Tuesday, December 27, 2011

My Review: Transcendent by various authors


Repeat after me: You WANT to be part of this blog tour. Go enter to win fun prizes. Lots of prizes. Go, NOW!

Why are you still here? Oh, you're back. Ok.

Transcendent is a fun, fun collection of short stories by various authors, some of which you may have heard of. Others, you will.

The first story starts out with a hilarious twist on an old tale, and it just gets better from there.

Oh, and don't forget to check out the other participating blogs:



If paranormal is your thing, or if you're wanting to try something new, you won't be disappointed. You can click on over to GOODREADS and see what people are saying about it. Then, you can head over to AMAZON to pick up the e-book, or wait for the paperback coming SOON!

Click HERE to show these fun authors some Facebook love.

And happy reading. :)

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Christmas Poem

**I posted this last year, but it bears repeating. This is probably the best poem I've ever written.**

"Jesus Child"

The star shone high and bright,
in the sky above our heads.
We tried to tend our flocks,
but followed it instead.
How far it led us, we know not.
Nor do we really care.
For we'd have trod a thousand steps
to see who we saw there.
He was so small, this Son of God,
an infant child who lay
in a manger, with Mother dear
on a bed of hay.
His eyes, so bright, just like the star
that shone in Heaven above,
looked on us with approval
as we gazed at him in awe.
Others came, but we were first
this sweet child here to see.
And we knew then, deep in our hearts
our Savior he would be.

December 19, 1994

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The Cloth Tree


Many years ago, I lived with my husband and small son in a tiny little house. One particular Christmas season, we'd just found out we were expecting twins and were in the process of looking for a larger house. As you can imagine, the tiny little house was in disarray. We only had a four foot tree, but we had simply NO room to put it. What to do? How will we put up a tree this year?

Feeling creative, I used an old sheet as a backdrop and cut out a large green triangle that I sewed to the sheet. Then, my husband and stepdaughter helped me "decorate" our tree. We hung it up over a window and strung lights around it. The gifts stacked underneath it against the wall.

Each year following, I would come across this silly little tree as I unpacked the Christmas tree and decorations. Usually, I'd just refold the cloth tree and put it back in the box. But, the tree held a special sentiment to my husband, and I guess to me as well, because I could never bring myself to throw it away.

This year, when I unpacked the boxes, I had an idea. With the help of my 5 children, we spent a fun evening cutting out and decorating little paper "gifts." My husband laminated each one, and I attached velcro to the backs and to the old, white sheet. I also used different strips of felt to create a border--no, I had never actually "finished" the edges of the tree backing.

Now, each day from December 1 to December 24, someone puts up a numbered gift as we count UP to Christmas. By Christmas eve, the little cloth tree will be surrounded with 24 happily colored gifts. Now, at last, our little cloth tree serves a purpose in our home. And each member of the family has a part in it.

I'm curious. What family traditions have you started? Or what traditions do you carry on from generations past?

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

What do You Think?

Pulling up to the house always felt like entering some exclusive club. Sure, nearly every other house in the cul-de-sac had desert landscaping and a three car garage, but this house stood out. Maybe it was the cascading waterfall in the front yard, surrounded by just enough rock-lined grass to frame it. Maybe it was the double solid oak doors you could see from the street. Maybe it was just because it was home.

Have you ever read a book where each chapter begins with a short letter or journal entry? What do you think of such a device? In Consequences, I'm struggling with the right balance between two points of view. There isn't enough story to give the second character her own chapters or segments, but there are aspects of her experience and feelings that the reader would benefit from knowing.

I actually kind of like the glimpses into a character's "diary" so to speak. I once read a book where the chapters took place in real time, but each one was prefaced with a short letter from the past--of either the children to their mother, or the mother to her children. I may be in the minority, here, but I enjoyed it.

Which is precisely when I'm asking. What do you think of such a storytelling tool?