Winter Blogfest: M Pepper Langlinais

December 28, 2021 By 3 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a signed copy of my YA novel THE GHOSTS OF MARSHLEY PARK (written under the pen name Amanda Innes). Shipping to US and Canada only.

Hum for the Holidays

 

A question for you, dear readers: When do you begin listening to holiday music?

I ask because I recently noticed, based on past blog posts and Facebook memories, that I almost always start in mid-November. It’s like I can’t quite wait until after Thanksgiving, but I still need that bit of padding between Halloween and winter holidays.

Maybe it’s because there’s no real “Thanksgiving” music to fill that space? I find myself starting to hum “Sleigh Ride” and “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” (two of my favorites), and then I realize I want to hear them, so I start adding Andy Williams and Bing Crosby to my Spotify.

Yes, I’m pretty old-fashioned in my holiday music choices, too. I don’t mind mixing in some of the pop covers of classic holiday hits, but I don’t much go in for the newer stuff. Though that Mariah Carey one is catchy.

We never used to start so early when I was a kid, so it’s not a tradition for me. When I was young, we would wait until after Thanksgiving—even if only the day after—to put up the decorations, and while we did that, we’d put on the Christmas albums. That was always the first time we’d listen to Christmas music for the year. Now that I have a family of my own, we do still wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate. But the music has crept forward in time, much to my oldest son’s chagrin, as his birthday almost always lands during the week of Thanksgiving, and he never wants Christmas music to happen before his birthday.
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Which leads me to the next question: When do you stop listening to holiday music? Right after Christmas? After New Year’s? I’m willing to tolerate it for just a wee bit past Christmas, but come January, I feel like it’s time to start fresh, which means being pretty much done with holiday music. But I’ll leave the lights up a little longer, enjoying the cozy glow through the dark days of winter.

 

In summary, my holiday music “season” seems to run mid-November to the end of December, while my holiday decorations run from early December through, oh, late January. What do your holiday seasons look—and sound—like?

Duncan Oliver was in every respect an unremarkable gentleman.

When mild-mannered Duncan Oliver is abducted by the Milne brothers and taken to their legendary home of Faebourne, his unexciting life becomes much more interesting. Adelia Milne has been cursed, and Duncan is her chosen champion to break the spell. Duncan may not be a hero, but he is a gentleman, and he refuses to leave a lady in distress. He becomes determined to take on the quest on Miss Milne’s behalf.

Meanwhile, an unlikely rescue team forms in the pairing of Duncan’s best friend George and valet Davies. As they set out for Faebourne–and also perchance to learn more about Davies’ obscured family history–what begins as an unequal partnership quickly blooms into friendship… and possibly something more.

M Pepper Langlinais is an award-winning screenwriter, produced playwright, and published author. She holds a Master of Arts in Writing, Literature and Publishing from Emerson College and a Bachelor of Science in Radio-Television-Film Communication from the University of Texas at Austin. M has interned on major Hollywood film sets and worked for Houghton Mifflin and Pearson before deciding to focus on her own writing. She lives in Livermore, California.

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Winter Blogfest: Antonia Church

December 28, 2021 By 4 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a signed physical copy mailed to continental US address .

Come Together for the Holidays

Can we all come together for the holidays?

It’s the time of year when I believe in magic more than ever. Now, I’m a magic kinda girl all year round, but the evidence is more prevalent in the yuletide than say…Arbor Day. Not that I don’t love my palm trees, but you can’t really hang lights and top it with a star. Sometimes you need a good old-fashioned evergreen. It’s the season where everyone can gather around even the saddest little tree and Charlie Brown sing out our hearts in harmony. Where Pig Pens and Schroeders can join hands and the world maybe dials down the crazy for a little while.

I come from the great white north and transplanted in sunny central Florida, but the season isn’t besmirched by the lack of fluffy stuff on the ground. It’s been a different sort of Christmas these last few years where sand has repelled snow for my holiday staple. Hot chocolate swapped for sweet tea. Roasted chestnuts replaced by chilled pineapple. Snow boots and scarfs—no longer in my closet. Traded long ago for flip flops and beach towels.

But for a few weeks at the end of every year, my heart still beats with the sound of “pa rum pum pum pum”. The reason for the season is coming together and finding joy and peace within this big human family. We can all gather and sing and laugh and eat and build a snowman (or a sandcastle, if you’re me.) The gift we give each other doesn’t have to be wrapped in pretty foil or topped with a velvet bow, but rather something given in earnest from one to another—peace, love, and respect.

Because life is better when we all come together.

Kane Cambridge is a descendent of the secret royal family of the United States. She is the American Princess.

Kane Cambridge does not lead a fairy-tale life. She works in an office, her boyfriend just broke up with her and her future looks mundane and unexceptional. Where is the rom-com ending that she’s watched in a hundred different movies?

Kane is visited by a mysterious benefactor who reveals that he is the grandfather she never knew. He arrives with a lesson in American history. The original framers of the Constitution wrote a clause that created a ceremonial position for American royalty. Kane’s ancestor was a secret queen of the United States, and now Kane is the American Princess.

American Royalty is the story of an average woman who discovers her own independence and grows to accept her position as a princess. Among her potential suitors are a sexy sultan, a prominent British prince and a brave commoner who is her soldier in shining armor. Will she choose the traditional path or make her crown an American version—all rock ’n’ roll and a little risqué?

Antonia Church Is a romance author, traveler of the continental US, beachcomber, free spirit.

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Winter Blogfest: Barbara Baldwin

December 28, 2021 By 7 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a signed, print copy of “Christmas Quilt Anthology”, a book of ten original holiday short stories by author Barbara Baldwin. This needs to be mailed so is for US only.

Holiday Happenings

Ah, the holidays are here and even with all the craziness in the world, I hope you have the chance to enjoy the season. I recently wrote a holiday card for friends about the season and thought I would share a few parts with you. I’m sure you can relate to what I have experienced over the years.

DECORATING: We found the box of lights at the bottom of everything because we had moved last summer and when we got them out, they were all tangled up and half of them didn’t even work. After buying new lights and a new ladder because ours was run over by the moving truck, we strung the lights along the house, around the shrubs, in the trees and down the driveway.  Only to realize we needed five extension cords just to reach the closest outlet.

SHOPPING: I drove around for over fifteen minutes trying to find a parking place at the mall and when I finally spied one, a little red Beetle whipped into it before I could round the corner. After taking a whole day off to go Christmas shopping, things that were on the sale flyer weren’t in the store and what I had put on layaway three months ago was now on sale for half price.

And I couldn’t find the right size or the right color or something that matched the rest of what I had bought and if I couldn’t buy five of the same thing then I might as well not buy any because everyone had to have one or there would be crying.

COOKIE MAKING: It was time to bake and my daughter made the frosting and decided that army green was an appropriate Christmas color, so Santa, the reindeer and all the snowmen joined the service that year. I wanted to make trays for work and my husband’s office and for our friends so I had to bake for several days, hiding everything on the shelf in the office closet because no one ever goes in there. But they did.

SNOW: All the family was here to celebrate and just in time because it started to snow and the roads were closed. The kids all wanted to go sledding and build snowmen. We finally got everyone bundled up in snowsuits and boots and mittens and caps and then the littlest one said he had to go potty and so we had to undo the caps and mittens and boots and snowsuits.

Much later, the cold, red noses were wiped and the hands warmed and cocoa drank and cookies eaten. All the cousins played downstairs and nobody worried when they argued because all we had to say was, “If you’re not good, Santa won’t come and leave you any presents.”

CHRISTMAS EVE: The carolers are singing and we go out and join them before going to midnight service to hear the wonderful story about the birth of Christ. And when we come home, all the presents are wrapped and under the tree and the stockings are hung and the kids are too excited to go to sleep, but all we have to say is, “If you don’t go to sleep, Santa won’t come and leave you any presents.”

​Quiet descends and we sit and watch the lights wink on the tree and hope that on Christmas Day all the toys make noise and all the baby dolls bawl; that the bike and trike bells ring and the train whistle blows and the race cars speed around the track just like the instructions said they would.

onlyhave three hundred sixty-four shopping days until we get to do it all over again.

Welcome to Cherrywood — a small town where we celebrate the magic of Christmas all month long. Come enjoy holiday lights, dances and music; ice skating and snow sculptures; fellowship and generosity of spirit and above all – romance and family.

Erin Thomas, confidential investigator, uploads her latest case files to the Hartford DA and happily shuts down her computer, promising herself she won’t open it again until the New Year. Even though it’s December, she is ready for vacation and looks forward to visiting the small town of Cherrywood. She wants no more than to sleep late, wander the Christmas markets and catch up on reading the latest romance novel from her favorite author.

Remington Matthews enjoys his life in Cherrywood and his job as part time sheriff is enough to keep him busy but also allows him time to pursue other interests. He’s happy to help people he’s known all his life and even allows his quirky twin sister to pull him into her antics during the month long Winter Festival. Perhaps the only down side to the small town is the lack of romance, but that changes the day he meets Erin.

Erin’s encounter with Remington takes her by surprise. She certainly doesn’t intend to fall for his cover model smile and engaging personality. Yet because Cherrywood is a very small town, she keeps running into him and before long he completely occupies her time and her dreams. He pulls her into holiday activities she never took time to enjoy; introduces her to family and captivates her with fiery kisses and romantic adventures. In Cherrywood, it’s easy to believe in the magic of the holiday. For Erin, that magic and this particular man might change her life forever.

 

Barbara resides in the Midwest United States but she loves to travel and explore new places, which usually means each of her novels is set in a different locale. She has been published in formats from poetry and short stories to full-length fiction and was writer and co-producer for a documentary on state history that won state and national awards. She really loves writing romance, whether it is contemporary, historical or time travel. She has an MA in Communication and has taught every grade from Kindergarten to college. When not writing, she enjoys other creative activities such as making pottery, fused glass, quilts and basket weaving.

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Winter Blogfest: Dakota Issacs

December 27, 2021 By 6 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card, and five copies of Werewolves Prefer Shortbread .

Doing Less and Loving It

The older I get, the more my Christmas celebrations are getting smaller, and I love it.  My husband and I have developed tiny traditions that are ours alone.  They are tiny things, but they bring me a surprising amount of joy.

So, this Christmas season is going to be full of quiet moments.  Spiked hot chocolate with my friends.  Check.  Bumper cars on the ice at Bryant Park.  Double check.  (Don’t knock it till you try it!)  Long walks through the city we love.  Gifting some hats and coats and a hot meal to people who can use them, and then on Christmas day the tradition we started last year and loved.  Sleeping in followed by a pancake breakfast.  Then in the late afternoon we will take a walk through the brisk streets to our favorite restaurant in Chinatown.  The one where the waiters have known my husband since he was a boy.  We will walk down the stairs, with their peeling paint down to the restaurant hidden in the alley.  We will impressively over order, walk the steaming cartons back to our apartment, and then turn on Love Actually.  A quiet day, and one most people won’t get.  But it suits us.  And there is something about that.  Finding the things that suit you even if the rest of the world doesn’t understand.  Owning what makes you happy, finding what brings you joy and not what you think should bring you joy.

That’s what I want more of.  This year and in the years to come.

Here is hoping you find your joys too.

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season.

Dakota

Callum McAllister is not a bad guy. Not really. He doesn’t want to evict the nice old lady who lived on his property for the last forty years. But he has to. Trust me. He can’t explain his reasons because they involve things like Werewolves. And now everyone in town seems to hate him. Especially the beautiful young baker, who under any other circumstances, would be his kind of girl. Except now that’s never gonna happen because that ‘nice old lady’ he’s evicting…that’s her Grandma. He knows he’s not welcome but he’s finding it awfully hard to stay out of her kitchen.
The last thing Lily Harris wants for Christmas is a man who cares more about things than he does about people. But Santa has other ideas and Lily’s about to wind up with one very handsome, Scottish Werewolf under her tree. If she’s willing to risk her heart she may wind up with the best Christmas gift in the world: true love.

Dakota Issacs can be found wandering the streets of Manhattan, where she drinks too much coffee, browses record, and bookstores, and reads everything she can get her hands on.

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Winter Blogfest: Bailey Thomas

December 27, 2021 By 14 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a $25.00 Amazon egift card. You must provide your email address for delivery.

Holiday Traditions

I love the holiday season, starting with Halloween right through the New Year festivities. The smiles on people’s faces, the decorations, homemade treats, and you can feel the energy and excitement. It’s magical and contagious.

One of my favorite family Christmas traditions, and it’s one that I miss the most now, is togetherness. Family meals, playing games, singing carols, reading ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, and waking up on Christmas morning to see what Santa had delivered. There are only two words that come to mind to describe those times: laughter and love.

One appetizer that always reminds me of Thanksgiving or Christmas is my grandmother’s blue cheese stuffed celery sticks. Nothing fancy, but holy smokes, are they delicious! All you need is a brick of cream cheese (softened), blue cheese (whatever brand makes you smile), then crumble the blue cheese and combine it with the cream cheese. If you need a touch of liquid, add a splash of milk until it’s a creamy mixture. You want it thick enough to spread it on the celery. Wash and cut the celery into the sizes you want (we do 1.5-inch pieces) and spread the goodness. Arrange on a plate, cover, and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve. Yummy!!!!!!

My husband and I also look forward to New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day because it’s full of celebrations, parades, football, and puzzles. Of course, no holiday celebration would be complete without having our fur babies by our sides. Spoiled is an accurate description, but we wouldn’t have it any other way! (Wet noses, tail wags, and purrs)

This year was bittersweet for me, I lost my father, but I also had a dream come true by publishing my first book. If you find yourself looking for a new author and romantic suspense series to try, please consider Trent’s Redemption.

Find an adventure that makes you smile. I wish you and your family all the best during this holiday season.

Trent Jacobs had everything he wanted in life until the flash of a muzzle ripped his world apart. Now he only has guilt. Permanently removed from fieldwork due to questionable events, Trent retires from the FBI. He retreats to the small town of Mill Creek, Idaho, to become the town sheriff.

Margaret King knows what it’s like to be alone and isolated. Losing her parents as a child was impossible, but the death of her brother damn near killed her. When a strange van appears on her street and her apartment is broken into, she turns to Trent, the only man she knows she can trust.

After Maggie shows up terrified and haunted, Trent’s guilt explodes. She makes him want things he doesn’t deserve, including her. As their past collides with the present, Trent is forced to face his demons to protect her. Or risk losing her.

Bailey Thomas lives in the beautiful, but hot southwest with her husband and their adorable four-legged children. An only child, Bailey’s active imagination and adventurous nature always kept her busy. Now, she channels those creative powers into storytelling.

Her wonderful husband encouraged her to chase her dream of becoming an author and continues to be her greatest champion. Being able to write these stories has been a thrilling experience that is truly special to her.

When she’s not behind a computer working on her next deadline, she’s reading her favorite authors, playing with her fur-babies, and spending time with her husband. They love to watch movies, sports and play all types of games.

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Winter Blogfest: Helen C. Johannes

December 27, 2021 By 7 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a Kindle copy of FREDERICK FLY-CATCHER, US only.

Chip Cupcakes

Looking for something yummy and easy to make ahead for your holiday brunch? Something kid-sized as well as grab-and-go? My family calls these Chip Cupcakes, but they’re really a cross between a muffin and an unfrosted cupcake. All the tasty goodness of a cupcake without the frosting mess, plus nuts and chocolate chips. Bonus: The ingredients are those you most likely already have on hand—no seasonal specialty items. Extra bonus: If these prove to be a hit with your family, you can make them any time of the year!

Chip Cupcakes

You’ll need two mixing bowls, one medium and one large, plus muffin/cupcake tins. I use paper liners for easy removal and less mess. This makes 18-20 cupcakes.

Prepare the following ingredients:

2/3 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, unbeaten

2 cups sifted flour

2 ½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

2/3 cup milk

½ tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. almond extract

1 cup chocolate chips

½ cup walnuts or pecans, chopped (I like smaller bits, so I put the nuts in a plastic bag and smash them with a rolling pin. A can or jar works just as well.)

In medium bowl, sift flour, salt, and baking powder together, adding the chips lightly to the mixture. In larger bowl, cream the butter and sugar well. Add eggs one at a time, beating until fluffy. Add vanilla and almond extracts. Mix in flour alternately with the milk. Fold in nuts.

Fill greased muffin tins or paper liners 2/3 full.

Bake at 400° F for 20 min. Makes 18-20 cupcakes. Tip out onto rack and let cool. Store in tightly covered container, and you’ll have kid-friendly treats ready for that otherwise busy holiday brunch the next morning.

“A fun adventure that was a hit with my nine-year-old!”

What happens when Frederick, a champion fly-catcher, is confronted with a human? After all, humans are dangerous! And worse, this human is carrying a thing of troublesome, powerful magic. What if Frederick can’t get it to stop?

This fast-paced chapter book will entice young readers to keep turning pages to find out what happens next. Connecting with Frederick’s frog’s-eye-view reminds children to treat all creatures with respect and to be open to friendships with new or different people. Parents can use the story events as jumping-off points to talk with children about problem-solving and teamwork strategies as well as simply being kind.

“The best thing I could do was to relax and enjoy the ride, so that’s exactly what I did.”

Helen C. Johannes writes award-winning fantasy inspired by the fairy tales she grew up reading and the amazing historical places she’s visited in England, Ireland, Scotland and Germany. Multi-published, she writes tales of adventure and romance in fully realized worlds sprung from pure imagination and a lifelong interest in history, culture, and literature. Warriors on horseback, women who refuse to sit idly at home, and passion that cannot be denied or outrun—that’s what readers will find in her adult books: Brave men, bold women—hearts in search of home. Fast-paced, fanciful, family-friendly fun inspired by her own children is the hallmark of Frederick Fly-Catcher.

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Winter Blogfest: Christy Nicholas

December 27, 2021 By 3 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win one free ecopy of Legacy of Truth, book 2 in The Druid’s Brooch Series .

Happy Holidays

Ah, December. The ringing of jingle bells until you want to smash the little buggers whenever they appear, the mad dash for holiday gifts, the dreaded anticipation of hordes of relatives appearing at your doorstep.

And yet, it is a time of serene beauty and joy. It is a time of solitude and dark nights, a time to contemplate the love in your life, and all your blessings.

Nights are made bright with blankets of pristine snow sparkling in the sublime moonlight. Days are made sweet with the ringing of children’s laughter in the snow. And the food… oh, so much food! Candies, cakes, roasts and eggnog. How can we keep from singing?

 No matter what your beliefs, no matter what your religion, December is a month of peace and joy. So, Merry Christmas, Happy Channukah, Joyful Yule, and Happy Kwanzaa. Enjoy those things in life that you hold dear, now and throughout the year. Hold them tight and fierce, for tomorrow is a new day with new opportunities and possibilities.

Be of good cheer!

Why do I say ‘happy holidays’ rather than ‘Merry Christmas?’ Not because I hate Christmas or Christians, or want a war on any of them. Because there are many different holidays in this time, by many different religions. Here are just a few of them!

Some December festivals:

• Advent (Nov 29-Dec 24)
• Boxing Day (Dec 26th)
• Chanukkah (Jewish Festival of Lights)
• Christmas (Dec 25th)
• Hogmanay (Dec 31st)
• Hogswatch (From Discworld – fictional)
• Krampusnacht (December 5th)
• Kwanzaa (Pan-African Festival)
• New Year’s Eve (Dec 31st)
• Saturnalia (the Roman Winter Solstice)
• St. Lucia’s Day (Dec 13th)
• Yule (Pagan winter festival/Solstice)

 

When the magical secrets of The Emerald Isle beckon, will she survive answering the call?
Pittsburgh, 1846. Valentia McDowell wishes she could rest. Plagued by nightmares of her grandmother’s mysterious brooch lost in Ireland, the well-off woman grows more troubled when a fire ravages her family’s business. But as she buries herself in the rebuilding efforts, she can’t shake the sense that a powerful inheritance awaits her across the ocean… if she can weather the treacherous journey.

Horrified when the voyage claims her brother’s life and afflicts her with malaria, Valentia believes her grief will be for nothing if she returns from the famine-struck island empty-handed. But as she nears her gran’s birthplace and the last known location of the heirloom, the determined woman draws ever closer to a force beyond her imagination… and a battalion of deadly danger.

Can Valentia uphold a destiny she doesn’t yet understand without losing everyone she loves?

Legacy of Hunger is the sweeping first book in The Druid’s Brooch historical fantasy series. If you like compelling female characters, immersive authenticity, and a dash of magic, then you’ll love Christy Nicholas’s transatlantic quest.

Buy Legacy of Hunger to trace a family treasure today!

 

Celtic Fairies, Fables, and Folklore!

Christy Nicholas, also known as Green Dragon, is an author, artist and accountant. After she failed to become an airline pilot, she quit her ceaseless pursuit of careers that begin with ‘A’, and decided to concentrate on her writing. Since she has Project Completion Compulsion, she is one of the few authors with NO unfinished novels.

Christy has her hands in many crafts, including digital art, beaded jewelry, writing, and photography. In real life, she’s a CPA, but having grown up with art all around her (her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother are/were all artists), it sort of infected her, as it were.

She wants to expose the incredible beauty in this world, hidden beneath the everyday grime of familiarity and habit, and share it with others. She uses characters out of time and places infused with magic and myth, writing magical realism stories in both historical fantasy and time travel flavors.

Combine this love of beauty with a bit of financial sense and you get an art business. She does local art and craft shows, as well as sending her art to various science fiction conventions throughout the country and abroad.

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Winter Blogfest: Fredrick Cooper

December 27, 2021 By 2 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a signed copy of my debut, award-winning novel – Riders of the Tides. The same prize will be awarded to anyone providing a review of my soon-to-be-released novel, The Grotto.

Family Holiday Stories

Family stories are important to recall and be told during the holidays. One that I shall always remember was told to me by my father.

In October 1929 the stock market crashed and it was the beginning of the Great Depression. Earl, my future father, would turn fourteen in three months. There were no millionaires in his family at the time so there was no wealth to lose. They lived from payday to payday. But like millions of American working families, jobs disappeared. His family lived a hardscrabble life on the coast of Washington State where jobs were pretty much limited to fishing and logging. One day Earl’s father announced that he would try to find work on the docks of the Seattle waterfront. Earl never saw him again, but years later learned that he survived the Depression and ultimately became a Union boss when laborers organized.

The holidays of 1929 and for eight ensuing years were hard times. His mother began working as a cook in a logging camp, toiling long hours over a wood-burning stove, baking and preparing meals for hungry loggers. She had little time to see about Earl’s upbringing. He and his cousin William were left to be raised by an old Indian whose name was Unck. In a way, it was a good match. Unck was a self-sufficient person. If he needed food, he hunted or fished for it. If he needed certain items to survive, he made them himself. He passed these skills on to Earl and William. When not in school, they paddled canoes up North River to fish, crept through the tidelands of Willapa Bay to hunt for ducks and geese, and walked for miles on the broad beaches and tide-flats digging razor clams or collecting oysters to sell for a few dollars. Because of everything Earl learned from Unck, there were a few additional dollars to support the family and there was always food on the table.

One year, the day before Thanksgiving, Earl’s mother called him into the kitchen. “Earl, we have no money to buy a turkey for our Thanksgiving dinner. I need you to go hunting.” Earl readily agreed as he had become a good shot and knew he could get what they needed. His mother added to her request. “There will be ten people to feed. So, bring me five large ducks.” Earl went to get his shotgun and discovered that he only had one shotgun shell. He had no money to buy any more ammunition. So, he took his gun and went to find Unck. The two of them set out for the marshes near his home not knowing how they would meet his mother’s request.

The annual water foul migration had begun and the ponds in the marsh were resting locations for thousands of ducks. Unck picked out a likely pond and they hid in the reeds and waited. They waited for hours as ducks flew in and landed on the pond. When Unck gave the word, Earl jumped up and fired his one shot. Dozens and dozens of water foul rose from the pond and flew away but when the scene became quiet, the bodies of five ducks lay floating on the surface of the pond. Earl and Unck gathered up the ducks and headed for home. It would be a fine Thanksgiving dinner of roasted duck, oysters, and fresh-baked apple pie.

Brooklyn never knew her father. But when Vince James, a down-on-his-luck, Tlingit Indian shows up and pleads for Brooklyn’s mother to help him, her mother unwittingly agrees to go with him and then disappears. Brooklyn, with a strange group of friends that include Tony, a Tlingit boy she once loathed, an Alaskan sourdough named Luther Calhoun, and Bingo Bob, who is considered the town drunk, sets out to find and rescue her from a person set on vengeance.

Fredrick Cooper was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and lived in Alaska for many years. Before obtaining a doctorate in civil engineering and pursuing a professional career, he worked as a road surveyor, longshoreman, commercial fisherman, cannery worker, and even as a technician and news anchor for a cable television station in a small community in Alaska. He is of Coastal Salish and Lower Chehalis Band descent and is enrolled with a Northwest Indian Tribe. In addition to his second career in writing fiction, he is a master woodcarver, specializing in Native American artifacts such as canoe paddles and ceremonial items. He is a member of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association and the Willamette Writers and his novels have received several awards. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon and is working on another story.

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Winter Blogfest: Vanessa C. Hawkins

December 24, 2021 By 4 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a Digital Copy of Ballroom Riot .

Recipe for a Merry Christmas

You’ll need lots of chocolate peppermint and gingerbread. If you don’t have any on hand, you can always substitute for eggnog, but it’s gotta be homemade.

Christmastime in my family is always a series of events that culminate in a merry holiday adventure. I’m lucky, my husband and I have been together since high school, so I grew up and likeincluding my in-laws. Now that we have a little one to come on the December adventure with us, we can all watch as she delights in the few traditional ingredients that make up our secret family recipe.

First in the bowl are gingerbread houses. We buy ‘em premade, struggle to glue them together with the cheap icing sugar included with the box and laugh at our failed attempt at creating something whimsical. Combine that with our annual cookie baking that leaves us stuffed with sugar and you’re on your way to a Merry Christmas!… or at least diabetes.

Add a pinch of snow, probably too little before the actual holiday though. We live in Eastern Canada so sometimes the wind bites us before our snowmen get the chance to.  After that, a dash to the store on Christmas Eve because you forgot that one thing on your Christmas list! Santa typically does the rest, but we open a gift the night before just so it’s that much harder to get to sleep from the excitement.

Bake for twenty-five days at negative ten degrees or so–we have always had advent calendars to help us keep the timing just right, though my daughter is like me and can’t wait to eat the chocolate—and you have a happy holiday! I suggest serving it with all your loved ones, of course. That’s what we do. Honestly, the ingredients are simple and easily replaced with other things, it’s the joy of the company that gives it taste. But I still maintain you’ll need lots of chocolate and peppermint.

And eggnog… but only if it’s homemade.

Scarlet Fortune has been watching the turmoil of Comero City since the start of prohibition. As the city’s first female copper, and one of the only vampires on the force, she’s eager to make a good impression with the brass. With goblin gangs stirring up trouble, a demon bar selling liquor to half the city, and every other officer on the take, a bust at the local docks seems like a good place to start. But it only puts her in the crosshairs of the city’s most powerful criminals, including local dragon Shad O’Rahin.

Disguised in human form, Shad’s been running a speakeasy and the last thing he needs is the law after him. When he approaches Scarlet to scare her off his tracks, he doesn’t expect to fall in love. Things seem to be looking up for both of them until the anti-monster organization, AMO, rolls into town ready to clean up Comero. Their first priority? Dragon-slaying.

Scarlet’s new beau isn’t prepared to confront the issue without his scales on. So what can she do? A vampire copper should be keeping her head down with monster hunters around… especially when her ex is leading the AMO task force.

Vanessa Hawkins resides in rural New Brunswick, Canada with her husband Brendon and daughter Bernie. A lifelong lover of horror, she wrote her first story in grade five. It was titled Mutilated and warranted a trip to the school guidance counsellor. With over a dozen works published in her name, since the birth of her daughter she’s fallen victim to hormones run amok. Finding solace in the world of urban fantasy romance, she hopes to slaughter again someday, but not before matchmaking a few hapless human beings and perhaps a dragon or two.

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Winter Blogfest: D. V. Stone

December 24, 2021 By 3 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a gift package containing a 2022 wall calendar, D. V. Stone limited edition t-shirt, bookmarks, and memo binder. Sorry only shipped to US addresses only. If out of the US, I will award an e-copy of Rock House Grill via Amazon. .

My Thoughts about Christmas

Many anxious shoppers are worried about giving gifts this year with so much product stuck on a boat somewhere. But there are so many more important things than physical gifts—memories

Every year my husband, who was born on St. Nicholas day, creates memories for our neighbors, friends, and family. He assembles a massive Christmas display inside and out. Year after year people come to see it and bring their children and grandchildren. It’s a tradition in our neighborhood.

I remember one of my son’s friends many years ago was asked by the local newspaper what he remembered about his favorite Christmas. Guess what? It wasn’t wrapped under the tree. His best memory was walking in the snow with his family. This was a twelve-year-old boy.

Several years ago, DH and I began a new tradition with our son, his wife, and our grands. Instead of toys that break or clothes they grow out of, we decided to give memories. Each year they receive a family gift of a camping gift card. So far, they’ve been to Gettysburg, Texas, and Tennessee. They don’t have a camper yet, so stay in the camp cabins.

For birthday’s they get complimentary gifts like a fishing pole or sleeping bag. As a family, they now have the camping bug and will be buying a camper in the near future.

Let me tell you, the joy we get from the pictures they send or the phone calls about what fun they are having is priceless and could never come from a box. Memories are things that can never be taken away.

We celebrate Christmas in our house. Many of our friends have different beliefs and celebrations. I think we all agree on one thing. The joy of love, family, friends, and the memories we make together, those remembrances that burrow deep inside each of us, can never be bought, wrapped, or destroyed.

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Stuff gets old and broken. Clothes get torn and grown out of. But memories? They last forever. Rock House Grill has a celebration scene. They all gather together, and looking around the table, the main characters conclude that they have much to be thankful for.

How about you? Do you have a memory that is greater than any present from under the tree?

Aden House, successful but driven chef and TV personality, refuses to slow down. His life implodes one night, damaging him both physically and emotionally. He’s rescued by a woman he thinks of as his angel.

Shay McDowell has rebuilt her life after her divorce. She juggles volunteer EMT duties and her job, while dreaming of becoming a chef. She finds her way to Rock House Grill and back into the life of the man she helped save.

Can love be the ingredient needed to survive the many obstacles they face?

Recently retired from full-time employment in a medical office, she’s wife to an amazing husband, mother to one son, and not your average grandma to three beautiful grands. A woman of faith, D. V., believes and trusts in God. When not behind the wheel of 2Hoots—a 41 foot long 13.2 feet high 5th Wheel camper she rambles around town in Northern New Jersey in a white Camaro.

“My greatest pleasures are spending time outside with friends and family, cooking over the open fire, sipping a glass of wine, and reading.”

Hali, her rescue dog, always reminds her to let readers know, “Woof, woof.” Which is loosely translated as support your local animal rescue.

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