Wishing You and Yours
 Happy Holidays!

Along with
Pleasant memories of the past!

From the entire Taylor family

Writing and Christmas are Alike

from C.D. Hersh 

We think writing and Christmas have a lot in common. 

Preparing for Christmas is like writing a book—not that anyone gets much writing done in the weeks before the holiday. The concept, however, is the same; start early and stay on target. 

For an Easy Christmas Holiday:

Plan in advance. Knowing your menu weeks in advance and looking for recipes you can prepare ahead, freeze, or have on hand reduces stress in the kitchen and lets you enjoy the holiday too. Don’t want to cook ahead? Then remodel the kitchen (not before the holidays, of course) and get that second oven you’ve been wanting so all those green bean casseroles will fit in. Better yet, let someone else host.

Shop all year long, especially on vacation where you can get one-of-a-kind items, and avoid the mall rush.

Get familiar with your Christmas dishes. Start using your Christmas dishes at the beginning of December so you don’t have to get them out of storage at the last minute. That 24-piece place setting of hollies and Christmas trees needs to be used more than once at Christmas dinner!

Get next year’s Christmas cards as soon as they go on sale. After all, you have a pretty good idea how many you will need for next year, and they never go out of style.

Begin next year’s Christmas letter now. Start in January and keep a running tally of the important things you want to include. If you bind the letters in a notebook, you have a ready-made life journal. One stone, two birds.

Make a goal list. Shopping done before Christmas, house cleaned thoroughly by the first weekend in December, trim the tree the day after Thanksgiving (since you don’t have to shop on Black Friday), Christmas cookies baked by the second weekend (or cheat and just buy them), the guest room readied right before your guests arrive, and so on. Tweak the list to fit your needs.

For Easy Book Writing:

Write all year long, every day. Then when you take all that time off in December to get ready for the holidays, you won’t feel so guilty.

Plan your book in advance. Some seat-of-the-pants writers claim too much planning takes the fun out of writing. We’ve done it both ways and have found thorough planning and plotting keeps us out of those pesky writer’s blocks. You just have to be willing to let your characters speak to you even if they don’t want to go where you’ve planned.

Get familiar with your book and characters. Let the novel and your characters live with you daily. When you are thinking about the book all the time, the words come easily to the page and your characters’ voices sound more real.

Get your ideas as soon as they come to you. Carry a notebook, or use your phone, to jot down everything that comes to mind about your current WIP or ideas for new books. Even if you don’t use the ideas now, they may work, with some tweaking, for something in the future. Writers are always writing, and we need to capture those ideas when they come.

Begin your next book now. Writers who don’t think about future projects while they are still working on the current one run the risk of writer’s block for their next book. A running log of ideas, thoughts, characters, or anything related to the next books will make coming up with the stories easier. We brainstorm when we drive places, capturing all our ideas, good or bad, in a composition notebook. In a single composition book, we have at least 10 new ideas waiting to be developed. Will we write them all? Maybe not, but we have ready-made journal filled with possibilities.

Make a goal list. Set writing goals for yourself. Whether it’s 100 words a day, or 20 pages a day doesn’t matter. It’s the goal that counts. Tweak your goal list to fit your needs and you’ll be surprised how quickly those 100 words will turn into pages, and pages into chapters, and chapters into a book.

So, this holiday season, when you are laying your gifts beside the nativity, under your Christmas tree, give a gift to yourself. Promise to start writing early in the New Year and stay on target. Who knows, with perseverance and a little luck, you could be tucking your brand-new book under next year’s tree as a gift to someone else.

Happy Writing and Merry Christmas!

Putting words and stories on paper is second nature to co-authors C.D. Hersh. They've written separately since they were teenagers and discovered their unique, collaborative abilities in the mid-90s. As high school sweethearts and husband and wife, Catherine and Donald believe in true love and happily ever after, and that’s why they write romance.

In addition to writing Catherine and Donald love antiquing, traveling, singing, and going to the theatre. Catherine is also an avid gardener and has drawn Donald into her garden as a day laborer. They figure the couple who plays together and works together, stays together—and that's just what they aim to do.

Second Editions Coming Soon:

Ghosts and Gardenias

The Promised One The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 1
Blood Brothers The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 2
Son of the Moonless Night The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 3
The Mercenary and the Shifters The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 4

Social Media Info:

Website

Blog

Facebook

Amazon Author Page

Twitter

Goodreads

Wishing You and Yours
 Happy Holidays!

Along with
Pleasant memories of the past!

From the entire Taylor family

Wishing You and Yours
a very Merry Christmas

Along with
Pleasant memories of holidays past!

From the entire Taylor family

Make Your Holidays Easier

from C.D. Hersh 

We think writing and Christmas have a lot in common.

Preparing for Christmas is like writing a book—not that anyone gets much writing done in the weeks before the holiday. The concept, however, is the same; start early and stay on target. 

For an easy Christmas holiday: Shop all year long, especially on vacation where you can get one-of-a-kind items, and avoid the mall rush. Plan in advance. Knowing your menu weeks in advance and looking for recipes you can prepare ahead, freeze, or have on hand reduces stress in the kitchen and lets you enjoy the holiday too. Don’t want to cook ahead? Then remodel the kitchen (not before the holidays, of course) and get that second oven you’ve been wanting so all those green bean casseroles will fit in. Better yet, let someone else host. 

Get familiar with your Christmas dishes. Start using your Christmas dishes at the beginning of December so you don’t have to get them out of storage at the last minute. That 24 piece place setting of hollies and Christmas trees needs to be used more than once at Christmas dinner! 

Get next year’s Christmas cards as soon as they go on sale. After all, you have a pretty good idea how many you will need for next year, and they never go out of style. 

Begin next year’s Christmas letter now. Start in January and keep a running tally of the important things you want to include. If you bind the letters in a notebook you have a ready-made life journal. One stone, two birds. 

Make a goal list. Shopping done before Christmas, house cleaned thoroughly by the first weekend in December, trim the tree the day after Thanksgiving (since you don’t have to shop on Black Friday), Christmas cookies baked by the second weekend (or cheat and just buy them), the guest room readied right before your guests arrive, and so on. Tweak the list to fit your needs. 

For easy book writing: 

Write all year long, every day. Then when you take all that time off in December to get ready for the holidays, you won’t feel so guilty. 

Plan your book in advance. Some seat-of-the-pants writers claim too much planning takes the fun out of writing. We’ve done it both ways and have found thorough planning and plotting keeps us out of those pesky writer’s blocks. You just have to be willing to let your characters speak to you even if they don’t want to go where you’ve planned. 

Get familiar with your book and characters. Let the novel and your characters live with you daily. When you are thinking about the book all the time, the words come easily to the page and your characters’ voices sound more real. 

Get your ideas as soon as they come to you. Carry a notebook, or use your phone, to jot down everything that comes to mind about your current WIP or ideas for new books. Even if you don’t use the ideas now, they may work, with some tweaking, for something in the future. Writers are always writing and we need to capture those ideas when they come.

Begin your next book now. Writers who don’t think about future projects while they are still working on the current one run the risk of writer’s block for their next book. A running log of ideas, thoughts, characters, or anything related to the next books will make coming up with the stories easier. We brainstorm when we drive places, capturing all our ideas, good or bad, in a composition notebook. In a single composition book, we have at least 10 new ideas waiting to be developed. Will we write them all? Maybe not, but we have ready-made journal filled with possibilities.

Make a goal list. Set writing goals for yourself. Whether it’s 100 words a day, or 20 pages a day doesn’t matter. It’s the goal that counts. Tweak your goal list to fit your needs and you’ll be surprised how quickly those 100 words will turn into pages, and pages into chapters, and chapters into a book.

So, this holiday season, when you are laying your gifts beside the nativity, under your Christmas tree, give a gift to yourself. Promise to start writing early in the New Year and stay on target. Who knows, with perseverance and a little luck, you could be tucking your brand-new book under next year’s tree as a gift to someone else.

Here is a little about out shapeshifter series that will be five books with four already out on Amazon.

TITLE: The Turning Stone Chronicles

GENRE: Urban fantasy, Paranormal, Romance

HEAT LEVEL: Sensual

Three ancient Celtic families. A magical Bloodstone that enables the wearers to shape shift. A charge to use the stone’s power to benefit mankind, and a battle, that is going on even today, to control the world. Can the Secret Society of shape shifters called the Turning Stone Society heal itself and bring peace to our world?

Find out in The Series The Turning Stone Chronicles

Book one of the chronicles titled “The Promised One” available on Amazon
In the wrong hands, the Turning Stone ring is a powerful weapon for evil. So, when homicide detective Alexi Jordan discovers her secret society mentor has been murdered and his magic ring stolen, she is forced to use her shape-shifting powers to catch the killer. By doing so, she risks the two most important things in her life—her badge and the man she loves.

Rhys Temple always knew his fiery cop partner and would-be-girlfriend, Alexi Jordan, had a few secrets. He considers that part of her charm. But when she changes into a man, he doesn’t find that as charming. He’ll keep her secret to keep her safe, but he’s not certain he can keep up a relationship—professional or personal.

Danny Shaw needs cash for the elaborate wedding his fiancée has planned, so he goes on a mugging spree. But when he kills a member of the secret society of Turning Stones and steals a magic ring that gives him the power to shape shift, Shaw gets more than he bargained for.

Book two of The Turning Stone Chronicles titled “Blood Brothers” available on Amazon.
When Delaney Ramsey is enlisted to help train two of the most powerful shape shifters the Turning Stone Society has seen in thousands of years, she suspects one of them is responsible for the disappearance of her daughter. To complicate matters, the man has a secret that could destroy them all. Bound by honor to protect the suspect, Delaney must prove his guilt without losing her life to his terrible powers or revealing to the police captain she’s falling for that she’s a shape shifter with more than one agenda.

The minute Captain Williams lays eyes on Delaney Ramsey, he knows she’s trouble. Uncooperative, secretive, and sexy, he can’t get her out of his mind. When he discovers she has a personal agenda for sifting through all the criminal records in his precinct, and secretly investigating his best detective, he can’t let her out of his sight. He must find out what she’s looking for before she does something illegal. If she steps over the line, he’s not certain he can look the other way for the sake of love.

Book three of The Turning Stone Chronicles titled “Son of the Moonless Night” currently available on Amazon.
Owen Todd Jordan Riley has a secret. He’s a shape shifter who has been hunting and killing his own kind. To him the only good shifter is a dead shifter. Revenge for the death of a friend motivates him, and nothing stands in his way . . . except Katrina Romanovski, the woman he is falling in love with.

Deputy coroner Katrina Romanovski has a secret, too. She hunts and kills paranormal beings like Owen. At least she did. When she rescues Owen from an attack by a werebear she is thrust back into the world she thought she’d left. Determined to find out what Owen knows about the bear, she begins a relationship meant to collect information. What she gets is something quite different love with a man she suspects of murder. Can she reconcile his deception and murderous revenge spree and find a way to redeem him? Or will she condemn him for the same things she has done and walk away from love?

Book four of The Turning Stone Chronicles titled “The Mercenary & the Shifters” available on Amazon.
A desperate call from an ex-military buddy lands a mercenary soldier in the middle of a double kidnapping, caught in an ancient shape shifter war, and ensnared between two female shape shifters after the same thing ... him.

The first four books of their paranormal romance series entitled The Turning Stone Chronicles Series page are available on Amazon. Their standalone novella, Can’t Stop The Music, is in the Soul Mate Tree collection with twelve other authors from various genres.

Putting words and stories on paper is second nature to the husband and wife co-authors whose pen name is C.D. Hersh. They’ve written separately since they were teenagers and discovered their unique, collaborative abilities in the mid-90s while co-authoring a number of dramas, six which have been produced in Ohio, where they live. Their interactive Christmas production had five seasonal runs in their hometown and has been sold in Virginia, California, and Ohio. As high school sweethearts, Catherine and Donald believe in true love and happily ever after. Which is why they write it!

When they aren’t collaborating on a book, they enjoy reading; singing; theatre and drama; traveling; remodeling houses (Donald has remodeled something in every home they’ve owned); and antiquing. Catherine, who loves gardening, has recently drawn Donald into her world as a day laborer. Catherine is an award-winning gardener — you can see some of her garden on their website.

They are looking forward to many years of co-authoring and book sales, and a lifetime of happily-ever-after endings on the page and in real life.

You can see excerpts of their books, connect with, and follow C.D. Hersh at:

Website

Facebook

Amazon Author Page

Twitter

Wishing You and Yours
a very Merry Christmas

Along with
Pleasant memories of holidays past!

From the entire Taylor family

And the Christmas Coffee Tree is Born

 from Will Okati

As with many of my stories, this one begins with a cat. In this case my cat, Teddy.

This is Teddy. Teddy is very, very sweet.

Teddy is also very, very, extremely, peculiarly and hilariously, Super Not Bright. Daft as a brick. Dense as plum pudding. I love him to bits and pieces but seriously, the little guy has one brain cell floating around inside his skull that occasionally bounces off the walls in an eternal game of Pong. If it is plant-based, Teddy will eat it. If it is plastic-based, Teddy will try to eat it. Then get mad at it and destroy it. Teddy also tries to fight irons because he thinks the steam is another cat hissing at him. Like I said, Teddy is not bright.

Clearly, an actual Christmas tree is not an option in this household. Apartmenthold.

So what to do, I ask while standing next to my sewing machine. What to do, I ponder, while staring blindly at the fabric stash that will one day overflow my storage bins and suffocate me in my sleep.

Oh. Yeah. D’uh. I can make one. (Good job, Will, you get a candy cane.)

One quilted tree coming up! The pattern I found looked like a lot of fun: red and green and white, very festive. I cut out all the pieces for it, and then I thought: what if? Nah. Surely not. But then again, what if.

I love what if. Every concept, invention, and it’s-so-crazy-it-might-just-work thingamambob has been born from that question. If I’m going to make my own tree, then what if I went off book and made something different, quirky, and reflective of things I love?

Inspirations continued to soar through me so for this holida season, the Christmas Coffee Tree was born, soon followed by the Book Tree. A Bee Tree, Rainbow Gradient Tree, Vintage Market Tree, and – yes – Cat Tree are all currently in progress.

I’m having so much fun making these wall quilts that I’ve started selling them on commission. They finish at 29 x 29 inches for the small ($75 plus shipping) and 59 x 59 inches for the large ($125 plus shipping). They’re fully bound, machine/straight-line topstitched, and come with pockets sewn on the back so they can easily be hung flat on the wall. Pretty much any theme you think of will work. Good for the environment, handy for those without a lot of display or storage space or anyone allergic to pine. Best of all they make a great gift.

If you’d like to try making your own tree, the pattern is a free download from FatQuarter Shop.  

If you’d like to commission a quilt from Will, feel free to message him on Facebook or check out his Etsy Shop. You can also find his books at Changling Press. 

Will Okati is a writer, seamster, and apartment-dwelling hermit from North Carolina. He fluffed around with sewing this and that until 2020 hit us all like an eighteen-wheeler driven by someone sustained only by Red Bull and adrenaline. He spent the next year and a half sewing masks and fell in love with textile arts along the way.

Will has lived through a few Interesting Times, but came out the other side a little grayer, a little wiser, and ready to write. Still as passionate about coffee, cats, and crafts as ever, but knowing that to your own self you must be true. Also, still one of the quiet ones to watch out for, but life – like storytelling – is always a work in progress.

CHRISTMAS AROUND THE WORLD

from Linda Lee Greene, Author/Artist 

How much easier it would be for me to fulfill a commission to write an article titled ‘Christmas Around the World,’ if I were actually free to travel, but I do not have that freedom for various reasons. Therefore, I call on my crafty Muse to settle on my shoulder and whisper in my ear an imaginary tale of travel, one in which I call on a number of women in faraway places, each of whom is immersed in high holiday celebrations unique to her culture. I am giddy over the prospect of beginning my make-believe trip with my Muse depositing me smack-dab in the presence of a Native American sister. 

Seven Sisters
acrylic painting by Linda Lee Greene

Paulette welcomes me into her kitchen and then very graciously explains that embracing the Christian tradition is a thorny issue for many of her people given the injustices that America’s indigenous people have faced under white domination, both in the past and the present. Even so, the good spirit of the season permeates her culture in admirable ways. “You showed up just in time to catch me before I leave for a meeting of the Partnership with Native Americans (PWNA),” Paulette informs me. Responding to the quizzical look on my face, she continues. “We spread holiday cheer in the way of blankets, nutrition and education services, medical screenings, and more to over 30,000 of our Elders, children, and families in approximately 110 reservation communities here in the Northern Plains and the Southwest. Winter is brutal in these reservations and rural communities, and we work hard to come together in the spirit of giving at this special time.” Upon making my exit into a frozen morning, I drop a couple of Andrew Jacksons into Paulette’s PWNA donation basket and cringe at the gruesome symbolism of that particular face being imprinted on those U. S. $20.00 bills. 

I suppose my Muse took pity on me and decided to thaw me out, because in the blink of an eye, I am stretched out on the blinding sand of a beach in Melbourne, Australia. I am clad in a bathing suit, and the unmistakable aroma of seafood sizzling on a grill within smelling distance floods my mouth with saliva. Jingle Bells, the jolly Christmas song, rings out from an electronic device. The incongruity is not lost on me as I push to my feet to the greeting of a scantily-clad blonde goddess waving a barbecue fork in her hand. “We thought you were dead to the world, myte,” she says to me. “Come on and git yerself a plyte. It’s prawns on the barbie, stryght from Dad’s boat this mornin’.” Kathryn is the name of this supernatural being, and she is only one of many just like her in her large circle of beach party buddies. Someone thrusts a frosty bottle of beer in my hand and I recoup my senses enough to inquire, “Jingle Bells?” “What else?” Kathryn replies. “It’s Christmas! Eat up! Drink up! The day is jist gittin’ started. You don’t want to miss Carols by Candlelight tonight.” “Carols by Candlelight?” “Yeh, you know! The big charity evint to help out the needy in the community.” To get in the spirit of things, I chug the cold beer and pretend the hot white sand squishing between my bare toes is bone-chilling snow. 

A strong scent reminiscent of home that I am powerless to resist lures me away from summertime Melbourne to a cozy dining room in Tokyo, Japan. A table laden with buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken is occupied on all sides by a young Japanese family comprised of a mother, father, and two children. Apparently, I am the only dinner guest at what Aimi, the lovely mother, explains to me is their “hidden Christmas”. While the stigma of what in Japan is mainly a secular event is dissipating thanks to ubiquitous Western influences wrought through television and social media, influences such as America’s KFC as the food of choice for Christmas Day in Japan, still many people whose leanings remain Shinto or Buddhism, observe the day on the quiet. “It ruffles fewer feathers that way,” an otherwise very Japanese Aimi tells me in ironical American terminology.         

Muse is anxious to send me further into my whirlwind tour, and next, and for a minute or two, I wonder if Muse has time-slipped me back to America’s Old West as the gentle steed on whose back I ride trots me beneath a wide, wood archway that spans an opening in split-rail fencing on both sides. The fencing wanders and then evaporates into what appears a boundless, misty landscape. A carved sign in wood at the crest of the archway proclaims, “LET’S GO GREEN!” And then I know I am in current time, the ominous Climate Change time that does not withdraw to a voiceless corner even on Christmas Day. Great plumes of crystalized breath billow from the nostrils of the horse, and my own frosty breath hazes the lenses of my spectacles. I am in cold, cold country—not quite to the Arctic plain, but close enough, I am pretty sure. No level treeless tundra is this, though, for there are evergreen trees, evergreen trees upon evergreen trees as far as the eye can see, planted in deliberate, neat and regimental rows, like line upon line of locked-arm chorus girls frocked in frilly green. Donned in blue-jeans and a fleece-layered black-and-red-plaid flannel shirt, a Paul Bunyan-like figure materializes out of nowhere suddenly. “Welcome to Saskatchewan’s Evergreen Tree Farm. We’ve been expecting you. I’m Anne,” this burly Canadian female greets me. “You look like you need a warm-up. Come on up to the house. There’s a rum and brandy hot toddy there with your name on it.”       

A profusion of Christmas decorations, evergreen garlands, and twinkling lights at every door, window, and eave forms an almost impenetrable obstacle course to the entrance of the place. In the wake of my hostess, I step across the threshold and enter a winter wonderland, a plethora of all things Christmas. A steaming mug of the hot toddy beckons me to the table upon which it rests, and on the stovetop, the valve on the lid of a pressure cooker dances up and down. The aroma emitting from it is heavenly. “Have you ever had frontier bison stew?” Anne asks me. My stomach drops to my toes and I shake my head. I feel my enthusiasm wilt to a point of no return. I am not so sure my belly is ready for frontier bison stew. “I thought bison was an endangered species,” I state, my mouth going desert-dry in my unease. “Our First Nation people have taken the herds in hand and are bringing the numbers back to almost double now,” Anne explains. “The grazing habits of the herds are also reestablishing the indigenous grasses that are much better carbon capturers than non-native plant-life that was introduced in colonial times. With their bison and my trees, the First Nation people and I are working hard to do right by Mother Nature.” 

Don’t get me wrong. My gratitude for all of Anne’s hospitality is as mammoth as the woman herself. This big-hearted female had a hot toddy waiting to warm my icy bones. And it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if she had grabbed that bison by its horns in her immense lumberjack hands and wrestled it to the ground all by herself, and then saw to all further machinations to get it into her pressure cooker just in time for my arrival at her tree farm this Christmas Day. And while I also appreciate all the laudable environmentalism, suffice to say that my main motivator at the moment is finding a gracious way of sidestepping Anne’s looming offer of a bowl of that bison stew. I send a private, silent message to my Muse that I am ready to move on to the next spot on my journey. Muse hears my plea and at mach-speed, I turn up in Jerusalem of all places, which I am to learn is planet Earth’s ‘City of Three Christmases’. 

While terrorists are wiping out Christians far and wide in the Middle East, the Jewish state of Israel is the one place in the area in which Christians can practice their religion freely. Their number is small: only about 2.5% of the total Israeli population, but Christmas celebrations are large. I meet up with Susan in a library on an outskirt of Jerusalem. She leads me to a table on which lays an enormous tome. She invites me to sit next to her, and she opens the book and I follow along as she spins an intriguing and complex story of Christmas in Jerusalem, the index finger of her right hand tracing the lines on the pages like a sightless person reading braille. Now and then, her head lowers to within mere inches of the book for a closer look at the ancient, fading text, and a crucifix suspended from a silver chain around her neck drops forward and drags across the pages. It seems a confirmation, of sorts. 

Christmas on Mithoff Street 
watercolor painting by Linda Lee Greene

“The Christmas story took place in Israel,” Susan reminds me. “But through the centuries, and for a variety of reasons, the different factions of Christians have not come to a meeting of minds on the actual date of the birth of Jesus. So you see, Christmas in Jerusalem is not a one-day affair. Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians celebrate the day on December 25^th. Orthodox Christians do so on January 6^th, and Armenian Christians on January 18^th.” Susan implores me to stick around and partake of an array of dazzling festivities commemorating the holiday, but by this time, I am more than ready for crisp air and fluffy snow and a bona-fide traditional Christmas as I recognize it to be—a Midwest America Christmas of time spent with family and friends, of sharing food and memories, of gift-giving and receiving amid the ambience of a gorgeously adorned Christmas tree and sparkly mantel and tabletops aglow in candlelight. As ever, my Muse reads me and transports me back to my home. 

My wise Muse arranges my return trip to be a bit slower than my arrivals had been, to give me time to reflect on all I had experienced. The impression most indelible in my memory is the evidence of Creator’s handiwork in those places, of the sights and sounds and aromas, and in the people and their talismans for good such as Paulette’s donation basket, Kathryn’s barbecue fork, Aimi’s KFC bucket, Anne’s trees, and Susan’s crucifix. And I wonder now, what’s in store for me on my next go around!      

Readers were introduced to American Nicholas Plato in multi-award-winning author Linda Lee Greene’s A Chace at the Moon, which was published in 2019 and is available for purchase at Amazon. 

Greene takes readers on yet another adventure of Nicholas’ whirlwind life in her Garden of the Spirits of the Pots, A Spiritual Odyssey. In this sequel, Nicholas shows up in Sydney, Australia. The principle plotline unfolds as on one Saturday of sightseeing he gets lost in Australia’s forbidding yet alluring outback, and there he happens upon a pintsized hut on a lonely plot littered with hundreds of clay pots of every size and description. Driven by a deathly thirst, he stops. A strange little brown man materializes out of nowhere and introduces himself merely as ‘Potter’ and welcomes Nicholas to his ‘Garden of the Spirits of the Pots.’ Although Nicholas has never laid eyes on Potter, the man seems to have expected Nicholas at his bizarre habitation and displays knowledge about him that nobody has any right to possess. Just who is this mysterious Aboriginal potter? 

Although they are as mismatched as two persons can be, a strangely inevitable friendship takes hold between them. It is a relationship that can only be directed by an unseen hand bent on setting Nicholas on a mystifying voyage of self-discovery and Potter on revelations of universal certainties. 

A blend of visionary and inspirational fiction with a touch of romance, this is a tale of Nicholas’ journey into parts unknown, both within his adopted home and himself, a quest that in the end leads him to his true purpose for living. 

Garden of the Spirits of the Pots is available in eBook and/or paperback on Amazon. 

Multi-award-winning author and artist Linda Lee Greene describes her life as a telescope that when trained on her past reveals how each piece of it, whether good or bad or in-between, was necessary in the unfoldment of her fine art and literary paths.
Greene moved from farm-girl to city-girl; dance instructor to wife, mother, and homemaker; divorcee to single-working-mom and adult-college-student; and interior designer to multi-award-winning artist and author, essayist, and blogger. It was decades of challenging life experiences and debilitating, chronic illness that gave birth to her dormant flair for art and writing. Greene was three days shy of her fifty-seventh birthday when her creative spirit took a hold of her.

She found her way to her lonely easel soon thereafter. Since then Greene has accepted commissions and displayed her artwork in shows and galleries in and around the USA. She is also a member of artist and writer associations.

Visit Linda on her blog and join her on Facebook. Linda loves to hear from readers so feel free to email her.

 

Wishing You and Yours
a very Merry Christmas

Along with
Pleasant memories of holidays past!

From the entire Taylor family

CHRISTMAS BRUNCH IS SERVED

After we entertain Christmas Eve, we tear through the house cleaning up before the kids and grands come for brunch Christmas Day. This meal is wonderful because so much can be prepared well in advance and stored in the fridge until it’s time to cook. 

MENU 

Breakfast Soufflé 

Hash Browns 

Fresh Fruit Salad 

Mini Croissants 

Christmas Cookies & Leftover Desserts 

Mimosas 

Breakfast Soufflé 

1 lb. (½kg) ham, bacon, or breakfast sausage 

9 eggs, lightly beaten 

3 cups (750ml) milk 

1 tsp. (5ml) dry mustard 

Diced green, red, and/or yellow pepper to taste 

½ lb. (57g) sharp cheddar cheese, grated 

½ lb. (57g) Swiss or Gruyere cheese, or a combination of the two, grated 

Diced onion to taste 

Freshly ground black pepper to taste 

4 – 1 in. (2.54cm) slices Vienna or French bread, cubed 

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). 

Dice ham or bacon. If you use ham, set aside in the bowl you use for the eggs. Fry bacon to the crispness you prefer. Drain on paper towels. If you use breakfast sausage, fry meat until no longer pink. Be sure to break up any clumps. Drain meat in a colander while you continue to prepare the soufflé.

Add all ingredients, except bread, to eggs. Stir well. Gently stir in bread. 

Pour mixture into an ungreased 9 x 13-inch (33 x 22cm) glass baking dish. Bake 1 hour or until a knife inserted in the center has no egg clinging to it. 

This dish can be assembled one or two days ahead of time. On serving day allow the soufflé to sit on your counter 1 – 2 hours before you bake it. 

Leftovers are excellent from the microwave. 

Hash Browns 

If you need to increase the hash browns recipe for a larger group of people, it’s best to sparingly add more garlic powder. As is this recipe serves 6. Leftovers reheat beautifully. 

3 russet potatoes (about 1½ pounds), peeled 

1½ tsp. (7.5ml) garlic powder, not salt 

Freshly ground pepper, to taste 

¼ cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil 

Shred potatoes on the large holes of a box grater or use the coarse grater disk on a food processor. Transfer them to a bowl of cold water. Allow them to soak for 2 minutes. Drain in a colander and then rinse under cold water. You do this to remove the starch that makes hash browns gummy. 

Transfer shreds to a kitchen towel. Gather together ends of towel and twist over sink, squeezing firmly to wring out as much liquid as possible. This step creates crisp hash browns. Transfer potatoes to a medium bowl and toss with garlic powder and pepper. Be sure to evenly distribute the seasonings. 

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes, press down to form a thin layer and cook for a minute or two. Stir and then press down again. Cook until a dark golden crust forms, about 5 minutes. 

Turn potatoes in sections. This is easier than trying to turn the food as a whole. Continue to fry until hash browns are crisp and browned all over, 5 minutes or so. Transfer to paper towels to absorb excess oil. 

Fresh Fruit Salad 

1 banana, peeled 

1 pear, cored 

1 tbsp. (15ml) lemon juice 

¼ pineapple, peeled, cored, and diced 

1 kiwi, peeled and sliced 

10 seedless red grapes, halved 

10 blueberries 

10 raspberries, optional 

Slice banana into bitesize pieces. Scoop into a medium-sized bowl. Dice pear and add to bowl. Sprinkle lemon juice over fruit to stop it from turning brown and mix well. 

Gently fold in remaining fruit. 

Spoon into a glass bowl, cover with cling wrap, and chill until time to serve. Leftovers are still good the next day.

Mimosas 

1 bottle sparking white wine or champagne, cold 

1 carton orange juice, cold 

Tall slender glasses 

Fill glasses half full with wine. Tip the glass slightly as you pour to retain the fizz. Top off with orange juice. Don’t stir. That will destroy the bubbles. 

May you enjoy all the days of your life filled with good friends, laughter, and seated around a well-laden table!

Sloane

CRUNCH TIME DINNER

from Tina Ruiz 

Nothing goes to waste in my kitchen. If I have leftover Italian or French bread it becomes the base for a dinner. And what a dinner it is – easy – quick – delicious. Can’t beat that if you’re on a busy schedule or tight budget. 

PIZZA BREAD

½ loaf Italian or French bread

1½ cups spaghetti sauce, possibly more

½ lb. Genoa salami or pepperoni, sliced thin

3 or 4 slices fresh tomatoes

1½ cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Split the bread in half lengthwise.  Smear spaghetti sauce on the white part of the bread. Lay meat slices on top. Scatter on mozzarella and then Parmesan.

Place the bread on a cookie sheet then pop them into the oven until the cheese melts, and VIOLA, dinner is ready! 

A nice treat after the pizza bread is a dish of vanilla ice cream topped with Kahlua or your favorite coffee liqueur.  No whip topping, just the ice cream and liqueur.  It is sooooo good and really hits the spot.

Here’s a brief intro to my children’s Christmas book your little ones will enjoy.

Blitzen was born at the North Pole, but he is unable to fly. Because of that, he is taunted and called names by the other reindeers. Rudy saw what was happening, and he decided to teach Blitzen how to gain some confidence. And with a little magic powder from Santa, Blitzen is not only able to fly, but he becomes part of Santa's famous team.

Amazon Buy Links

E-Book - Paperback

Tina Ruiz was born in Germany, but her family moved to Canada when she was in grammar school. She began writing children's stories when her own were little. Through the years Ruiz wrote twenty-seven books. Most of those stories went into readers for the Canada Board of Education. Two did not. Mayor Shadoe Markley is a story about a ten-year-old girl who becomes Mayor for a Day through a contest at school.

Little did Ruiz know that story would “change the world.” The book came out at early January 1988. By the end of that same month, everyone was calling the mayor's office at City Hall, trying to get the forms to fill out so their children could participate in the contest. Thirty years later that same contest is still runs at full speed. And not only in Calgary, but all across Canada. The Mayor's Youth Council is now in charge of the celebrated contest and invites Ruiz to attend and meet the lucky winner. It's usually followed by a hand-written thank you card from the mayor himself. Recently Ruiz was invited to be part of the Grand Opening of Calgary's New Library where the mayor shook her hand and introduced her to the attendees.

Tina has worked in television and radio as well as being a professional clown at the Children's Hospital. She lives in Calgary with her husband who encourages her to write her passion be it high-quality children's books or intriguing romance.

Stay connected with Tina Ruiz on her Facebook group Tina Speaks Out.

Wishing You and Yours
a very Merry Christmas

Along with
Pleasant memories of holidays past!

From the entire Taylor family

Wishing You and Yours
a very Merry Christmas

Along with
Pleasant memories of holidays past!

From the entire Taylor family

HOLIDAY JOY

Tina Ruiz has outdone herself with her heartwarming children's holiday story Blitzen Learns How to Fly. The characters are believable. The pictures are bright and cheery, and the story will hold a child's attention from the first page to the last. The lesson on bullying and confidence building is evident, and the rest of the tale is simply charming. This is the perfect gift for every young person.

Blitzen was born at the North Pole, but he is unable to fly. Because of that, he is taunted and called names by the other reindeers. Rudy saw what was happening, and he decided to teach Blitzen how to gain some confidence. And with a little magic powder from Santa, Blitzen is not only able to fly, but he becomes part of Santa's famous team.

Amazon Buy Links

E-Book - Paperback

Tina Ruiz was born in Germany, but her family moved to Canada when she was in grammar school. She began writing children's stories when her own were little. Through the years Ruiz wrote twenty-seven books. Most of those stories went into readers for the Canada Board of Education. Two did not. Mayor Shadoe Markley is a story about a ten-year-old girl who becomes Mayor for a Day through a contest at school.

Little did Ruiz know that story would “change the world.” The book came out at early January 1988. By the end of that same month, everyone was calling the mayor's office at City Hall, trying to get the forms to fill out so their children could participate in the contest. Thirty years later that same contest is still runs at full speed. And not only in Calgary, but all across Canada. The Mayor's Youth Council is now in charge of the celebrated contest and invites Ruiz to attend and meet the lucky winner. It's usually followed by a hand-written thank you card from the mayor himself. Recently Ruiz was invited to be part of the Grand Opening of Calgary's New Library where the mayor shook her hand and introduced her to the attendees.

Tina has worked in television and radio as well as being a professional clown at the Children's Hospital. She lives in Calgary with her husband who encourages her to write her passion be it high-quality children's books or intriguing romance.

Stay connected with Tina Ruiz on her Facebook group Tina Speaks Out.

Wishing You and Yours
a very Merry Christmas

Along with
Pleasant memories of holidays past!

From the entire Taylor family

A HOLIDAY FEAST FIT FOR ALL

Whether you enjoy the holidays as a couple or with friends and family this menu is sure to please. Several of the dishes can be made in advance which makes your life easier. They are noted with asterisks. Also, you have an assortment of appetizers and side dishes to choose from. No need to make everything unless you want to. Select the ones you find the most interesting and let your creativity shine.

I strongly recommend you have all the ingredients grouped together on the counter for each dish before you start cooking, including measuring utensils and cookware. This is a good practice no matter how small or large your menu.

APPETIZERS
Marinated Black Olives
Sweet Barbequed Meatballs
Pear Mini-tarts
Shrimp
Dry Champagne

DINNER
Chateaubriand
Sautéed Asparagus
Sautéed Broccoli
Sautéed Mushrooms
Boiled Potatoes
Tomato Salad
Bordeaux Wine

DESSERT
Orange Granite
Gelato
Riesling Wine

Black Olives in Oil*
1 can medium-size pitted black olives, drained
4 large garlic cloves, peeled and pressed
Olive oil
Glass jar with a secure lid

Empty the olives into the jar. Add the garlic. Pour in the olive oil to cover. Refrigerate at least 1 week. The mix will become thick and cloudy. It’s okay, that’s the oil solidifying.

To serve, set the jar on the counter until the oil becomes clear and normal consistency, which will take several hours. Spoon out the quantity of olives you wish to serve into a pretty dish. Be sure to have toothpicks. Put the jar back in the fridge for future use. You can refill with more olives and the mixture can stay good for up to three months.

Sweet Barbequed Meatballs**
1 bag frozen Italian seasoned meatballs
10 oz. grape jelly
1 bottle barbecue sauce
¼ cup dry red wine

Combine all ingredients in a medium-size saucepan. Be sure the meatballs are covered with the
jelly and barbecue sauce. Adjust the amounts as necessary. Be sparing if you add more wine. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until meatballs are heated through.

Keep warm on the stove or in a low-heat oven until you're ready to serve. To make your life easier during the busy holiday season, prepare this appetizer several days in advance of your party. Be sure to cover and refrigerate. On party day, remove the meatballs from the fridge at least 2 hours prior to serving. Warm either on the stovetop or in the oven.

Pear Mini-Tarts
4 oz. brie with rind removed
1 tbsp. celery, finely chopped
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. chives, snipped fine
Pre-baked mini-tart shells, usually found in the frozen food section
2 pears
1 tbsp. lemon juice
Poppy seed, optional

**Mash brie with a fork in a bowl. Mix in the celery, pepper. Gradually beat in the cream cheese. Fold in chives. Cover and chill in refrigerator until needed.

20 – 30 minutes before serving peel, core, and quarter pears. Cut into slices and then mix with lemon juice. This stops them from turning brown.

Fill shell with cheese mixture. Stand a pear piece on top and then sprinkle lightly with poppy seeds.

Shrimp***
Lettuce leaves
Shrimp sauce
Precooked shrimp, thawed if frozen
A few lemon slices

Arrange a few lettuce leaves on a plate. Pour sauce into a small bowl and then set in the center of the lettuce. Lay the shrimp around the bowl in a nice design. Add the lemon for those who like a taste on their shrimp. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Chateaubriand
1 beef tenderloin
Freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 large shallot, chopped
½ cup red wine
2 tbsp. butter

Preheat oven to 450° F or 235°C.

Season the meat with pepper.

Heat the oil in a large ovenproof frying pan over high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the meat and brown on all sides, including the two ends.

Set the pan in the oven and roast 10 – 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven. Transfer it to a cutting board and tent with foil.

Pour all but a thin film of fat from the pan. Add the shallot and sauté over medium-low heat until golden, 2 – 3 minutes.

Pour in the wine. Raise heat to high. Scrape any brown bits around the side and bottom into the wine.

The sauce will become syrupy in about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and then whisk in the butter.

Cut the meat into thick slices and drizzle with the sauce.

Steamed Asparagus
1 bunch asparagus
½ cup chicken stock
½ cup dry vermouth or white wine
Tap water
2 tbsp butter
Metal vegetable steamer

Add chicken stock and dry vermouth to a medium size saucepan. Insert vegetable steamer, then add tap water to just below the bottom holes.

Trim the bottom ends of the asparagus to fit your saucepan. Add spears and cover. Bring to a boil over medium heat, adjusting the heat to a strong simmer. In 4-5 minutes the asparagus should be crisp tender.

Lay asparagus in an ovenproof dish, spread butter over them. Tent with foil and set in the oven to keep warm while you finish preparing the meal.

Sautéed Broccoli
I head broccoli
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. butter
¼ cup gorgonzola cheese crumbles

Trim the flowerettes from the stalk.

Heat a medium-size frying pan on medium-high heat. Add oil. Stir in broccoli and butter when the oil shimmers. Turn and flip broccoli to coat well. You may need a little more oil for this. Sauté until crisp tender.

Sprinkle cheese over the broccoli and serve. Or tent with foil and set in the oven while you finish preparing dinner.

Sautéed Mushrooms
10 baby Bello mushrooms
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. butter
¼ medium onion sliced thin
healthy splash of dry vermouth or white wine

Clean the mushrooms with a dry paper towel. I prefer to slice the mushrooms in half lengthwise. They cook better. This can be done early in the day if that’s more convenient.

Set a frying pan on medium heat. When the pan is quite warm, add olive oil and butter. As the foam subsides add the sliced onion. Sauté for a few minutes, be careful not to brown or burn the onion.

Stir in the mushrooms and sauté for a few minutes, stirring constantly, until well coated with the oil mixture. Add more butter or oil if the mixture seems dry.

Pour vermouth or wine onto the mushrooms then cook a 2 minutes longer. This dish can be served hot or room temp, but not cold.

Boiled Potatoes***
Chicken stock, fresh or store bought
1 bay leaf or 2 tbsp. dried basil
2 small potatoes per person
Butter to taste
freshly ground pepper to taste

Fill a pot a little less than half filled with chicken stock. Add bay leaf or basil. Peel a circle around the potatoes and rinse. Drop them into pot. Cover the potatoes with water and a lid. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat so potatoes continue to cook on a soft boil.

Fork test after 15 - 20 minutes. It should slide in easily when the potatoes are done.

Drain water and remove bay leaf. If you’ve used basil, most will drain away and that’s okay. You want the flavor more than the leaves. Add butter and pepper. Turn with a spatula or spoon to coat well. Return potatoes and pot to burner with the heat turned off.

If you opt to cook the potatoes early in the day be sure to remove the lid so they cool to room temperature. After they do cover with the lid and set aside. Set this saucepan in the oven after the Chateaubriand is done and you’re preparing the sauce. Set the oven at 210°F or 100°C.

Tomato Salad***
1 plum tomato per 2 people sliced ¼ inch thick
¼ tsp. garlic pressed
½ cup olive oil
Fresh ground pepper to taste
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 tbsp. scallions sliced thin
1 tbsp. finely cut fresh basil or 1 teas. dried
1 tsp. parsley dried – if you use fresh, chop well

Arrange the tomatoes in slightly overlapping concentric circles on a deep, round plate or platter.

Prepare the dressing by blending the oil, vinegar, basil, garlic and pepper in a small bowl. Spoon the mixture over the tomatoes.

Combine the scallions and parsley, then sprinkle evenly over the top. Cover and set on the counter until ready to serve.

Orange Granite – Flavored Ice**
2 cups water
¾ cup sugar
1 cup orange juice
3 tbsp. lemon juice

In a 2-quart saucepan, bring the water and sugar to a boil over medium heat. Stir only until the sugar dissolves. Timing from the moment the sugar water begins to boil, cook the mixture for exactly 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the syrup to cool to room temperature.

Once cooled, stir the orange and lemon juices into the syrup. Pour mixture into a shallow metal pan.

Freeze the granite for 3 to 4 hours. Every 30 minutes, stir and scrape in the ice particles that form on the sides of the pan. The granite should be a fine, snowy texture. For a coarser texture, which I prefer, freeze the flavored syrup in ice cube trays until solid, then drop cubes into a plastic bag and smash with a heavy wooden spoon or mallet.

Gelato
This is where I head to the grocery store. Gelato is not an easy item to make. I suggest you buy one of the flavor combinations to end your meal on a sweet note.

*Make at least one week in advance of serving.
**Can be made one day in advance of serving.
***Prepare early in the day you plan to serve.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a beautiful New Year!

Sloane

WISHING YOU ALL

A very Merry Christmas

Along with
Pleasant memories from holidays past.

Sloane and the entire Taylor family

WISHING YOU ALL

Pleasant memories from holidays past.

Sloane and the entire Taylor family

Friday Fun with Holley Trent

I can’t write a short story to save my life. Seriously. I try every so often, and the typical result is an editor telling me, “Nope, try again.”

That’s what happened with Mrs. Roth’s Merry Christmas. (Actually, that wasn’t the original title.) It started as a little novelette I tried to get in and get out of, and I guess it read that way, too. Calliope’s head editor Jeanne De Vita sent it back to me with a, “Yeaahhhh, no. Try harder,” note [I’m paraphrasing].

I paced for a while and slept on the story a few days, then figured, “Hell, if I’m write campy smut, I’m gonna go for the gusto and see what happens.”

So, I did some world-building, added a jumbo cast (it’s a fantasy, after all), gave the heroine a bit of back story, and maybe bumped the corniness up a little. Ended up with a dandy vigilante Santa, a sexually adventurous teacher with a penchant for holiday sweaters, some back-stabbing nymphs, a bunch of politically-motivated elves, and a traitorous dog.

All that in 35,000 words. I know, right? Trust me, it moves fast.

I think to date, Gillian from Mrs. Roth’s Merry Christmas is probably my number two favorite heroine. She’s got a lot of spunk and takes no prisoners. Here’s a bit of her in action:

**

Santa gets more than he bargains for in his marriage of convenience to the queen of snark.

I cut my gaze toward Kori and she shrugged. I hadn’t been at work the previous Friday or Thursday because on Thursday morning I got into a knock-down drag-out catfight with Hortense that spanned ten minutes and two dimensions. She’d shown up at my Zumba class clad in teeny tiny shorts and a tank top that was damned near see-through. I had held my tongue until water break then she walked up to the front of the room and thrust a ring box at me.

“Mother ordered me to give that to you.”

I opened the box to find a large oval-cut ruby flanked by emeralds all mounted in an antique-looking gold band.

“Why?”

Hortense didn’t answer. She was too busy flipping through my CD binder and sucking her teeth at my apparent lack of taste. Kori had walked over, looked inside the box, and squealed with glee.

“I can’t believe Grandmother made her give it up. There’s only two of them. Now she’s going to have to use the portals like the rest of us.”

“What is it?”

“Spoil of war. I don’t remember which. Say, you should probably read up on elf history. Anyway, there were two. Grandmother has the other, but she doesn’t use it much. She doesn’t like leaving the palace. Basically, it’ll let you do what Uncle Nick can do naturally—go from one place to another without having to use a portal.”

“Cool.” I’d taken it out of the box and tried it on for size on my right ring finger. “It looks valuable.”

“Of course it is, you gold-digging slut!” Hortense’s head finally popped up.
I’m not exactly sure what happened after that. I had sort of went into a red, violent rage and my body moved on its own accord. She was crouched there in front of the CD player and so I grabbed the base of her ponytail and yanked her backward so her head slammed against the hard floor. From there, there was a lot of scratching and swatting from both parties. When the Zumba ladies started filing back into the studio from the hallway, Hortense and I were on our feet throwing blows in earnest.
My adrenaline must have been so hopped up that it took me a while to realize I was blowing blood out of my nose with every exhalation.

“Uh, ladies?” Kori had tried to intercede. She didn’t want to get too close, though, not that I blamed her. She couldn’t exactly take sides in a battle between her blood aunt and her queen.

I managed to get an arm around Hortense’s neck and dragged her out into the hallway. No one followed. I started thinking about how much I wanted to kick Nick’s ass for getting me into that mess, and the next thing I knew we were in the bedroom of Nick’s winter lodging at the North Pole where he spent most nights, crashing through his glass coffee table.

**

Fun, right? If fracases are your thing. Now if you want to read another excerpt from Mrs. Roth’s Merry Christmas, please click HERE.

There may be a sequel for next Christmas in the works…me finishing it will depend heavily on whether or not the Mayans were right.

For more on Mrs. Roth and other Holley Trent stories, you visit HolleyBlog. When Holley’s not writing campy smut, she’s Tweeting. A lot. She loves to chat, so please say “hi”!