gift of two live turkeys. At a White House ceremony, the president "pardons" the National Thanksgiving Turkeys so they live on a farm.

Fortunately, for the young children and miffed mothers, it takes place several days before the "families' turkey" roasts in the oven.

The Meal

Since my childhood was nomadic, my menu is a combo of southern cooking, cornbread dressing (I do not stuff the bird), collard-green with diced bacon, sweet potato pie, and mashed potatoes. However, my mother's family was Czech. In other years, I made potato dumplings topped with sour kraut, date snack, and my favorite cookies. Kolaches. It is not the yeast roll type in the southern states, but the buttery/creamy cookies you see in Chicago, IL. 

And a can of cranberry sauce...

The WishBone

We can delve into this tradition at another time. 

Let's focus, instead, on the can of cranberry sauce.

I was never a fan of canned cranberry sauce. Everyone is familiar with the Jelly-like creation, which slides, giggles, and slides off your plate when cut. 

The History: Marcus Urann, a Massachusetts farmer and lawyer, created the first canned cranberry sauce in 1912. It appeared on the market in 1941, allowing the product to be sold year-round.

As a child, it appeared on the dinner table every holiday. I vowed to banish it from the world when I became an adult.

Well, I'm sure you can guess what happened...

I married. My husband, from Louisiana, loved fried catfish and preferred canned cranberry sauce to my homemade version (which was delicious, by the way). We compromised. He never asked me to prepare or eat catfish. (It tasted like muddy water, even after I soaked it in buttermilk.) And I never complained about his canned cranberry sauce.

Of course, our sons loved the canned cranberry sauce but agreed with me about the catfish.

FUN FACTS:

🦃A ripe cranberry will bounce.

🦃All turkeys and chickens have wishbones.

🦃Canadians celebrate their own Thanksgiving every October.

🦃Abraham Lincoln declared a national day of Thanksgiving in 1863.

🦃The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was held in 1929.

  

I hope you enjoyed my post. 

Holiday shopping time and Black Friday Events with huge markdowns begin the day after Thanksgiving here in the US.

BWL is having a can't-be-beat sale on all of their EBooks!

From now until Christmas Day (at midnight), the Elves will be busy delivering your purchase. 🧝 🦌🎅🎄

Happy Reading and Happy Holidays,

XOXO

Connie

(the link is below the photo)

Holiday Book Sale!!

Where's Connie?

https://bookswelove.net/vines-connie/

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Blogger,  Website  and 

I'm also on Substack connievines.substack.com

Starting a new series: The Protectors – by Vijaya Schartz

Find more of my books on the BWL site HERE

I wrote many series, mainly science fiction and fantasy, and each time I say goodbye to one to start another, it’s a bittersweet experience. I am sad for leaving the angel ship Blue Phantom behind. It’s like letting go of grownup children so they can have their own life.

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I wrote three series in the Azura universe, populated with strong heroines, brave heroes, and galactic supervillains: Azura Chronicles, Byzantium, and Blue Phantom. In that universe, Avenging Angels with special powers fought sinister entities to maintain the balance of good and evil throughout their galaxy. I find it difficult to leave that special world behind. But in this vast universe, I can imagine many worlds and civilizations coexisting very far apart. The new worlds I create now might even collide with the old ones at some point.

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Write about what you know is one of the golden rules of writing. I was always a Martial Artist, and maybe you can tell from my female warriors and epic battle scenes. But for well over a decade, I’ve also immersed myself in the world of Tai-Chi, the way of the peaceful warrior, and the energy of Chi-Gong. I studied, I practiced daily, and now, although I remain a lifetime student, I have also become a teacher.

Celebrating Global Tai-Chi Day in the park, with a few of my students.

So, I came up with a premise for a three-book series called THE PROTECTORS. The setting will be a post-apocalyptic planet after a cataclysmic event that wiped out most of the population. As the planet recovers slowly, the feudal society is reorganizing around the populated hubs, and among the surviving nobles, the race for power is on. Soldiers are recruited to fight the barbarians unfurling on the plains. Their weapons of choice are the sword, the spear, the bow, and they ride horses.

The heart of the series is a Tai-Chi temple built like a fortress atop a steep outcrop in the desert. At the main courtyard entrance, between two giant stone pillars, is a Celestial Gate, constructed eons ago by space travelers from other parts of the universe.

The Protectors are a special corps of elite warriors trained at the temple and sworn to protect the gate.

There will be plenty of action and adventure, some scary characters, a little romance, intrigue, and drama. Things and people are not always what they seem. But even if you get scared for the main characters, good will prevail over evil forces at the very end.

I’m enjoying plotting and writing this new series. The first book will be released in November 2025. You still have time to read my other books.

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Happy reading!

Vijaya Schartz, award-winning author

Strong Heroines, Brave Heroes, cats

http://www.vijayaschartz.com

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On the Toxicity of Compliments by Byron Fry

 

https://byronfry.com/

What is it that makes artists recoil from compliments? I’m talking about ‘true’ artists here—people who take Art seriously, who live their lives in subordinate servitude to Art; not those who are in it specifically for recognition, admiration or success. We of The Craft have a name for that latter type: Posers. And this piece isn’t about them.

For true servants of The Craft, recognition and approval can de-legitimize Art; this is possibly a by-product of our disdain for critics and the foaming, vapid pop culture whose frenzy they stoke…as if our contribution has no value when the ignorami like our stuff. Mustn’t get that association on us; it’s a mark of disgrace, and might not wash off.

But if that’s the case, then what about compliments coming from quarters we regard as artistically legit? From people we admire, mentors, or fellow artists whose work we venerate. I occasionally receive a true compliment from someone who necessarily gets it—who understands The Process, who I know to have walked in my shoes—and even then, my knee-jerk response is to hurry past it, to turn my face away lest I get forced into accepting the kudos, or worse yet, facing the possibility that I may have actually, finally, done something good and right.

Like many of us, I’ve been deeply ingrained with the sense that accepting compliments, even inwardly—especially inwardly—is bad form. Those of you who live in the artistic culture know that of which I speak. We are painstakingly conditioned to believe that accepting compliments is toxic, and most of us take that conditioning to heart. To accept compliments jokingly is okay—“oh please, no no no (gimme more, gimme more…)”—but not seriously. That might lead to self-approval, which of course fosters incompetence and ends it all--a horrible, dishonorable death.

Is it that we have to hold ourselves to such high standards in order to be competent with The Craft, that acknowledging anything we’ve done right might encourage complacency, thereby threatening the sacred skill we bring to the table? Is our skill set that fragile?

Well, yes. Of course it is.

And I think that what might be at the root of this is the very real necessity to keep ego out of the way in order to hear (or see) what wants to be. Ego is not a bad thing, in the right ratio and context; it is the healthy, normal sense of self and a vital part of how we survive. It drives us to become who and what we are. Without it, no human can ‘become’. The human engine simply won’t run without ego.

But in the artistic process, there’s a very ticklish balance to be had between being the egoless blank canvas—removing self from the equation—so that we can be Her stylus, neither filtering nor discoloring what She wants, while at the same time we must be in command of our skill to the degree required to render Her wishes, which of course requires self and ego, in order for our skill set to be there at the table.

I think most of us agree that the artistic process requires a person who operates from a place of humility. Deep-down humility, the kind that makes us feel like we can never be good enough, never practice enough, never be truly blank enough to really hear (or see) EXACTLY what wants to be, so that we can bring it into the world with the excellence of form that She deserves from us. We’re all different, us artists, in how we create our Art, but for most of us it’s a very fragile process. And this means that recognition, compliments and success are a threat to our Art and well-being, like a rattlesnake in a baby’s crib.

There’s also the exacting criteria by which we must be approved by our peers and fellow practitioners of The Craft. If we’re seen practicing bad Art, or chasing admiration with our Art, it’s blasphemy. Worshiping a false prophet. Our reputation is ruined, as it should be. We must walk in that corridor of trueness that will win the respect and admiration of just the right people, just the right circles. A compliment for the wrong thing, or from the wrong quarters, is like a billboard advertising our disgrace. We must not only walk the line of being true to Her and bringing purity of process to The Craft; we must also be perceived by our peers as walking that line. To achieve success is to bring one’s self under scrutiny, as it’s a very suspicious thing.

There are, of course, those among who achieve huge success in the eyes of pop culture, and in the eyes of true artists alike; who can (if they’re capable of it) accept compliments without dishonor, because they haven’t sullied their Art and their love for Her in achieving that success. But they are vanishingly rare.

 

Our Christmas Novels by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

 

https://books2read.com/The-Twelve-Dates-of-Christmas

https://books2read.com/Single-Bells

https://bwlpublishing.ca/donaldson-yarmey-joan/

My sister, Gwen Donaldson, and I wrote these two holiday/comedy/romance novels together. They are about women who try dating sites and the strange, wonderful, and unexpected men they meet. We had fun doing this, joking that they are loosely based on Gwen's love life: she does the research while I do the writing. Most of the stories, though, are made up. I don't think anyone has had that many dating disasters. At least, I hope not.

Here are the blurbs from the back of each book. 

The Twelve Dates of Christmas

Stacy Martin, who has been married three times and had many relationships, doesn’t want a man in her life right now but her friends have other ideas. As a forty-ninth birthday present they pay for her to join three dating sites on the Internet. She just has to fill out the forms and pick the men she wants to meet.

The only stipulation is that she must find a man by Christmas Eve so that the two of them can join Kate, one of her friends, and her boyfriend in Hawaii for New Year’s Eve. “All you have to do is pick twelve men to date in December,” Kate said. “After the first date you can decide if you want to see each again. In the end you should be able to choose one for our Hawaii trip.”

Stacy has a full life with owning a flight attendant school, owning a rental condo, and owning a cat. Will she choose a man from a dating site, the man who has accused her female renters of being prostitutes, or the stranger she meets as he is leaving the rental condo building?

Single Bells

Simone Bell-Watson owns a literary agency in Vancouver, B.C. It is just before Christmas and she has discovered her husband is cheating on her. This sends her into a frenzy of starting a divorce, changing her name, selling their condo, and moving in with her mother. She also has to contend with her sister trying to set her up on dating sites to get her back in the dating scene.

Serena Bell owns a popular pub in Richmond, B.C. After many years of dating she is still hopeful of finding the ideal man or at least a man who doesn’t try to change her or who doesn’t point out her faults. She has a profile on many dating sites and has her own rules about when to take texting with a man to the next level of actually going on a date with him.

Their mother, Patricia Reed-Bell is a widow who writes historical romances.

Join the sisters and their mother in this holiday romantic comedy as Simone deals with her new life, Serena dates a number of men, and Patricia flirts and freely talks about sex.

Careers for Characters by Victoria Chatham

 

AVAILABLE HERE

In my historical romances, careers, as we understand them today, did not exist for my heroines. Young ladies of quality were trained from a young age to look for an advantageous marriage, manage a household, and raise a family. However, my leading ladies all had a streak of independence and wanted more than being lady of the manor.

Emmaline Devereux followed in her father’s footsteps and became a spy in the Peninsular Wars. Juliana Clifton learned to swordfight because she didn’t want her brother to have all the fun. I knew next to nothing about sword fighting, so I watched several YouTube videos, but my understanding of methods and techniques with different swords grew to a new level when I attended some fencing classes.

Lady Olivia Darnley loved books and knew her way around libraries. One of my Regency belles, Hester Dymock, was an herbalist and healer. Charlotte Gray learnt map-making skills from her father and millinery from her mother. Phoebe Fisher grew up on a farm and became a competent horsewoman. My Brides of Banff Springs heroine, Tilly McCormack, became a chambermaid at the famous Banff Springs Hotel. The heroine of my new cozy mystery series is a sixty-six-year-old retired primary school headmistress.

I don’t recall having to create a career for any of them, as they all evolved organically. Charlotte Gray was the only one who gave me any trouble. As I saw it, Charlotte’s story was about being a lady’s companion in a quiet country home. I thought she might become the vicar’s wife, very genteel and respectable, but Charlotte wanted adventure, so that was what she had, and then some. It took me a while to figure out a connection between spying and map-making, smuggling and millinery, but once I built her backstory, it came together quite quickly.

AVAILABLE HERE

When we start writing, we are encouraged to write what we know. I knew very little about any skills my heroines needed other than using herbs and horseman(woman)ship. I’ve been around horses since I was five, and my life-long interest in herbalism at age nineteen. Spying during the Napoleonic Wars was rife, and the Duke of Wellington was rumoured to have a network of some four thousand spies. I have always liked maps, so it wasn’t too hard to work that theme into Charlotte’s story. The millinery, not so much.

As the author, you can choose any career for your character, but they will tell you what they like and don’t like, what they can and can’t do, and what they might want to learn. Authors may use their own experiences of a career, as John Grisham did with his legal thrillers, or let their imaginations run wild as J.K. Rowling did with Harry Potter. With judicious research, you can build careers for your characters about which you, the author, know nothing. Dick Francis, the author of over forty horse-racing-related thrillers, had many different careers for his characters, from a glassmaker to an art forger, a horse transporter to a meteorologist, a barrister to a movie star playing detectives on the big screen.

I needed to learn about ranching, cattle, and rodeo stock for my contemporary Western romances. One of my heroines was a lady rancher, another a photojournalist, and the third an interior designer. You might wonder about those last two characters, but those leading ladies became involved with ranchers, so they had to have their own careers.

Once an author has the career background, has done the research, and has begun writing, what emerges is as authentic as possible. However, I hope none of my future characters wants to climb mountains or be a trapeze artist, as I have no head for heights.  

Victoria Chatham

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Seeing the setting

 Each book in my Doug Fletcher series is set in a different national park or historic site. While there is information about all of the locations on the internet, there's really no substitute for having been to the locations. As fiction writers, we create a variety of towns, businesses, and people who never existed. One writer explained how she, and introvert, worked. "I create things that never happened, in places that don't exist, with people who were never born. All this while sitting at my computer. It's a perfect world for an introvert."

That's not an option when setting the books in national parks. They do exist, and readers know what they look like, even if the events and characters are fictional. In a few days, we're going to Kentucky where I plan to visit Lincoln's Birthplace National Historic Site. I've got an outline for a mystery I want to set at Lincoln's birthplace, and I need to experience the place before finishing the book. Being there, allows me to add "texture" to the setting that I can't get from Google Earth or YouTube.  My victim owns a fictional distillery, and his murder is related to the imminent release of the first batch of his new bourbon. 

I've really enjoyed the research about bourbon making (not sampling,,,internet research). The definition of bourbon requires the largest portion of the "mash" be corn, and that the liquor be aged for at least two years in charred white oak barrels. Kentucky is the birthplace of bourbon, but it can be made anywhere in the U.S. as long as it follows the rules. Beyond that, there are nuances in the grains, and aging that add flavor and mellowness to the liquor. Having some chemistry background allowed me to dig into the science behind the art. There are literally hundreds of ways to tweak the flavor profile on the final product, and my victim was a master distiller, who was making his competition nervous. 

That said, I may have to make room in our trip to visit a distillery, or two. Just to better understand the process and the feel of the facilities. Hmm. That may require me to sample some product. Hmm. Maybe we'll visit a couple of distilleries. I wonder if they have Uber in central Kentucky? I'd hate to be ticketed for oversampling and driving while doing my research. (Seriously, that will NOT be a problem).

Look for "A Bourbon to Die For" next summer. In the meanwhile, check out "Strung Out to Die" and the previous Doug Fletcher Park Service mysteries from BWL publishing.

Hovey, Dean Doug Fletcher series - BWL Publishing Inc.

Writers On War, JD Shipton

 The glorification of war can oft be found in books, on film, and throughout video games. Keeping the manageability of scope in mind, I'll limit my premise to the written word here, and we'll focus on books.  I've read several (fiction, for this enterprise) which were thematically based around war, and have found there to be a common ground in many of them which were written by veterans: Condemnation.  

 A sort of "what in the hell are we even doing here?" always seems to become the mantra as the story progresses.  We are given a daguerrotype of human suffering rather than a playbill for the honor and panache of armed conflict.  Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front does (in my opinion) the best job of this: highlighting the initial gusto with which young men go to war, then supplanting that with misery and despair and futility. Remarque would know, having spent nearly two years in the hellish trenches of WW1.  

The ultimately ludicrous nature of what is happening in the midst of war is best captured by Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5, in the sort of stark human experience language and expression that he is uncannily capable of.  Having deployed with the 423rd Infantry Regiment to Europe in '44 as an advance scout, he really did have a first-hand perspective of the situation.  Given his sublime insight into the nature of the human condition, his account of the sheer folly of the whole endeavor should not be discounted by anyone.  

Occasionally there is represented a sort of justifiable violence- always perpetrated in the aide of comrades and brothers in arms, rather than for the goals of the state.  We see this in Flight of the Intruder when Coonts has his protagonist, Jake Grafton (essentially Coonts himself, who won the Distinguished Flying Cross, and flew 2 combat tours over 'Nam in the A6), fly one last renegade mission over Vietnam with the ultimate goal of saving future A6 jockeys from his own experiences and turmoil.  

While having never served in declared combat, I have deployed numerous times to numerous theatres, and found myself asking many of these same "what in the hell are we even doing here?" questions.  The answers one comes up with on the dark nights are not often conciliatory.  Who knows, maybe I'll write about it some day...

Is the sun shining?...by Sheila Claydon

Find my books here

I've just realised that many of my books are either set in sunny countries or the protagonists visit them during the story. Kissing Maggie Silver is one of them. Is this because as an English person living in the northwest of the UK I want more sunshine, or is it just that I've travelled to the places I write about? And why am I thinking about sunshine, after all the UK is not known for it.

Indeed, people living in warmer climes mostly think of it as a grey, rainy island with erratic weather. Sometimes they are right. July can be cold and August wet and dreary, only to be followed by days of sunshine and soft breezes through September and October. Then another year gives us a long, hot and dry summer followed by an autumn of biting winds and snow on high ground. It isn't consistent and in many ways that's how we like it. It's why British people are teased for always talking about the weather. It's why, when we holiday, we can sometimes be overwhelmed at having to face the same sunny weather day after day. We seem to like not quite knowing what the following twenty-four hours will bring. 

When we take our dogs for their daily walk nearly everyone we meet comments if there has been a sudden change in temperature, or if it's dry after a week of rain and puddles. It might only be 'it's a bit cold today' or 'that cloud looks as if it's going to rain on us in a minute,' or it might be a five minute conversation about how great it is that we've had a whole week of sun. So given the erratic nature of British weather, why would we decide to have solar panels installed? Surely it can't be worth it.

We, however, have a friend who is a battery expert (quite what that means I'm not sure!) and he, after much discussion, has persuaded us otherwise, so now we have solar panels installed on our roof. It's been a noisy and busy week what with scaffolding being erected, then roofers spending a day installing the panels, followed by the scaffolding being taken down again. Initially the dogs made a fuss but then they seemed to shrug and give up, whether that was because the workmen were making more noise than them, or whether they just got used to it, we'll never know!

Anyway the panels are up and running and wow! Despite almost universally grey skies ever since they were installed, plus snow yesterday, the miracle of photovoltaic/solar panels and battery storage means that the house has been running almost exclusively on sunshine during the day, even though it was hidden behind the clouds. This is a bonus we weren't expecting. We knew when the sun came out we would get our free power, but we didn't expect much in November. 

Of course at this time of year the hidden sun isn't storing enough energy in our batteries to keep us going 24/7 but it's doing its best. Yesterday, as well as supplying the ongoing power for fridges, televisions, battery chargers etc., it saw me through using the dishwasher, the washing machine twice, the tumbler drier once, and cooking an evening meal before it reverted to online power. We are so amazed by the systems's ability to use the faintest of the sun's rays, that we have to keep going to look at the battery readings. And once the sun really starts to shine we will be able to sell any surplus power back to the National Electricity Grid, so a win win all-round.

And there is something very satisfying about it too.  It feels a bit like growing our own vegetables or, maybe a more apt example, foraging for fruit in our nearby woods, something we do every autumn, and which results in blackberry and apple pies, crumbles and cobblers, apple chutney, rosehip syrup and plum jam. Of course everyone likes getting things for free, but when nature is involved it is far more satisfying.  To know that our house will now be almost exclusively powered by sunshine is a fantastic feeling...and guess what, while I've been writing this the clouds have rolled back and the sun has come out. Happy days!

Cold Weather Changes by Helen Henderson

 

Fire and Redemption by Helen Henderson
Click the title for purchase information

Harvests are complete, hay is in the barn, fruit and vegetables have been put up, and the cool temperatures of autumn are shifting into the cold of winter. All signs of changing seasons. 

Various sections of the country welcome temporary visitors they called "snowbirds," people who leave the cold, ice, and snow behind for warmer temperatures. As a child, my family had our own version of the "snowbird." She was called Grammy.

As soon as the first hard frost turned the ground white, it was time to move Grammy from her mountain bungalow.The bungalow was heated by coal and it was hard for her to feed the scuttles of black rock into the furnace or to remove the ashes. Snow covered roads meant the family could no longer make the two hours or more journey from their homes in the next state to the coal county of their kin. Grammy didn't drive, however that was not a problem in the summer when the grandchildren spent a week or two at a time with her. And the parents took the elderly relative to the doctor or shopping when the younger generation was swapped out.

The cold weather solution was to turn Grammy into a snowbird and move her south. Preparations would be to fill the coal bin, bring the porch swing inside, pack up any unused food from the pantry, and lastly, to drain all the water from the pipes to winterize the bungalow. Then the winter routine began. Grammy would spend three or four weeks with one daughter and her family and then a month or two with a son and his family. The periodic shifting would continue until spring, when like those who move to the warmer climes for the winter head north to avoid the heat, she would return north to the mountains.

Dal's kin in Windmaster had a similar means of surviving the weather. To set the scene, Dal and Ellspeth rescued a young woman from a group of evil monks, earning the cult's anger. When an invading force is sighted on its way to Dal's family's winter home, a decision had to be made. Fight or flee. Dal's mother chose to use the weather as protection and moved the clan to the mountain caves that was the clan's escape from the summer heat of the valley far below. Now it would protect them from those who meant to destroy all magic -- and anyone touched by it.

After Ellspeth’s light touch woke him, Dal sat cross-legged on the floor, his back against the bed leg. An emerald gemstone the size of a small egg lay in his hand, the stone’s facets catching the glimmer of moonlight that filtered from a crack in the shutters. A spark flared in the heart of the crystal. It brightened into a green-tinted image. Dal watched a line of horses and wagons slowly wind around waist-high snowdrifts. “At least Eilidh and the clan are safe,” he whispered. “They made it safely through the pass.” He closed his eyes and released the spells that had been controlling the blizzard and holding the clan’s pursuers at bay. How long he sat there he didn’t know. He felt the energy he used to control the weather slowly flow back into his body.

~Until next month, stay safe and read.   Helen

To purchase the Windmaster Novels: BWL

Helen Henderson lives in western Tennessee with her husband. While she doesn’t have any pets in residence at the moment, she often visits a matronly husky and a youthful feist who have adopted her as one the pack. Find out more about her and her novels on her BWL Author page.

Tom Thomson Book Launch a huge Success! by Nancy M Bell

 

To learn more about Nancy's books click on the cover please.

The book launch at The Purple Platypus Bookstore in Castor, Alberta was huge success. There was tons of fun,  door prizes, swag bags and of course a reading from the book. There was a great turnout with over 20 people joining me in the cozy confines of the bookstore. It's such a pleasure to support and be supported by an independent bookstore. Castor is a small town in east-central Alberta and The Purple Platypus draws patrons from as far away as Red Deer and Wetaskiwin. I'm so happy that the lovely Lynn Sabo agreed to host this book launch. Even though the day outside was a bit dreary, the warm and companionship within was wonderful. 

Not to mention I sold lots of books which was good for me and the store. So win win.

As anice way to cap off the day I got the first look at the cover for my upcoming book Night at te Legislature, a Manitoba paranormal set in the Manitoba Legislature building. This one is the first book in BWL Publishing's news collection The Paranormal Canadiana Collection which will feature a novel set in each of Canada's provinces and territories.

Until next month, stay well, stay happy

 

Holidays on the Horizon by Janet Lane Walters @BWLAuthor #MFRWAuthor #Holidays #Stockings #Christmas #Horror Writer's Demise

 Another month has arrived. At present I'm busily working on a new book in a new Series The Writer's House. In the area where I live, there was and still may be a house that rented space to various membrs of the Arts community. This new series takes place in a house where the authors can find a space to write and not be bothered by family and other diversions.

Valentina Hartley is the heroine. She is new to town and goes to an evening lecture on Ideas for Writing Your Book. When the lecture is finished, Val who does research at present for college professors leaves to find the foyer, porch and parking lot lights out. She stumbles over the body of a dead man. His throat has been slit. She is helped to stand by her new friend who has a half house she can rent to bring her son and mother to town. At present she is living in a warehouse her business partner has rented.

Kyle Bradley a detective on the local police force is a widower. His sister, Dana has given up her position as a nurse to care for his son following the boy's mother's death. The dead man is a mystery. Fairly new to town, he has taken the horror writing community by storm, His origins are mysterious.

Thus the story begins and hopefully will be solved. But can the murderer be caught?

How do the holidays fit in. They are there since I need to have the book to my publisher before Christmas. The holidays will be busy this year.

I;ve started buying for Christmas Stockings. This year I have seventeen to do. They must be started early since many of them must be sent to children and grandchildren at a distance. Six to Florida and 2 to Georgia. The rest are rather local which is nice. Except  five must be done before they leave on their cruise.  I really enjoy doing the stockings and finding unusual things they might use. Pens are always put into them and I ave new ones with myname on them for this year. I also give them socks to wear. One year I decided not to do the socks but I got calls in protest so now they receive their socks.