Heidi Ayarbe's Blog, page 12

The Year of Prime and Colombia From the Hip ...

Unprecedented!
Historical!
THE Guiness Record.
Yep. I went to see a really really long chorizo on Saturday. A 1,917 meter long chorizo.




Think of it this way. It's like going up the Burj Dubai (including its spire) and down and back up a third of the way with one LONG chorizo ... Yes, making Oscar Meyer seem quite flaccid in comparison.
(I WILL refrain from any other inappropriate chorizo references because it's way too easy, expected and inappropriate, right?)
Anyway, here's the dish (literally): 900 kilos of meat, 500 kilos of fat, 50 kilos of condiments, and two-thousand meters of intestinal stuff to stuff it. 
Holy heart burn, Bat Man!.
So where did this cholesterol bomb get made? Santa Rosa, Risaralda -- a small town about twenty minutes from where we live in Pereira. When Cesar told me that we'd have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the longest chorizo in the world, I didn't hesitate quite simply because I doubt most people will be able to say they've seen such a thing. I mean, it is kind of cool.
So we drove up to the Santa Rosa and wandered through the crowds that packed like sausages (ha!) around the haz-mat-like looking tent with the workers intently stuffing the pig intestines.


... music blared over the speakers, people cheered, signs were posted everywhere celebrating the goal of 1400 (though it ended up being 1917 meters long!) and the Santarrosano pride.


And our daughter got her first traffic ticket. Apparently, you're NOT allowed to ride livestock in a public park. Go figure. (The cow's name is Chiquitolin. Her owner battled the authorities for the right to ride. Personally, I don't think it's such a bad idea to NOT have livestock in a plaza. But, well, Pamplona and other cities don't necessarily set the best examples, letting bulls trample all over the town.) This does not bode well for our daughter's future transit future. Her first "transportation" and she's ticketed.


And after almost getting Chiquitolin, um, towed, the police let us off with a stern warning, and the owner led the cow to ... well, I don't really know where. We wandered around, checking out the chorizo progress, finding a beautiful cafe where we drank hot chocolate and decided it was time to end our adventure. The weather determined this since it started pissing rain.
Not to fear. The chorizo-lovers weren't deterred so easily. I guess we're a bit wimpy.
There's something magical about a city in celebration. I LOVE this about Colombia -- their celebrations.  Colombians can find a reason to celebrate every day: music festivals, food, history ... anything worth a *cheers* gets one. And most everything is worth celebration. There's a general happiness here that I haven't encountered elsewhere. They're less broody, less gloomy, less existential angst-like. Colombians are quick to smile, quick to laugh, hot-headed but also quick to forgive. They talk loud, sing louder, interrupt each other constantly and ALWAYS are ready to tell you what they think. But there's something about this openness and sincerity that's endearing and, sure, infuriating. But Colombia wouldn't be Colombia without it.
Today in Santa Rosa, they're DEFINITELY not worried about counting calories, triglycerides and cholesterol. They're not worried about heartburn and ulcers. Hell. They have a near two-kilometer sized chorizo to eat.
And we got a chance to see it. 

The Year of Prime, SIGNED ARC OF COMPULSION GIVEAWAY BEGINS TODAY ...

Yep, starting today you can win A SIGNED ARC OF COMPULSION!

So .... What are you waiting for?? Click on the cool widget on the right, compliments of GOODREADS and win! Be one of the first to read COMPULSION

The Year of Prime, SIGNED ARC OF COMPULSION GIVEAWAY, book cover madness and COMPULSION cover reveal!

If I had a smidgen of will power, I'd do some crazy cover reveal buildup and contest, but waiting to share this would be like waiting to open the dark chocolate bar with sea salt I have waiting for me in the drawer -- just not gonna happen!
So ... TA-DA!!! Here she is, Miss ...
Wait. Wrong song.
Ta-da!!! I have no song ... so ...
COMPULSION'S OFFICIAL COVER!




Today, I'm tipping my hat to Jenny Rozbruch and the design team at HARPER COLLINS for creating what I think is an exquisite visual representation of my words. I mean, how cool is that? Somebody takes the time to not only read my work but then put together what they feel is an image to represent what that work means. There's a lot of responsibility involved, many people come together to discuss, argue, put forth ideas, and then TA-DA!! We get a gorgeous book cover. Book jackets and covers are, and I'm stealing this phrase, Art For the Written Word (A great book about twenty-five years of Wendell Minor's jacket art that adorned some of the best contemporary authors from Ray Bradbury to David McCullough to Toni Morrison).

Here are some FAQ about book covers that I often get about my books and their covers that might help everybody understand, just a touch more, the business.

Do you get a say in your book covers?
Nope. (Technically). I have seen, though, all prelim book covers and been asked my opinion.  I've loved them all and have trusted, too, my editor, publishers, and the design team 100%. Had I NOT liked a cover, I can't really say what would happen. To be honest, probably not a whole lot because SO MUCH GOES ON BEHIND THE SCENES that deals with marketing, target markets, what's working, what attracts buyers etc. that an author (well, me) can't even begin to fathom.

Does that bother you that you have no say in your book covers?
Nope. I'm not an artist (though I wish I were). I'm not a graphic designer. And I certainly have NO idea what is attractive for the market. I leave that to the experts! My job is to write the best novel I possibly can then let go. Obviously, if there's some kind of insane cover that doesn't make sense, my agent and I would make noise. It happens. We've heard the stories. 99% of the time, though, houses make smart art decisions.

Does a good book cover matter?
Absolutely. Sure, you can't read a book by its cover, but you certainly can BUY a book by its cover. Think of the books that catch your eye in the store. It's like buying art. (Hence, Art for The Written Word)

How do you get someone as awesome as Francisco X Stork, Jennifer Brown or Ellen Hopkins to blurb your books?
You ask. Well, your editor usually asks, which is way better than approaching an author unless you're very close to that author. Ellen Hopkins had offered to blurb FREEZE FRAME. We've known each other for a long time. And my editor, Ruta, asked Both Francisco X Stork and Jennifer Brown to blurb COMPULSION. I am grateful for their time and generosity. Like groveling grateful. And stunned. And just ... grateful.

Have you ever been disappointed by a cover?
Nope. Never. I love ALL my covers.

What is the process?
This is kind of a fill-in-the-blank answer because, to be honest, I'm not exactly sure how it works. I can tell you what I do know. My imprint, Balzer and Bray, works with designers at HarperCollins. My editor sends my manuscript to the designer with some prelim ideas about what she thinks the cover could have -- how she and the publishers imagine the cover to be. The designers read the novel then come up with a rough draft, I guess, of what they think would best represent the book according to the editors comments, ideas, and what they've read. This is sent to marketing and publicity and the publishers and the editor where they all discuss and tweak and talk and drink coffee and yell and wish they didn't have such a long commute on the train in the morning and remember they forgot their dental appointment and then come together for a finalized idea. This rough design with the finalized idea is sent to me and my agent and we "oooh" and "ahhh" and feel all giddy about it. (I do, anyway). And then it goes back to design for final tweaking until ... TA-DA!!

Do you always say ta-da?
Only when absolutely necessary or appropriate. I'm not a TA-DA abuser. Whatsoever.

So, all this hullabaloo and no cool contest about your book cover reveal?
I didn't technically say there wouldn't be a contest. I just said there wouldn't be a build up to a cover reveal contest.

So, since it's out, officially, I'm going to RAFFLE OFF A SIGNED ARC OF COMPULSION!! What's the catch?  It's painfully easy! See that cool widget on the side of my blog with COMPULSION ... Well, starting March 5, you can enter to win. You can enter from March 5 - 13 ... nine days to enter and win.

That's all. And then, with Goodreads magic wand, they'll pick a winner and TA-DA! (Couldn't resist) ... Yep. Someone will get a signed ARC (advanced reader's copy) of COMPULSION.
Yay!

I love giving things away.
So ... click.
And win!

The Year of Prime and the Gatekeepers to the World of Publishing

Doom, fangs, bloodsuckers that seep the life out of our words and dreams ... all in greedy hands. This isn't a paranormal, fantasy, dystopian world, this is publishing. Right?

I often hear remarks about how agents and editors don't take risks; publishing houses only want hack writing; and they're all money-hungry ogres ready to dash our words aside, chewing the quality prose to spit it back out. That, and, of course, they'll steal our original, one-of-a-kind idea, make millions, and leave us living lives of bitter misery, writing in a closet on a manual typewriter (since we can't afford a computer). (Unless we're willing to sell our souls for cash and a commercial project. Nothing of quality ever gets published, right?)I also hear that there's no book that's "right" for kids, teens, pre-teens -- nothing suitable. And writers ... sheesh, we're pigeon-holed into being either dupes, drunks, game-players, or just plain lucky. It makes for a great soapbox. It makes for even more interesting movie characters. The sleezebucket agent, drunk, half-crazy, soul-selling writer, gold-digging publisher, and desperate editor make for a pretty cliche cast.  Think: Adaptation, Barfly, Deconstructing Harry, Barton Fink. Hell, I'll even throw Misery in there. See what happens when you write what you've dreamed of writing? You get kidnapped by a crazy fan and get your legs chopped off. That'll show you.I hate to be a downer, but the world of publishing from the perspective of a writer through that of an editor, marketing director, library team, design team, illustrator, agent and publisher is WAY LESS DRAMATIC. (I know. Can't make a cool movie out of that, can we?) This is WAY closer to my reality ...
(Okay, okay, I have my occasional glass of wine or beer, and copious amounts of coffee ... that cliche probably holds true for most in this business.)
The thing is, everybody who works in this business does so because they love words. Yep. They love great books, great words, great perspectives, a new take on an old idea (all ideas are old, just the perspective changes). And, at the end of the day, these horrible, awful people spend most of their time making sure great words get out there. Sure, some slip through the cracks -- "bad" writing is published (Ahem, I won't name those.) and great writing isn't guaranteed to get published. I get that. But it's not as big as a crap shoot as we'd like to think.Those "crack-slippers" probably sell a load so that other books can be out there, on the shelves -- a book one editor fought for at acquisitions and publishing house backed; a book an agent knew would sell, even after double-digit rejections; a book an author put everything into, not because she wanted to sell her soul, but because she had a story to tell. And to get these books out on the shelves, lots and lots of people work really hard doing something they love -- reading, writing, and weeding through slush -- they read it all -- because in slush, they'll find gems like: SPEAK and  A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES. (The editor actually read the latter because the mother begged him to after her son killed himself. Then it won the Pulitzer.)
So these gatekeepers are actually the ones with open doors -- ready to find their next favorite author, work with someone they know has potential, someone they know will get there. And that person might as well be you, right? (Just lay off the whiskey ... And don't drive on curvy roads during winter in remote areas, either.) We might not LIVE those movie characters, but we sure can learn from them.

The Year of Prime and the Publipocalypse

Border's has filed Chapter 11.
Publishing houses have performed tectonic-plate like shuffles of imprints and editors.
E-books are out-selling paperback and hardback books.
Even Snooki hasn't gone into a second printing. (Maybe she has. I don't know. The whole Snooki thing kind of depresses me.)
The printed word is an endangered species ...

We're DOOOMED!
Okay. At least it gave us all an excuse to have early cocktails this week. (Umm ... you did have yours, didn't you, while toasting to the end of the era of literature and the beginning of a world in which we'll be forced to watch reality TV on a twenty-four hour feed?)

Here's the thing that's pretty great about human beings. Reinvention. And something that books haven't really had to do since, well, Gutenberg. Think of what the Egyptians would've said had Gutenberg been around when they were. They'd have had a slew of unemployed stone chiselers.

I have no idea what will happen in the next ten years. Hell, five years ago I wasn't addicted to Facebook and Twitter. Mubarak probably never thought social networking would be all that interesting. Who knew?

The world IS changing. How cool is that! There's no way to know what will happen to books, bookstores, and the general business. But there are a few things I am certain of.

As long as we have a world ... (that one's up in the air, too, I guess)

1. The world will always need stories.
2. The world will always need storytellers.
3. The world will always need people who hunt for talent in the slew of storytellers.
4. The world will always need people to help storytellers tell their stories better.
5. The world will always need people to promote storytellers, spread the news of storytellers, find ways to make stories of storytellers more appealing ...
6. The world will always need people to sell the stories of storytellers.


Basically, we'll all be here, changing, no doubt, worrying, no doubt, and writing. We'll be creating worlds with words, inventing futures that probably aren't  as far away as we imagine (Fingers crossed it's not the Hunger Games), believing in princesses and fairies, ghosts and vampires, battling the drudgery of day jobs and high school existential angst, hoping for that first kiss in the rain (since all good kisses happen in the rain, right?), crying over someone we've loved and lost -- all with words.

And our publishing houses, editors, publicists, marketing directors, library team, design team, copy editors, and book reps will bring our stories to librarians, schools, bookstores (like Border's that will find their way back in the world) via print, e-books, and whatever medium we can get our hands on because we need stories.

So writers, don't despair. Keep writing.
We need stories. Fiction will always be an essential part of who we are, as people, as human beings. 
It reminds me of something Gabriel Garcia Marquez said:

Fiction was invented the day Jonas arrived home and told his wife that he was three days late because he had been swallowed by a whale.

So what story do you want to tell? (And try to make sure it's not a tall tale for you wife. That Jonas one is so overused.)

The Year of Prime and Who Lost the Plot?

Okay. Here goes. Remember that little plot triangle your 5th grade teacher taught you?



Guess what? IT'S TRUE! It's true. It's true. Hell, it's true, and as easy as it is to draw a triangle, creating one with words is about as easy as a non-anesthesized root canal. Painful.
But, as writers, we have to have a plot.
Yes, this probably seems obvious. A plot. Of course every novel would have a plot.
I speak from experience. FREEZE FRAME pre-editorial notes had a plot ... just not in the right triangle order. It looked a lot like this.


It absolutely had its ups and downs. It just didn't build toward anything, climax anywhere (admittedly, I didn't even REALIZE what my climax was), and never came to some kind of reasonable conclusion.  It was a book filled with scenes -- somewhat disconnected -- and characters. It had no structure.
I called it my Choose Your Own Adventure being read straight through.
Every writer has strengths and weaknesses. The key is knowing what those are and knowing where you'll need extra help.
Enter: Arc Angels, Raiders of the Lost Arc for me -- the "Arc-impaired" ... So, how do you map plot? How is it remotely possible to get all those ideas in a cohesive arc and structure?

There are a few key things to remember:
1. Every single relationship in the book has its own arc
2. When you're ready to hit the climax, all of those relationships need to explode like popcorn, creating a kind of domino effect of mini climaxes to get to the big bang.
3. All of these explosions need to be resolved. (I don't mean that everything needs to be tied up in a pretty package. Everything, though, needs to be addressed. Just as we shouldn't have any hanging modifiers, we shouldn't have any hanging arcs.)

Once you have the relationships organized.
Voila! Plot maps.
It's basic. It's something we've all been forced to fill out in one English class or another. AND, it's something you should probably fill out for your own novels. I personally don't do this until I'm DONE with my novel because I get too caught up on the structure and lose my groove.
Here's an example of a plot map from JK Rowling and THE ORDER OF THE PHONIX ... The far left column is her time line. Then there are the chapter titles. The third column is the main plot and the  subsequent columns are her sub-plots that build to the final, main plot, and how each of those sub-plots are addressed in each chapter. (You'll go blind trying to read it, but I think you get the idea.



She's a plot master. Unbelievable!
Everybody writes differently. Some plot out novels. Some outline. I don't. That's why I have to be extra careful to make sure that, at the end of the day, my novel actually HAS a plot and builds toward something. Plotting can be excruciating.
Plotting IS excruciating. But with a little inspiration from one of the plot masters, it's definitely do-able!

The Year of Prime and WHO'D BUY THAT?

2011 is a prime number, and it also is the sum of 11 consecutive prime numbers (11 being prime itself): 157+163+167+173+179+181+191+193+197+199+211 
So what?Well, May 3, 2011 (5th month -- prime, 3rd day -- prime, 2011th year AD -- prime) my next novel,  COMPULSION, will be released. Much of COMPULSION deals with prime numbers and my main character's need to find the primes in his life ...
That said, to celebrate the prime numbers of the year, I'm going to only blog a prime number of times per month on prime dates, just because ... And my first month of blogs of the year (January) will be entirely dedicated to writing. Writing tips. Writing ideas. How I write. Basically, the craft of writing. There might be an occasional slip from the theme if I find something worth sharing. Otherwise, January is the month of writing!
So today, I want to talk about characters, and some tips on how to create some interesting characters that I'd definitely want to read about. One of the coolest sources for off-beat, quirky, and sometimes just plain kitsch characters is your friendly neighborhood SKY MALL catalog. Browse the pages and ask the simple question: Who'd buy that? (And, no, I have not invented ANY of these items because I'm simply not this creative.)




So after answering, "Who'd buy the Sumo Wrestler Coffee Table?", answer, "Why?" Yes. We're all asking, "Why?" But it's your job to answer it. And finally ask, "For whom?" One table. Three questions. Not only do you have yourself a pretty complex character, you might even have a little back story, developing story arc to go with it.What if it's a first generation Japanese-American boy who's embarrassed about his parents' foreign ways, so as a huge joke, he buys the table for his dad for Christmas, making sure his friends are in on it?OR ... what if it's a young girl who, that though she's from Kentucky and was born in 1995, she believes she's been reincarnated because in her previous life, she was a famous Geisha, born in 1830, and had married the most powerful and important Sumo wrestler in Kyoto? When she finds the table at an flea market, she's sure it's the face and body of her past-life husband and goes on a search to find the model.Same table. Two very different stories. 

Another great character source: The classified ads. Read the ads. Who placed the ad? Why? And you don't necessarily need to go to an exotic or strange place for ads. I took these from THE NEVADA APPEAL -- the local paper in Carson City, Nevada.
Coke machine, 10 cent vendo 1950s, stored in home, runs, very good cond, with 4 cases of empty bottles. Harley Davidson Ceramic Beer Stein.
MOVING - ENTIRE HOUSEHOLD MUST GO NOW! EVERYTHING NEGOTIABLE! New Sectional Oak Wall Unit Oak Gun Case Full Pedestal Bed w/Drawers LOTS of Misc. MORE  
The most essential part of creating characters is the detail. Everything they own, every conversation they have, every minute detail of their bedrooms, habits, what they wear, who they admire, how they talk, is a window into who your character is and a way to create tension, reveal something about a character, move the plot forward, or even HIDE something about a character. Sifting through classifieds and funny catalogs is a great way to create more depth, humor and maybe find a key piece that's may be missing to make your character memorable.
A few unforgettable characters or character items in lit:
Rudy from The Book Thief and his obsession with Jesse Owens. (I really love that kid. Really, truly.)The leg lamp from A Christmas Story ... (Yeah. It's a movie. But the movie wouldn't be the SAME without that horrible, tacky leg lamp.)Violet Durn from Feed and her broken feedCameron from Going Bovine and his obsession with Tremolo the Portuguese recorder playerWhen you think about your characters, think details. Because that's where their essence will be revealed.

Happy writing!

And the Winner of NAME THAT LAME-DUCK NOVEL is ...

With such an overwhelming response to the contest, it was hard to figure out who should win, so I decided ALL THREE ENTRIES are winners!! (Yes, this could be considered diplomacy, but it's just me happy that there were three entries.)
The winners have been contacted with elaborate prize-winning plans and wishes for a happy new year. In the meantime, here are the answers to the books that I somewhat hack-described!

 

1. GOING BOVINE: A string theory novel about a kid with mad cow's disease.
2. THE ASTONISHING LIFE OF OCTAVIAN NOTHING: TRAITOR TO THE NATION: A Revolution era novel written in eighteen century language about a kid who's basically a living petri-dish for a bunch of radical philosophers.
3. A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT: A novel about a little girl whose father suffers from mental illness and mother is a work-aholic, enters  a wheeze-bag organ competition playing FOREVER IN BLUEJEANS.
4. THE BOOK THIEF: Death narrates his experiences in WWII Germany.
5. THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHTTIME: A kid's obsession to discover the truth behind the mysterious death of the neighbor's dog leads him on a perilous journey.
6. SKIPPY JON JONES: A Siamese cat dreams about being a Mexican Chihuahua superhero.
7. THE BIG SPLASH: A Sam Spade-style , hard-boiled detective novel about a middle school with an organized crime ring that deals in forgeries, stolen test papers, and more, where a kid is hired by the underworld boss to do a simple job.
8. THE CHOCOLATE WAR: A kid refuses to sell chocolates in the school's annual fundraiser.
9. GILEAD: An older father, who is a small town's preacher, writes a long letter to his son.
10. STUCK IN NEUTRAL:  A genius is stuck in a body that doesn't work for him, and he thinks his dad wants to kill him.

Lame-Duck Writing ... And CONTEST!

Post-elections, a congress that has "nothing to lose"  has gone into overdrive passing the Post-911 GI Bill, repealing a shameful "Don't ask don't tell," pushing for a vote on the DREAM Act (a bill that would give children of illegal immigrants a legal, and easier, road to citizenship) among others. In fact, they're in a mad scramble to pass through twenty pieces of legislation.
This, of course, begs the question: What the hell were they doing twiddling their thumbs for the past two years? Oh yeah. That's right. They were so worried about losing their seats in congress (which they did), they didn't do anything. It makes me wonder had they actually passed through these pieces of legislation their constituents would most likely support, they might still have their jobs come 2011.
Nevertheless, I'm thankful they're acting like the politicians we elected four years ago -- doing their jobs -- and makes me think about the kind of job I want to do as a writer.
I want to be (and strive to be) a lame-duck writer -- a writer that has nothing to lose; a writer who's determined to take some pretty big risks; a writer who believes that putting my heart, soul, imagination, and quirky ideas into each book I write will help me produce the best work I can.

So I want to tip my hat today to some lame-duck writers out there -- writers with gumption -- and to lame-duck agents, editors, and publishers (because  a writer won't get too far without them -- lame-duck or not). And to give you just a little glimpse of the wonders out there in the world of lit, I'm going to give one to two-line summaries of some of the coolest lame-duck pieces of lit out there. You just might recognize some of these novels that, by taking huge risks,  made huge splashes in the literary world.  Don't confuse simplicity for "easy" either. Some of the richest novels out there take risks being exquisite pieces of simplicity.

And, to make this interesting, in the comments section, write a note that you've entered the competition: Name that Lame-Duck Novel. Then send me an e-mail to info@heidiayarbe.com with the name of the novels you think I'm referring to. (In the RE line, please put Name that Lame-Duck Novel). The winner will get one of the novels plus a 20 page critique of his or her novel. (And if you're not a writer, I'll critique your friend's writing, husband's writing, postman's writing, cat's writing ... whatever!)
Contest Ends December 31 at midnight. (Okay, if you're up at 1:00 am on January 1st, entering the contest, I'll take it simply because that's madness. You should be doing something else!)

All of these novels have inspired me to take big changes in my own work. And these chances I take have always been backed by my agent, Stephen Barbara, editor, Ruta Rimas, and publishers Balzer & Bray. So for those of you grumblers out there saying publishing houses don't take chances. Ummm ... go to your library, bookstore, and open the pages. Be prepared to be amazed.


1. A string theory novel about a kid with mad cow's disease.
2. A Revolution era novel written in eighteen century language about a kid who's basically a living petri-dish for a bunch of radical philosophers.
3. A novel about a little girl whose father suffers from mental illness and mother is a work-aholic, enters  a wheeze-bag organ competition playing FOREVER IN BLUEJEANS.
4. Death narrates his experiences in WWII Germany.
5. A kid's obsession to discover the truth behind the mysterious death of the neighbor's dog leads him on a perilous journey.
6. A Siamese cat dreams about being a Mexican Chihuahua superhero.
7. A Sam Spade-style , hard-boiled detective novel about a middle school with an organized crime ring that deals in forgeries, stolen test papers, and more, where a kid is hired by the underworld boss to do a simple job.
8. A kid refuses to sell chocolates in the school's annual fundraiser.
9. An older father, who is a small town's preacher, writes a long letter to his son.
10. A genius is stuck in a body that doesn't work for him, and he thinks his dad wants to kill him.

Have fun! Have a Happy Happy New Year!!

This contest is open to anybody ... as of now!

A Book A Day: On the 21st - 24th of Christmas

I'm doing a chunk here because, well, if you haven't gotten your gifts purchased by now and are brave enough to brave the stores, I wish you the best and know that I really can't help much anymore!
So ... here's a smattering of books that are GREAT for kids of all ages (meaning grown-up kids, too). And, quite honestly, I can't imagine a better gift than the right book for the right person. So ... have at it!

MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS.
I will now let the Colombian holiday black hole swallow me up and will resurface after the 25th ... Hopefully in one piece. (mentally and physically).
Many many wishes for a healthy and happy holiday, whatever you choose to or not to celebrate. Just have a healthy December and New Year!