Christmas In July - time to write

I do most of my writing in the summer, the lack of games actually makes it easier to write about hockey, believe it or not. I normally get a bunch of short pieces and something a bit longer done between June and October.

I start writing my Christmas stories in July. My birthday is July 17th and my father’s was December 19th. So I start on my birthday and want to have it done, edited and out by Dad’s. My family doesn’t have much in the way of Christmas traditions, my mother was a minister when I was young and from what I have seen in my family and others having a minster in the family has a way of discouraging holiday traditions, but the Christmas Story tradition is one I share with my mother who writes historical mysteries.

So I started my Christmas story on Wednesday. Well I guess it isn’t really a Christmas story, the heroine is a Valkyrie an actual daughter of a Norse god so the story will fall in the two weeks of yule.

I live near Philly and it has been crazy hot this week so during the heat I have been imagining Massachusetts in December. As coping measures go, it is pretty good. Not Gatorade good, but not that bad either.

So for the next month or so I will be thinking and writing about cold, snow and ice. And hockey, always hockey.

Comment with your e-mail address to win a ten dollar gift certificate to Amazon or Dunkin Donuts and a copy of my Christmas story Rejoice a Burden.

Excerpt from Rejoice a Burden

     A few of the team were standing around. Steve, a rookie forward was standing with his wife and they were both holding thin swords. Billy, a defenseman was cradling his arm while his girlfriend stood between him and the door. Our captain Shawn Murphy was sitting on the floor holding his nose, trying to stop it from bleeding, his new girlfriend looked at me and then her lips pulled back from extremely sharp teeth. I knew all sorts of odd and magical beings played for the Nor’easters, but Nimah’s teeth gave me pause.

“What are you?” I asked her.

“Selkie,” Murphy said his voice muffled by his broken nose.

“A what?” I asked.

“She is a seal, like Vále is a wolf,” Murphy said getting up off the floor, “Look you have bigger problems but here is a rundown. Vále is a wolf, Nimah is a Selkie, Steve is Jack Frost, Rose seems to be springtime in a chick’s body, Gabby is - well I don’t know what she and Billy are.”

“I’m in recovery,” Billy grunted, “nothing more exotic than that.”

Murphy ignored Billy’s interjection, “But something came and took your girl.”

“Joulupukki,” Steve’s wife Rose said.

“Santa Claus?” I asked stupidly, “Santa Clause kidnapped my girlfriend?” 

 

 

Indiependence - So Good I Couldn’t Pick One

http://indeliblewriters.blogspot.fi/2013/06/indiependence-day-2013.html

I should say that I read huge amounts of independent and small press authors. Until very recently I had an independent bookstore not far from my house and I got almost all my books through him. The store is gone now but I still read mostly independent and small press, so I couldn’t pick just one.

One lucky commenter will win an e-book copy of one of the titles I talk about in this post.


First let me touch on a book that I am reading now, Forbidden Kin, a romance by T.M. Hobbs published by Books To Go Now.

http://www.amazon.com/Forbidden-Kin-ebook/dp/B00ASNZ5UY/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372606953&sr=1-5

I got this book recently. I got it because I read her first novel Wings of Fate and really enjoyed it. There is a subtle joy to everything this author writes and she always delivers a happy ever after ending. This is the author’s first Regency, she normally writes paranormal, and I can’t wait to see how she handles a new sub-genre.

Next is The Halfling’s Court by Danielle Ackley-McPhail published by Dark Quest books

http://www.amazon.com/The-Halflings-Court-ebook/dp/B004I6E4FE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1372608720&sr=1-1&keywords=halflings+court

I read this when it first came out. I had originally thought of submitting a story to the first Bad-Ass Fairies collection, but didn’t (truth be told I’m still working up my nerve to submit to an anthology from this publisher) so when that collection came out I gobbled it up. When I read the story At The Crossroads by this author my first reaction was “What? You can’t leave me there! This needs to be a novel!” When it became a novel I bought it and just sat down and read the whole thing. I know nothing about motorcycles or Biker Gangs (the last person to own a motorcycle in my family was my great-uncle and I think it was an Indian made for the Military) but the combination of them and fairies still sticks with me. I still wonder about these characters and I come back to this author time and time again. She has a new novel in the series that came out in May that I haven’t had a chance to read yet, but I will have by the end of the month, because I am saving it for my birthday mid month. Yeah, these are birthday present good.

My last book is Zombie Fallout by Mark Tufo published by Mark Tufo.

 http://www.amazon.com/Zombie-Fallout-ebook/dp/B003A022YO/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

I guess the header on my blog points this out, but I am part of the Boston diaspora. That plays into my love of this series. Mike, the main character, is also part of the Boston diaspora and the pacing of the dialog and word choice shows it very clearly. This is a light hearted zombie story and I spent the whole time laughing. And sometimes you just need a good laugh, these were suggested to me just after the Marathon bombing and I wish I could tell you who suggested them but it has slipped my mind, but I really did need a good laugh. These books are in first person, in the form of journals and Mike could pass for my husband who has many of the same issues and preferences (mind you my husband is a hockey fan and not much into baseball)these books are character based so from time to time the plot can meander a bit, but those meanders show the traits of the characters off and for the length of seven books I just floated away with Mike and his family.