Victoria Zigler's Blog: Zigler News, page 126

2017 #Reading And #Blogging Goals

Yeah, I know most people were posting these kinds of posts last weekend, but I had other things I wanted to post first. Besides, we're only about a week in to the new year, so I'm not that far behind.

Anyway...

I set a reading goal of 216 books for 2016. I ended up reading over 300. 317 to be exact. So... Yeah... I read quite a few more books than my goal for the year... Again!

If your reading total for 2016 came nowhere near mine, please don't feel bad for not reading as many books as me. People read at different speeds, and of course the length of books needs to be taken in to consideration too. Not to mention, other commitments you may have in your life will influence the time you have available for reading. What I'm basically trying to say is, it doesn't matter if your total for the year was nowhere near mine, because the important thing is that you are getting some reading in. It's more important for you to be reading something, and enjoying the act of reading.

So... As I was saying... I posted my December book reviews post last week, but if you want to take a look at all the details for what I read in 2016, you can do so by going here, and checking out my year in books. You never know, you may find one you'd like to read.

By the way, as I mention in the monthly review posts I started doing on this blog, the format reviewed may not be the format I actually read, so please disregard the format. Also, I read across multiple genres and age ranges, so you should always check if a book is suitable for the intended reader or not, especially if children are involved.

Anyhow, I did consider making my reading goal larger this year, but I have a few things I'd like to achieve this year that will most likely result in less reading time, so I'm not going to do that. Instead I'm setting a reading goal of 217 books. Some of the things will be ongoing, so if I find this year that those things take away less of my reading time than I expected, I may up the reading goal by more next year. We'll see. Either way, my reading goal for this year is 217 books.

My other reading goal for 2016 was to make a point of reading some of the books I've had on my Kindle for ages, since I've had some of the books waiting to be read ever since I got my first Kindle a few years ago. I knew I'd end up reading several newer books too, and would probably add books to my to-read shelf on Goodreads as fast as I read others. But my aim was to focus at least a large chunk of my reading time on those books I've had on my Kindle the longest. Well, I did an okay job with doing that. Not as well as I'd hoped, since shiny new books kept catching my attention, but I did get a reasonable sized chunk of the books I've had for a while read in 2016. I plan to continue trying to focus at least a good chunk of my reading time for 2017 on getting those older books read too. I'm hoping to do as good of a job as I did in 2016, if not better. I'm joining the reading challenge one of the groups I'm a member of over on Goodreads is running for the first quarter of 2017, which is to tackle the books that have been on your to read shelf for three months or longer, so that will hopefully get me started with it... It worked last year, anyway.

I also did the A-Z book title reading challenge the same Goodreads group does each year. I completed 2016s challenge before the year was half over. You can see my post about finishing it here. I'll be doing the challenge with them again this year, and will post when I'm done. Let's see how many months it takes me this time.

OK, now for the blogging part...

You may have noticed that the way I do my blog posts has changed slightly over the past year or so.

I'd said in early 2015that I was posting a random post on Monday, a writing one on Wednesday, and a "Furkid Friday" post on Friday. Well, the Wednesday and Friday posts have continued as planned, though with some tweaks to the titles to make use of hashtags. But I started seporating the Monday ones in to more spacific topic based posts in late 2015, and since that seemed to work well, continued doing so throughout 2016, with hashtags being introduced at some point during the year. This generally resulted in me having enough to say to cover more than one extra post a week, hence the addition of posts on Sundays, and sometimes other days too.

In 2017, I plan to continue with my current blogging schedule of posts about random things on Sundays and Mondays (the topics of which will be determined by what I want to share), posts about writing related things on Wednesdays, and pet themed posts on Fridays, with the odd post on other days if I'm getting too long of a backlist of things I want to post about, or if I want/need to post about something on a spacific day. I'll also continue to make use of hashtags in the titles when possible/appropriate, in hopes they'll do their job and improve visibility for my blog. They might not do much, but it's worth a try, right?

By the way, if you click on a link in any of my old posts and it either doesn't work, or takes you to somewhere that's obviously the wrong place... Sorry! I did think about going through my old posts and checking the links. Loads of people recommend doing so. But I've done over 3000 posts, many of which contain links (often several links). I mean, I did over 200 posts last year alone. So, as much as I'd love to make sure all my old links are working for you, I can tell you now that it's not about to happen any time soon. Sorry, but that's how it is. Quite frankly, just the thought of checking so many posts makes me want to run away, whimpering in distress, with my Metaphorical tail between my legs. So, like I said, sorry, but you'll just have to try the link, and if it doesn't work, Google what you were looking for or something.

Anyway... To summarize...

Reading goals:
*Read at least 217 books.
*Focus at least a large chunk of my reading on those books I've had waiting to be read for longest.
*Complete the A-Z title reading challenge.

Blogging goals:
*Continue to post writing themed posts on Wednesdays.
*Continue to post "Furkid Friday" posts on Fridays.
*Continue to post about other things on Sundays and/or Mondays (preferably both).
*Make use of hashtags in post titles, in hopes of increasing post visibility during social media shares.

#Furkid Friday: Baggins The #Gerbil Turns 3 (FD)

Hellooo everyone! This is Baggins the gerbil.

Guess what? Guess what? Guess what?

I'm having one of those birthday things today!

I'm three human years old today. For gerbils that's like being an old man. I'm not ready to slow down just yet though, and am still enthusiastically playing and digging, just like I've done since I was a very young gerbil.

Well, there was that time I slowed down for a while when I was upset about losing my gerbil brother, Bilbo, last year. But that didn't last long. Plus, even though I miss him terribly, I try not to think about that. I can't help it today, of course, since it would have been Bilbo's birthday today too. But I'm trying to enjoy my special day, despite not having my brother here to share it with me.

The human caretakers are doing a great job at helping with that, since they've already given me a special birthday nibble. I'm also pretty sure I heard something mentioned about cheese being on the menu later, which is the best news a gerbil could get on his birthday, if you ask me. Of course, if they want to throw in a frosted Shreddy or two, or maybe a berry, that would be just fine with me, and would certainly go a long way to helping me enjoy my special day... Just saying.

Squeak soon,
Baggins

P.S. I really do miss you, Bilbo, and wish you could be here to share all the great nibbles with me.

#Writing Wednesday: Looking Ahead At 2017

It's a whole new year, and I suppose you're wondering what's to come for me as an author this year?

Yeah... About that... Guess what? So am I!

Ahem... OK, well, here's what I've got so far:

*The paperback version of "Ulrike's Christmas" is currently in production, and will hopefully be available by the end of January 2017... Or maybe some time in early February 2017. Depending how long the proof takes to get to me, and assuming there are no issues when the proof arrives, of course. Great news for those of you who prefer a physical book.

*I've got a little stack of poems I plan/hope to add to in the next couple of months, so I'm planning to release a new poetry collection some time in 2017. Exactly when will depend on when I feel like I have enough poems for it, and decide which of them I want to use as the title poem, so I can't give you even an estimated date at this moment in time. All I know for sure right now is that a new poetry collection will be released at some point in the not-too-distant future.

*I've got a couple of stories I've made a start on, and several ideas trying to get my attention, so I plan to work on those - beginning with the couple I've already started - and will publish them when they're ready. What will be finished first, and how many stories I finish and publish this year is currently uncertain, so I'll have to fill you in on details about that as the year progresses and potential release dates become a reality. Not having old stories to rewrite in between the writing of new ones any more, means I'm not ahead of my publishing schedule like I was for the past couple of years, so 2017 will see less releases from me than previous years have. Not because I'm not continuing to write at least a little each day, but because I've only got new material to work with, so you need to give me time to write it, and then to get it ready for publication. Anyway, I'll give you more details about the stories when they're closer to completion.

*I need to spend a bit more time on marketing. I've got a few ideas I'm toying with, so you'll hopefully see my attempts at doing more when it comes to marketing my books in the near future. How many of these ideas I manage to do anything with, and how successful these attempts will be is anyone's guess, but that's always the case, so I'm going to try not to become discouraged if they don't work as well as I hope they will. The point is, I know I need to do more when it comes to marketing, and I'm going to try my best to do so.

So, there you go. That's what I've got planned for 2017. I know the plans are a little vague, but it's all I've got for now, I'm afraid. Still, it's a starting point, which is better than not having any plans at all. Right?

Tori's December 2016 #Book #Reviews (LBE)

It's time to take a look at what I read in December.

As with the previous posts like this one, the format reviewed may not be the format I read the book in. Also, please remember to bear in mind the fact that I read across multiple genres and age ranges, and you should always check suitability of content before reading, especially when children are involved. Finally, if you want to know more about the book, or the author it's by, simply click on the book title, or author name, to go to the appropriate Goodreads page.

OK...

The Girl with the Cat Tattoo by Theresa Weir
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I enjoy a good romance from time to time, and I love cats, so I expected to really like this book. Except I didn't. It starts off really well, but I found my attention wandering by the time we were maybe a third of the way through the book, with only the odd scene here and there holding my interest enough to stop me finding it dull, and the ending was only an "OK" sort of ending. So, a cute read, but not one that will be making it in to my favourites any time soon.

Geek with the Cat Tattoo by Theresa Weir
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I only read this one because I read the first in the series, and like with the first book, I thought it started off great, but did not continue as well.

Thin Air by Michelle Paver
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Michelle Paver's previous ghost story "Dark Matter" is the only ghost story to seriously scare me, so when I heard she was doing another, I was eager to see if she could manage it again. Did she ever! The well-rounded characters, amazing descriptions, and fantastic writing in general, all combine to make a story that had me huddled under my blankets with shivers running up my spine.

Tri-Pizza-Tops by Judge Kludge
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Like the first in the series, this is a fantastic book, which combines real dinosaur related facts with a very imaginative and exciting story. The plot is extremely creative, while still being thought out well enough to be believable, and the characters are likable and easy to relate to. There's more obvious fiction and less potential fact in this one than in the first, but that doesn't spoil it. Actually, it makes it a fun read where you're always wondering what will happen next. The only reason this one doesn't get the full five stars that book one got, is because the ending was too sudden; I hate cliffhanger endings.
*NOTE: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This fact has in no way influenced either my opinion of the book, or the contents of this review.

Defenestration by Matthew W. McFarland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book was a pleasant, though somewhat slow paced read. Most of the characters are well-rounded, though I don't feel I know enough about Adam, who I would have thought was most important for us to be familiar with, considering most of the story is told from his point of view in one way or another, so knowing more about him would have made getting inside his head easier. Anyway, it was interesting learning more about all of the characters as the threads of their individual stories were woven together as the story progressed. Also, though the plot moves at a slow pace, it doesn't move so slowly that you feel it drags or anything like that, and the pacing feels right for the story.
*NOTE: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book, nor has it had any influence on the contents of this review.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a difficult one for me to decide on a rating for. On the one hand, this book was excellent, with a pleasing mixture of whimsical characters and plot elements that will remind you of the Alice In Wonderland story, and make this a perfect read for fans of that particular book, while also being a wonderful story of one girl's attempts to be more than just a lady forced in to a loveless marriage she doesn't want, in a time and place when a proper lady shouldn't have dreams of running a bakery. On the other hand, there are a few places where the plot felt like it was starting to drag a little, and a few times when I struggled to understand why a character made the choice or comment they did, since it felt more like something that was done to make the plot move in the direction the author wanted it to go in. Thankfully, however, neither of those things happened too often, so I did mostly enjoy the book.

I Believe in Unicorns by Michael Morpurgo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a beautifully written story, which is a perfect one for encouraging a love of books and the stories they contain.

Enchanted Castle by Chrissy Peebles
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
It feels like the story hardly started before it suddenly ended. I get that this is the first in a series, but this book felt more like the first couple of chapters of something longer, rather than a book in its own right, which is a shame... It had the potential to be a five star read. If this was one of those serialised stories some magazines used to do, it would be worthy of that five star rating.

Esmerelda by Frances Hodgson Burnett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The ending was really nice, but the rest of it was a little dull.

Beginning of a Hero by Charles E. Yallowitz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a well-written book, with believable and well-rounded characters, and an interesting and exciting plot.

Learned Counsel and the Three Bears by Max G. Bernard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
An entertaining little story.

Aurora's Christmas by June Burns
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The lesson in this book is a great one, and this has the potential to be a beautiful Christmas story. However, her little brother's behaviour on Christmas day wasn't believable for a child of five, and the message of the lesson was verbally shoved down her throat, with only brief glimpses of situations that would have had the potential to show her what she needed to learn, rather than Aurora being allowed to figure it out for herself. Also, the ending - though touching for Aurora's actions - was in need of a bit of work to feel believable. With some work, and more use of the "show, don't tell," way of thinking, this book could be a five star read, but it's not there yet.

BookElves Anthology Volume 2 by Jemima Pett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is an excellent collection of festive tales, which are even better than those in volume one of the Book Elves anthologies.

A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a sweet and imaginative story, which is a perfect holiday read for the young and young at heart.

FREE: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a pretty good dramatization of the classic story. Perhaps not the most amazing version of it ever created, but certainly an enjoyable version, which I consider to be well worth listening to.

Christmas Crumble: An Agatha Raisin Short Story by M.C. Beaton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This isn't a bad story, but there's not much mystery solving going on, which is a bit of a disappointment.

One Dog and His Boy by Eva Ibbotson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a beautiful and touching story, which dog lovers will adore.

nightfall in the kingdom of winter by Andy Young
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This isn't a bad book. In fact, it's a weird kind of story, with the potential to be wonderful too. But I feel like too much was left unanswered. The big question she's supposed to be answering is whether or not she should be opening the doors, and I'm still not entirely sure what the answer to that question actually is, let alone how she found herself in the position to need to answer the question in the first place.

Celebrating The #Holidays 2016 (FD)

First of all... HAPPY NEW YEAR!

If 2016 was a bad year for you, I hope 2017 is kinder to you. If 2016 was a good year for you, I hope 2017 is even better.

We don't really do anything to see in the new year. I mean, the new year approaching always gets me to thinking about both the past and present, and reflecting on both. But we don't worry about being up to see in the new year, and don't usually bother to do anything special on either New Years Eve or New Year's Day. If you did though, or are planning to later, I hope your celebrations went/go well.

We used to make a big fuss for both the Winter Solstice and Christmas, but these days we've toned it down a lot. We now do small private rituals on the evening of the day the solstice falls upon (usually December 21st, but not always; the date sometimes shifts a day or so either way, depending on how the planets align), then we do something to celebrate Christmas (even if it's not much). For 2016, for example, we had our friends, Lorna and Andy, over for a Christmas Eve tea, which we ate the leftovers from on Christmas Day while watching Christmas movies, and then we cooked our Christmas dinner on Boxing Day.

Our Christmas Eve tea consisted of mince pies with squirty cream, a jam and cream swiss roll, a chocolate log, and some shortbread, served with whatever everyone wanted to drink, which was tea for Lorna and Andy, cocoa for me, and coffee for Kelly, just in case you're interested. Oh, and Christmas dinner was roasted parsnips, garlic and thyme roast potatoes, a root vegetable mash consisting of carrot and sweet potatoes with a bit of butternut squash, sage and onion stuffing balls, sprouts, cranberry sauce, and vegetable gravy (it was for me, anyway, Kelly didn't have all the vegetables I had though, and had pigs in blankets as part of his dinner, which I obviously didn't do, what with being vegetarian and all).

Now, on to the presents!

On the sixth day of Christmas, my friends and family brought for me,
6 audiobooks.
5 Hello Kitty themed pressies.
4 random gifts.
3 Hershey Bars.
2 DVD boxsets.
A penguin, and a box of toffee.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. *wink*

Here are photos of most of it...

Four Hello Kitty plush toys, and a Hello Kitty mug:


My penguin plushy, an Olaf the snowman plushy, three of my audiobooks (CDs of children's stories; two bedtime story collections, and a collection of Womble stories), my DVD boxsets (a boxset of the "Goosebumps" series that used to be on TV, and season nine of "The Big Bang Theory") and my "Frozen" DVD:


(so,, I don't have to wait for Sky to be showing "Frozen" so I can watch it again now, haha!)

Not pictured are the audiobooks that were audio downloads I picked out myself, a handy gadget my brother got me to make chopping vegetables easier, my Hershey bars and box of toffee, and the vouchers I have from a very good friend who's organizing a special zoo experience for me (which I'll tell you more about when it happens).

Last, but by no means least, here are some photos of our Christmas cards:


I didn't get a white Christmas again this year. We had some awesome storms, and Christmas Day itself didn't have the nicest of weather. The weather wasn't the worst we've had, but it was rough out there. At least it wasn't one of those Christmas days where it feels like Summer... Those are only supposed to happen in the Southern Hemisphere, not up here in the Northern Hemisphere. Like I said though, I would have liked snow, but we didn't get any. I can't say I'm all that shocked. Still, it would have been wonderful if I'd had snow for Christmas. Never mind.

Anyway, despite the lack of snow, it was a really good Christmas. Not just because of all the great cards and presents either. Although, I am grateful for those, so thank you to those who sent me stuff. Also, thank you to those who sent me holiday messages one way or another. As I was saying though, it was just a nice Christmas in general. 2017 promises to be a better year than 2016, and the promise of that helped, I think.

I hope you can say the same, both about the enjoyable Christmas, Winter Solstice, or whatever you celebrated, and the promise of a good year to come. Although, I suppose we won't know for sure what kind of year 2017 turns out to be for us until we reach the end of it, and can look back on the events that happened throughout the year. Still, I hope there's no sign of a dark cloud on your year's horizon so soon, and that none appears.

#Furkid Friday: A Very #Rodent #Christmas 2016 (FD)

Hi everyone. This is Star the rat.

Well, we didn't see him again... Even my chinchilla sisters, Mollie and Maizie, who are nocturnal, so awake at night, didn't see him... But that Santa Paws made his yearly visit, and left us loads of goodies. See:



Since I know you can't even see most of it, let alone tell what we all got, with it all mixed up together in the box like that, I'll tell you what Santa Paws brought for us this year.

Baggins (gerbil):

*A pack of small animal fruit loop treats.
*2 packs of small animal yogurt drops.
*A pack of cheese and cranberry gerbil treats.
*A wooden gnaw toy in the shape of a carrot.
*A Christmasy wooden gnaw toy.
*A small seagrass holiday reef (which he's chewing on in the above photo).

Joshua (degu):

*A pack of degu breakfast cookies.
*A pack of carrot slims treats.
*A pack of dandelion and rosehip treats.
*A wooden gnaw toy in the shape of a carrot.
*A Christmasy wooden gnaw toy.
*A small seagrass holiday reef (which he's chewing on in the above photo).

Mollie & Maizie (chinchillas):

*A pack of chinchilla cookies.
*A pack of dandelion and rosehip treats.
*A calcium stick each.
*An apple and cranberry treat each.
*A wooden gnaw toy in the shape of a carrot each (one of which Mollie is chewing on in the above photo of her).
*A Christmasy wooden gnaw toy each.
*A small seagrass holiday reef each (one of which Maizie is chewing on in the above photo of her).
*A larger seagrass holiday reef for in their playpen.
*A couple of small logs to gnaw on while in their playpen.

Star & Skye (rats):

*A pack of carrot slims treats.
*An apple and cranberry treat each.
*A pack of rat chippies treats.
*A gnawable tree shaped treat.
*A wooden gnaw toy in the shape of a carrot each.
*A Christmasy wooden gnaw toy each.
*A small seagrass holiday reef each.

(It's me, Star, you see in both photos. I was all over the place checking out our new toys, while Skye took her time coming out to see what all the fuss was about, and then took her time investigating the new toys carefully before deciding what to gnaw on... Skye takes her time with everything these days).

Plus, there was a bundle of sticks, a packet of dandelion roots, and a box of nibble rings, which are for us all to share.

When they say Santa Paws delivers, they really mean it, don't they?

Squeak soon,
Star

#Writing Wednesday: 2016 In Review

I said at the start of January 2016 that my writing goals for 2016 were:

*Finnish and publish both "Zeena And The Mermaid" and "Zeena And The Phoenix" (books three and four in the "Zeena Dragon Fae" series respectively).
*Get the last few books already published as eBooks out in paperback, and arrange for new books to be made available as paperbacks as soon as possible after the eBook releases.
*Publish a new poetry collection.
*At least start writing some of the stories I have ideas for, and publish them as they're ready.

So, how did I do?

I managed to check everything off my list!

*"Zeena And The Mermaid" and "Zeena And The Phoenix" were published in February and May respectively.
*With the exception of my newest release, which I haven't had a chance to sort the paperback for yet, all my books are now available in paperback as well as being available as eBooks. I've even sent paperback copies of them all to The British Library's Legal Deposit office.
*I published my poetry collection "The Ocean's Lullaby And Other Poems" in July.
*I wrote and published four other stories: "Rhubarb The Red-Nosed Rabbit" in March, "Jeffrey The Orange Alien" in August, "Eadweard - A Story Of 1066" in October, and "Ulrike's Christmas" in December.

All in all, a pretty productive year, I think, which surprised me when I realized it, because I felt at first as though I hadn't done half of what I'd planned to this year. It was only when I was looking at my list of 2016 goals that I realized I'd actually done everything I planned to do in 2016. Yep... Turns out I did better than I thought... Go me!

My 2016 sales figures weren't too bad either, which is amazing considering how much I suck at the marketing side of things. Honestly, I could do with figuring out a proper marketing plan one of these days. Yeah, yeah. I know, I should have done that already. Like I said, I suck at the marketing side of things.

Anyway, thank you to those who have been there beside me throughout it, or joined me along the way. Especially those who have supported me as an author in some way. You're all awesome!

Kishi And Luke In 'Lost In The Forest' - Via @VictoriaZigler And @cyallowitz

The magical worlds of two different authors collide when half-elf hero of Windemere, Luke Callindor, has an encounter with a dryad named Kishi.  The very same dryad, as it happens, who helped Zeena the faerie dragon at the start of her adventures.

This is taking place via the blog of fantasy author, Charles E Yallowitz, in a post co-written by me and Charles especially for this event.

You can go directly to the post by clicking here, if you want to check it out.

A Huge Thank You To #Author @MichellePaver

I first learned of the existance of Michelle Paver's books when I was losing my sight. My Mam and I were looking for something for me to listen to among the audiobooks in one of our bookshops, and stumbled across Michelle Paver's "Wolf Brother" (the first in her "Chronicles Of Ancient Darkness" series). It sounded so good that I grabbed the audio copy, and my Mam grabbed herself a paperback copy. We loved it, and were instantly hooked on the series, and devoured the rest of the books eagerly. Waiting for the sixth and final book "Ghost Hunter" to come out was like waiting for the last Harry Potter book to come out for me, and my Mam wasn't much better. I clearly remember clutching my audio copy of "Ghost Hunter" all the way home, and eagerly listening to the book that evening.

When Michelle released her ghost story "Dark Matter" a few years ago, I was excited for a new Michelle Paver book, but didn't expect to be scared. I mean, the only times I've ever been scared while reading a book have been due to external influences, like the time my cat, Topsi, grabbed my foot during a particularly tense moment when I was reading one of R L Stine's Goosebumps books in my teens, or when my Westie, Kero, moved enough to cause the blanket to shift on my leg right when I was reading about a creature in J K Rowlings "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them" that creeps along like a shadowy fluid cloak. But, as it turned out, Michelle Paver's "Dark Matter" actually scared me. I'm talking curled under the blankets with shivers running up my spine, too scared to even go to the bathroom, kind of scared.

When I heard Michelle was bringing out a new ghost story called "Thin Air" I was eager to see if she could pull that off again. But whether she did or not, I was excited for a new Michelle Paver book, and eagerly shared the prank video that was part of the pre-release publicity. It turned out she did pull it off again, as I mention in my review of "Thin Air" on Goodreads. But that's not the point of this post, even though her ability to do so was an excellent achievement.

The point of this post starts with the prank video going viral, and me getting an eMail thanking me for helping to make that happen. In the eMail, it's mentioned that if I requested the signed book plate that people signed up to her mailing list had been invited to request if they eMail proof that they brought a physical copy of "Thin Air" this would be sent out soon. To which I sent a reply containing the following paragraph:

I didn't reply asking for a signed book plate.  Having something signed by you would be great, but I have to stick to audiobooks or eBooks because I can't see to read print ones, so I figured there wasn't much point in my asking for one.

Honestly, I kinda thought it would be ignored, and that the eMail I was replying to was just an eMail sent out to the whole mailing list. I mean, despite the fact I've seen it mentioned several times that Michelle always replies to fans, I didn't expect any kind of response. But I sent my message anyway.

To my surprise, a few weeks later, I got a reply that contained the following short message from Michelle's literary agent, Peter Cox:

Michelle would still like to send you a little something... what is your postal address?

So, I sent him my postal address. I mean, I'd heard the guy's name in connection with Michelle's a bunch of times, and he had a copy of my response to the original message, so I figured it couldn't hurt. Besides, getting something in the post from one of my favourite authors would be amazing, and I wasn't about to let that chance slip through my fingers.

That was a few weeks ago.

A few days ago, these items arrived in the post for me:


The items include a pin badge (or button, to most of those outside the UK) and wrist-band style bracelet from Michelle's "Chronicles Of Ancient Darkness" series, a signed book plate, and a picture of Michelle with a young wolf named Torak (who I think was actually especially named for her character by those who run the zoo or wildlife preserve he was born to, if my memory serves me correctly, though I don't remember the full details, unfortunately). The wrist-band is even semi-tactile (the symbols are tricky to feel, but I can feel they are there). Besides, tactile or not, it's the thought that counts. I mean, it's nice to be included, even though the official requirement was that you had to reply to your mailing list eMail with proof you'd brought a physical copy of the book, which I couldn't do, though I did grab an audio download from Audible a few days in to November.

Anyway, I've included Michelle's Twitter name in the subject of this post, because I'm hoping she'll see this and know how grateful I am to her and Peter. So, Michelle, if you see this... Thank you!

I hope, one day in the future, I will get the chance to pay it forward, and make a fan of mine as happy as Michelle Paver and Peter Cox have made me.

The #History Of Traditions Associated With #Christmas, And Other Winter #Holidays

Want to learn about the history behind many of the traditions we associate with Christmas today? How about learning a little about how the holidays are celebrated around the world? Or, perhaps, you're just looking for some holiday fun, so you can make the holidays last a little longer?

If any of those applies to you, check out Why Christmas?. It's an interesting site.

Whatever you're celebrating, or have recently celebrated, be it Christmas, Yule, or some other holiday that happens around this time of year, I hope your celebrations went well, are going well, or go well when you get to them.

Happy holidays, whatever you celebrate!

From me, Kelly, Joshua the degu, Baggins the gerbil, Star the rat, Skye the rat, Mollie the chinchilla, and Maizie the chinchilla.