Victoria Zigler's Blog: Zigler News, page 9

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The #PetKids Letters To #SantaPaws 2022

 

~The above photo shows an artificial holiday wreath now hanging on our front door.

 

*** ~~~ ***

 

Dear Santa Paws,

 

I’ve been a very good Westie girl again this year.  I’m always a good girl… Daddy says soSo, since Mummy says if I’ve been a good girl again this year you’ll bring me toys and treats, and Daddy agrees with me that I’m a good girl, I guess I better tell you what I want you to bring me.

 

As it happens, my toys keep breaking – which is totally not my fault, by the way – so I could do with a few new ones.  I especially love balls (those ones that treats get put in are great, but I do love regular balls too, so either kind would work) and those cuddly toys with squeakers in them.  Some treats would be nice as well, especially chewie sticks and something nice to go in my treat ball.  So, if you could bring me all of those, Santa Paws, I’d be really happy.  You should probably bring something for my little brother too, otherwise he’ll only try and steal mine – especially the treats.  I expect the tortoise would like something as well, though I don't know what a tortoise might want as a present.

 

Also, Santa Paws, why do you keep sneaking in when I’m sleeping? I’d really love to meet you and make friends.  I love friends! I’d do my happy wiggle dance for you and everything, even though it’s harder to do these days with my legs not working as good as they used to.  I’ve tried to stay awake to spot you every year, and I somehow never manage it.  Maybe this year I finally will?

 

Lots of licks,

Lilie

 

*** ~~~ ***

 

 

Dear Santa Paws,

 

I’ve been a good boy all year.  At least, I think I have.  I sure try to be good anyhow, and Mummy says trying is what really counts.  I don’t remember doing anything bad though, so I’m pretty sure I was a good Cavapoo.  Mummy says I’m the best Cavapoo ever, and Daddy says I shouldn’t change, so that means they agree, right?

 

Mummy and Lilie say you’re coming to visit soon, and that you’ll be bringing toys and treats with you.  I like that idea.  Especially the part about the treats.  Some of them will be for me, won’t they? Please say yes! I wouldn’t mind a new toy or two as well, especially since Lilie keeps breaking my toys as well as her own.  I mean, we do have some toys she didn’t break yet, but it would be nice to have a few more.  Besides, you can never have too many toys.  And treats.  Don’t forget the treats! The treats are the most important part.

 

Make sure you bring something for everyone else in the house too, Santa Paws.  Even the tortoise.

 

Lots of licks,

Logan

 

*** ~~~ ***

 

Dear Santa Paws,

 

I’m told you’re coming to visit again soon.  Could you bring me some fruit when you come? The humans don’t let me have much of that, even though they know I love it… Something about too much fruit not being good for a Hermann’s Tortoise.  So, if you could bring me some, that would be great.

 

I was going to point out that I’ve been a good tortoise.  But we all know you have ways of knowing if we’ve been bad or good, so you already know I’ve been the most well-behaved tortoise in the history of tortoises.  With that in mind, I hope I’ll find my bowl very full of fruit after you visit.

 

Oh, and you should probably get something for those dogs too.  That way I can enjoy my fruit in peace.

 

~Artemis

 

 

Random Ramblings - December 9th 2022

 

It’s been very cold here, with temperatures barely above freezing the past few days, and below freezing the past few nights.  No.  We don’t have snow yet, even though they’re saying we soon will have some.  But we’ve had plenty of frosty mornings where things were coated in a layer of frost like in the photo at the top of this post, which was taken on December 7th.  I’m crossing my fingers the snow predictions come true and we get some of the white stuff soon.  If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you’ll know I love my snow, so will know how much I’m hoping there really will be some very soon.

 

*~*

 

I like to have bells on Lilie and Logan’s collars.  Their tags jingle a bit, but it’s easier for me to keep track of where they are with bells on them.  They lost their last ones though, and I couldn’t find the spares.  But I found a couple Wednesday and put them on their collars yesterday.  They were really funny, shaking to make the bells jingle and then wagging their tails happily.  Clearly they were delighted to have bells again.

 

I ordered a big pack of bells off Amazon, so I'll hopefully actually be able to find some the next time they lose their bells.  It's a pack of 300 bells, so it should last a while... Assuming I don't forget where I put it.  LOL!

 

*~*

 

I had a late birthday present from Kelly.  It was actually ordered before my birthday, but took a couple of weeks to get here.  It’s a cuddly toy of a bear named Trinket.  He’s a character from one of the games the Critical Roll group plays.  And they, for anyone who doesn’t know, are a group of roleplayers who have videos of their games go up on YouTube and other platforms.  Kelly and I both watch them (Kelly more reliably than me) and I love the character of Trinket the bear, so Kelly got me a cuddly toy of him.  I mean, who wouldn’t want a cuddly toy of a bear in armour? Anyway, here’s a photo of me cuddling Trinket:

 

*~*

 

I finished making my purple loom knitted tube socks.  So, here’s a photo of those:

 

 

I’ve made progress on some other craft projects, but not finished any others yet.

 

*~*

 

We don’t do Thanksgiving over here, but I was involved with the Friendsgiving celebrations the ACB had.  I even got to be moderating in Clubhouse (a platform we use alongside Zoom for people to participate in the calls) during the hour the president of ACB and his wife were facilitating.  Anyway, it was great fun.

 

If you did anything for Thanksgiving, I hope you enjoyed it.

 

*~*

 

Yesterday (Thursday December 8th) was Bodhi Day, which – for those who don’t know, but would like to – is the Buddhist day of enlightenment.  I don’t celebrate all Buddhist holidays, but I do like to acknowledge Bodhi Day.

 

I made rice pudding in the slowcooker (crockpot) and also put up a few holiday decorations.

 

I felt like going for the minimalistic approach with decorations this year, so only put up a few things.

 

I set up my little fibre optic tree, and put my large wooden nutcracker and my reindeer teddy that plays “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” on either side of the tree, plus set a little wooden train in front of it.  Here are a couple of photos of the setup, taken from different angles:

 

 

And I hung an artificial sprig of mistletoe on the front door, as you can see in this next photo:

 

 

Apart from that, I also hung some fir tree scented scentsickles (which are really good scent sticks that are pretty close to the smell of a real tree) around the house, so now it smells like Christmas in my home, even though we don’t actually have a real tree to produce the scent.  For the most part I didn’t bother getting photos of those, but I think you may be able to see one of them hung on the door with the mistletoe in the above photo.

 

*~*

 

Other than the usual day to day stuff, there’s not really anything else I could mention from the past couple of weeks.  So I’ll let this do for today, and just say that I hope you’re having a great December so far.

 

Oh, and I'm sorry for being slow to get to blog posts lately.  This thing where my notifications aren’t coming through for posts any more is making things take longer, and also meaning I don’t always end up remembering to check for new posts.  So, if I usually visit your blog and haven’t been around lately, it’s nothing personal.  I’ll try to catch up on what’s been going on in your corner of the world soon.

Bookish #Christmas Tag - #AmReading

Here's another festive Christmas book tag I spotted on The Strawberry Post when Cat did it last year, so kept for this year, because I also thought it might be fun to do.  This tag is all about the most well known aspects of Christmas, and whether I could pair a book to them.

 

If you decide to play along, you can either leave your answers below, or play along on your own blog.  If you do the latter though, please make sure to let me know where I can read your answers, since I don't want to miss them, because I'd love to know what yours would be.

For now though, you can check out Cat's post here, and read on for both the questions and my answers.

~

Father Christmas: Name a book you received as a child and treasure to this day
 

That's easy.  It's got to be my copy of "The Bear Father Christmas Forgot" by Diana Kimpton.  I still have the braille copy my brother gave to me after I learned to read braille well enough to read it to him all those years ago.

 

The Ghost of Christmas Past: is there a book or series you like to revisit each year at Christmas time?
 

Appropriately, it's "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens.  I love reading that every year.  "Winter Solstice" by Rosamunde Pilcher is another one I love to revisit around the holidays.

 

Christmas Tree: name a series that reaches new heights with every entry. 

 

Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" series.
 

Friends and Family: name a book with fantastic characters.

 

There are loads I could pick for this one, and I really don't know where to start, so I'm not even going to try.  I mean, there are many books I've read without fantastic characters in them, but there are even more with fantastic characters, so how can I choose just one?

 

Decorations: name a book with a gorgeous cover you would proudly display on your shelves.
 

I was never really one to judge a book by its cover, and certainly don't consider covers these days when I can't see them.  I only care about covers when arranging for the covers of my own books to be produced.

 

Christmas Cards: name a book that carries a great message.

 

"The Midnight Library" by Matt Haig.
 

 Ice and Snow: name a book that you were hoping to love but which ultimately left you feeling cold.
 

"The Nox" by Joe White.  I thought it was going to be a great spooky Halloween read, and it wasn't at all what I hoped it would be, or expected it to be
based on the reviews I read of it on Audible.
 

Christmas Lunch: name a book that was big and intimidating but oh so worth it in the end.
 

This is tricky, but one that comes to mind that I struggled to get in to at first but later felt it was worth it was "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War" by Max Brooks.  It's one I read back in 2019, if I'm remembering correctly how long ago I read it, but it's the one that comes to mind, so I'm going with it, since I can't think of a more recent read right now.

 

Mince Pies: name a book you found sweet and satisfying.
 

"Haunted Halloween Holiday" by Robbie Cheadle.
 

Presents: what book do you wish you could give everyone to read?
 

Whichever book is the one they want most from their to-read list.  After all, it's the fact you're reading rather than exactly what you're reading that's most important.  In other words, as long as people are enthusiastic about reading, I'd be happy for them to have  any book that will encourage that.

The #Christmas Songs Book Tag - #AmReading

Cat over at The Strawberry Post did this tag right before Christmas last year, which I'm pretty sure I haven't done - I couldn't find it when I took a quick look in my old tag posts, and didn't remember having done it anyhow - which I wanted to do, since I love doing these things.  But I didn't have time to do it when Cat posted it, and by the time I would have been able to do it the holidays would have been over.  So, I decided to keep it to do in the run up to this Christmas instead.  Since it's now only a month until Christmas Day, I figure we're close enough to Christmas that I can do it now.

You can read Cat's post here.

If you want to do this tag too, either post your answers in the comments section below - whether via my blog, or via whatever social media platform you're reading this through - or do it on your own blog.  If you do the latter, please drop a link to your actual tag post below, so I can be sure to come check out your post, since I'd hate to miss it.  Either way, I'd love to read your answers.

For now though, here are the songs you need to match a book to, as well as my answers.

~

‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’: Favourite Bookish Couple
 

Jamie and Claire from Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" series.

 

‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas’: Name a book where a character is away from home (school, vacation etc)
 

Anyone who knows me knows I had to get this one in here somewhere.  And, hey, it does fit.  So I'm going with J K Rowling's "Harry Potter" series.  Though I love them all, my favourite of the series is "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" - just in case you want to know.

 

‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’: Name your favourite ‘little’ book (Children’s book, short story, novella, etc)
 

I'm sorry, but I have to pick two.  First, even though it's a sad one, I love "The Little Match Girl" by Hans Christian Anderson.  For a more cheerful holiday story, it's got to be "The Bear Father Christmas Forgot" by Diana Kimpton.

 

‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’: What book(s) do you hope Santa brings you this year?
 

Any book I don't have from my to-read list.

 

‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’: Which book turned your nose read (made you cry)?
 

"Wolfbane" (Chronicles Of Ancient Darkness, #9) by Michelle Paver.  There were a couple of points where the book had me in tears for one reason or another, especially near the end.

 

‘The Most Wonderful Time of the Year’ Your favourite book/kind of book to read during the holidays
 

I love reading any kind of book at any time of the year.

 

‘We Three Kings’: Your favourite trilogy
 

Terry Pratchett's "Bromiliad" trilogy is one that's been a favourite of mine since I first heard of it when I was a child.

 

‘Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow’: A character you would love to be snowed in with
 

Aeson from Vera Nazarian's "Atlantis Grail" series.

 

‘Last Christmas’: A book that seriously let you down
 

"The Nox" by Joe White.  I thought it was going to be a great spooky Halloween read, and it wasn't at all what I hoped it would be, or expected it to be based on the reviews I read of it on Audible.
 

 ‘White Christmas’: An upcoming release you’re dreaming about
 

I'm not really dreaming about any specific upcoming release.  I don't tend to necessarily get excited about upcoming releases unless it's a new book by an author I know I love, and none are springing to mind right now.

Of Birthdays And #Pets

This past Sunday (November 13th) was my birthday.

 

I wanted a birthday cake, but with how difficult – and expensive – it is to get any vegan birthday cake that isn’t chocolate (I don't like chocolate cake) I decided I’d just make my own.  This isn’t the first year I’ve done it, and likely won’t be the last.  Anyway, this year I made a two layer lemon cake with lemon butter icing between the layers.  Yes, despite the word “butter” there, it was all 100% vegan.  It was also very tasty, if I do say so myself.  LOL! You can see the cake in the below photo:

 

 

Also in the photo with my cake are some of the things I got for my birthday: a cuddly Hedwig the owl, a large ball of rainbow coloured wool, a tube oof Fruit pastels (which are vegan –friendly these days) and two packets of gummy Kevin the carrot sweets (which also happen to be Vegan-friendly, even though Kevin is a promotional figure for one of the supermarkets rather than something specifically aimed at vegans).  There’s another cuddly toy Kelly ordered for me that hasn’t arrived yet due to delays caused by international shipping timelines, which I’ll show you when it gets here.  I also got some money, and a couple of cards.  The cards from my Dad and Rita are in the below photo.

 

 

There were fireworks that evening.  My friend Kaila from the ACB Crafters calls was telling me she'd arranged them especially for me for my birthday.  Kelly says otherwise, and insists it was just a coincidence that someone was using some of the fireworks they got for Bonfire Night on my birthday.  I think I like Kaila's answer better.  I think you can figure out which is true yourself.  LOL!

 

Anyway, a big thank you to everyone who sent birthday messages, cards, money, presents, or some combination of those things.  I want you to know that every single one of them is very much appreciated.

 

*~*

 

We had a sign made for Artemis’ vivarium as an early Christmas present.  It has a picture of a tortoise on it along with the words “Artemis’ House” and is now hanging up in his vivarium (we decided not to wait until Christmas to hang it up).  Here’s a photo of it:

 

 

Artemis isn’t in the photo due to being dug in asleep at the time it was taken.

 

*~*

 

When Mam was here during my birthday weekend she took these photos of the dogs:

 

One where Logan is cuddled up against me while I was sat on the floor, and Lilie is beside us on the floor with a great big doggy grin on her face that makes it appear she’s laughing at us for some reason…

 

 

And one where Logan was just sat in front of my Mam staring at her and looking adorable…

 

 

*~*

 

Other than the fact I finished the first of a pair of loom knitted socks (as in, finished the first sock of the pair; still need to make the other one to complete the pair) and moved my other craft projects along a bit, there’s not really anything else that happened during the past week besides the usual day to day routine of housework, petkid care and playtime, Zoom calls, etc.  So I’ll let this do for today.

 

I hope you’ve had a great week.

Lilie The #Westie Shares A Photo And Discusses Balls

 

Hi everyone.  This is Lilie the Westie.

 

In fact, here’s a photo of me standing in the hallway, which Daddy took at the end of last month:

 

 

~

 

Mummy was playing with one of those orange ball things she says is called a pumpkin again a couple of weeks ago, and she wouldn’t share.  I don’t think it’s fair.  I’m always willing to share my balls with her, but she won’t share hers.  Instead, she keeps it all to herself.

 

Plus, she always says I shouldn’t chew up my balls, but she was sticking knives in hers and making big holes in it.  What’s that all about? Is she just jealous because she has to use a knife, where as I have teeth and claws to do the job?

 

I tried telling Daddy, and seeing if he'd help me get to play with the ball.  Or at least explain why I couldn't play with the pumpkin ball thing.  But he just told me I should listen to Mummy about leaving it alone.  That was no help at all, so I gave up on him.

 

Humans are so confusing sometimes.

 

~

 

Lots of licks,

Lilie

Celebrating #Halloween 2022

Halloween.  Samhain.  Nos Calan Gaeaf.

 

Whichever you prefer to call it – or even if you have another name for it - it happened this past Monday, as anyone who hasn’t been hiding under a rock, or isn’t newly arrived on the planet, could tell you.

 

~

 

I put up a few of my Halloween decorations on Saturday.  Not all of them, because I didn’t feel like going all out this year.  But some of them.

 

The bat Kelly and I painted together a few years ago…

 

 

The ghost I crocheted a couple of weeks ago…

 

And some of my hanging decorations (a ghost, a skeleton, and a “BEWARE” sign) which are pictured here first during the daytime and then during the evening when it was getting dark:

 

 

On Sunday, before the second of the above photos was taken, I carved this year’s jack-o-lantern, who was in the window by the time the evening photo of the window decorations was taken.  Here’s a closer shot of 2022’s Mr. Pumpkin-Head:

 

 

And here’s Artemis the tortoise with Mr. Pumpkin-Head:

 

 

Lilie and Logan’s holiday photos were in last week’s post.

 

~

 

Monday’s dinner (for me anyhow; Kelly had something different, and I'm not sure what he had) was pasta with pumpkin sage sauce, followed by baked apple with homemade caramel sauce.  Followed by some of the candy left once I knew it was late enough that we’d get no more trick-or-treaters, which I ate while curled up with the dogs and a book, and listening to the storm that arrived during the evening.

 

It was an awesome storm with a lot of rain and a fair bit of wind.

 

We had about 15 trick-or-treaters this year, in case you’re interested.  Including one little one who was utterly confused about the whole thing, though delighted to be getting some treats – even if he wasn’t sure why.  LOL!

 

~

 

So, did you celebrate Halloween? If so, what did you do? And did you get any trick-or-treaters?

Random Ramblings - October 2022

October is when fellow author, Teri Polen, holds her “Bad Moon Rising” event.  It’s a fun way to get to know about some possibly new to you paranormal or horror books you may want to read, as well as learn a bit about the authors who wrote them.  IT runs all month long, and is always a lot of fun.

 

I’ve participated in it eagerly for a few years now, and this year was no exception.  My interview went live on October 8th 2022.  Yes, I know I’m slow posting about it on here.  Anyway, if you missed it, and would like to read my answers to the questions I picked from the list of fun questions Teri comes up with for us to answer as part of the event, you can go here to check out my interview.

 

Don’t forget to check out the other authors’ posts while you’re there too, especially if you’re a fan of spooky reads.  Or pets… Pets ended up featured a lot in many of the interviews this year as it turned out.

 

*~*

 

In other news: Lilie and Logan got groomed.

 

Technically they were groomed late, because they were officially meant to get groomed on September 29th.  But the groomer had an unavoidable family emergency that meant he had no choice but to reschedule, which meant they ended up getting groomed on October 1st instead.

 

Of course, we had to get photos of them freshly groomed, so here they are:

 

 

*~*

 

There was a Harry Potter crafting call I went to recently.  They were making a monster book of monsters and a bowtruckle.  I didn’t bother making a monster book of monsters, but here’s the little purplish pipe cleaner bowtruckle I made:

 

 

They would usually have little twiggy fingers, some tiny leaves sticking out of the top, and tiny little black eyes.  But I didn't have anything to do those things with, so I just left mine as it is.

 

~

 

  We were making toilet roll covers in one of the recent ACB Crafters crochet classes.  Well, we were meant to be making pumpkin ones, but since the only orange wool I have is what I don’t want to be touching until I’ve made the tea cosy for my witchy tea pot, I just grabbed a random ball, which turned out to be purple.  Then I decided to make it two different colours so grabbed another random ball, which turned out to be a different shade of purple.  Then I just didn’t add the extra bits that would make it look like a pumpkin (the stem and leaves).  The end result was this two tone purple toilet roll cover:

 

 

~

 

I made this crochet ghost in another of the classes:

 

 

~

 

 I also made this little crochet cat:

I know it's the wrong colour, but never mind.  I got bored of playing, "What colour is this?" so just went with the last ball I'd asked about when I got fed up of asking.  Anyway, it looks more like a turquoise pikachu (one of the Pokemon) than a cat, so I'm going to have to make a yellow one with a slightly zig-zag-shaped tail so I can actually accurately call it a crochet pikachu. LOL!

 

 ~

 

Speaking of crochet: I’ve still got a long way to go with it, but I’m making progress with my crochet blanket.  It’s a big enough square now that you can actually call it a blanket in progress.  I don’t know if I’m going to make it with finishing it before Winter arrives, but at least if I don't it will keep me warm while I’m working on it.  LOL!

 

~

 

I've also been working on a raglan crochet bag, which was one of the kits I needed sighted help with.  The actual crocheting is fine; I can do the crocheting myself no problem.  But the pattern is in print and I need someone to read it to me.  So Dad's been reading me the pattern while I work on it.

Raglan wool is not fun to work with.  It's like crocheting with straw.  I have no intention of ever voluntarily being anything that requires me to use it in the future.  The pattern is fine (even if it sounds like gibberish to Dad, who isn't familiar with crochet at all so has no idea what the terms mean) but the papery wool stuff is horrid to work with.  They included some hand cream with the kit, and I can easily see why.

~

We've already identified some kits from the selection I got from the subscription services that Dad will be doing for me, or have to help me with a lot.  I wish I could do them all, but some of them just aren't practical for me to do with my lack of sight, and I'm likely to get frustrated with attempting it.  The main thing is to have the kits get put together really, so we've decided those he'll need to do himself he can do while I work on some other project alongside him, whether another of the kits or something else I might want to work on.

 

~

 

I'm also working on some loom knitted socks.  I haven't gotten very far with them yet, but I only learned to loom knit at the start of the year, so I think I can be forgiven for being slow at it.  Besides, I've also been working on several other projects, as you can see from those I've shared in this post.

*~*

A while back my Mam gave us her Kindle Fire 7 so we had a second one, since she wasn't really using it.  I've been using that one so that Kelly could have my Kindle Fire 8, since my one had a bigger screen.  But they had a deal on the newer version of the Kindle Fire 8 a few weeks ago (don't know if it's still on offer, but it was then) so I took the oppertunity to grab myself the newer version of the Kindle Fire 8, along with a sturdy purple case for it, so that Kelly can still have the old Kindle Fire 8 and Mam can have her Kindle Fire 7 back.  Plus, I got a brand new more current model of the Kindle Fire 8 out of the deal.  Both Kelly and Mam are happy with the arrangement, and I definitely am, so everybody wins.

 

~

 

My iPhone needed upgrading too.  I was still using an iPhone 6S, which was starting to be an issue for updates, and the battery life wasn't as good as it once was any more.  My mobile contract had reached the point where I was entitled to a free upgrade months ago though, so I contacted my provider to arrange that.

I now have a purple iPhone 12.  It's a light purple, which both Dad and Kelly describe as being, "A lilac-ish colour."

Kelly has one too.  Not a purple one, but an iPhone 12.  His first smart phone.  His is black.

So far we're both loving our new phones.

 

 *~*

 

Mam and I did a bit of a Halloween photoshoot with the dogs.  This year we had a bat theme going on.

 

So, in the below photos, Lilie, Logan, and Izabel (Izabel is Mam's dog, for anyone who doesn't know) have a little purple charm on their collars that’s a bat on a bow, and a dog toy that’s a black and pink bat with orange feet in the shot with them.  The bat toy is one of a pair of them I brought for the dogs recently.  Lilie had already removed the squeaker from hers before we thought to use them as props for the photos, but Logan’s was still in good enough shape to use.  Anyway, here are the photos:

 

 

#WordCrafters #Book #BlogTour For "Visions" - Includes A #Giveaway + My #Review

Today is my stop on the WordCrafters book blog tour for “Visions” anthology.  I have a review of the book to share with you, as well as details of a giveaway.  But, before I get to those things, I have a guest post for you from one of the contributing authors: Patty Fletcher.  So, take it away, Patty.

 

 

 

When Kaye wrote and asked me to write a guest post explaining my inspiration for ‘The Portal Brings Christmas Love’ at first, I had no clue what to say.

The reasons are a bit tangled as is a lot of my life from the time period during which this story idea first came to me.

In 2016 as the elections in the US were getting under way, there was a lot of unrest not only in the political arena but in my personal life as well.

I was just beginning the journey from the darkness which had covered my life for the previous four years into the light and finding no way to gain closure for some of the damage I’d caused found myself on early Christmas Eve morning alone and feeling quite sad.

While clearing up the dishes and cleaning the kitchen from the night before, I began to wonder what would happen if the people of our country rose up and stated, ‘No More.’ I also wondered what it would feel like if I could wish up the one I longed to be with for the holidays and the next thing I knew, I was at my desk, pounding out a story.

For years, it languished in a folder, then along came Kaye and the call for submissions for the Visions Anthology contest and I thought, why not?

I had to do a lot of touch up work and then send it off to my editor. After that I held my breath and sent it to Kaye.

Some weeks later, to my delighted surprise, I learned that my story had been accepted and so, at least my wish to be included in the company of great talent was granted.

I hope others will enjoy reading my story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Thanks to Kay and WordCrafter for giving me this incredible opportunity to share my work with the world.

Here below is a taste of what you can expect when you read ‘The Portal Brings Christmas Love’.

 

 

Excerpt

The Portal Brings Christmas Love

By Patty L. Fletcher

I awoke just after midnight on that early Christmas morn. Though I knew I should be happy, there was a horrible emptiness inside me. My longing for Derrick had become all consuming. All I wanted for Christmas was to hold him. He’d been mine and King’s trainer and we’d shared some happy times, but when I’d come back to Korponious, my life had somehow turned itself inside out. Due to my fiancé’s abuse, my mental illness had spun horribly out of control. For a time, I’d been terribly lost to the darkness. It was a prolonged period of spiraling behavior, during which I’d destroyed mine and Derrick’s friendship and had damn near killed myself.

Derrick and I had met a few years later at a Blended Lives Federation convention, and while working out our differences, had gotten dangerously entangled in an interplanetary government overthrow attempt when I’d been kidnapped, tortured, and almost killed.

Derrick had risked his life and freedom to save me, and had worked tirelessly once we were reunited to help King and me to rehabilitate only to be separated by war breaking out. I was in Korponious settling my affairs, while readying to move to Casimian.

Now, because of current travel bans, I could not immigrate. I was, in a word, miserable.

 

 

 

 

Patty L. Fletcher lives in Kingsport Tennessee where she works full time as a Writer with the goal of bridging the great chasm which separates the disAbled from the non-disAbled. She is Also a Social Media Marketing Assistant.

To learn more visit:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8431191.Patricia_L_Fletcher

 

 

 

Book blurb

An author’s visions are revealed through their stories. Many authors have strange and unusual stories, indeed. Within these pages, you will find the stories of eighteen different authors, each unique and thought provoking. These are the fantasy, science fiction, paranormal, and horror stories that will keep you awake long into the night.

What happens when:

An inexplicable monster plagues a town for generations, taking people… and souvenirs?

A post-apocalyptic band of travelers finds their salvation in an archaic machine?

The prey turns out to be the predator for a band of human traffickers?

Someone chooses to be happy in a world where emotions are regulated and controlled?

A village girl is chosen to be the spider queen?

Grab your copy today and find out. Let authors such as W.T. Paterson, Joseph Carabis, Kaye Lynne Booth, Michaele Jordan, Stephanie Kraner, and others, including the author of the winning story in the WordCrafter 2022 Short Fiction Contest, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, tantalize your thoughts and share their visions.

 

Purchase link:

https://books2read.com/u/49Lk28

 

My review:

Visions by Kaye Lynne Booth, and others.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's always difficult to review an anthology like this, where different authors - each with their own writing style - come together to share their perspective on a given theme, and you can guarantee there will be some stories that appeal to you more than others purely for the fact the writing style of some authors will be more to your liking than that of others. This collection is a perfect example of that. Every story was a fantastical and creative tale, but some of them captivated me and captured my attention more than others. All in all though, this was a well-crafted collection of stories, where different worlds and different forms of magic are explored in fascinating and fantastical ways.

View all my reviews

 

 

 

 

Giveaway 

Five digital copies of the book will be given away in a random drawing at the end of the tour. Each stop visited earns an entry. Simply let us know you were there by leaving a comment.

 

Tour schedule:

Monday – October 17 – Guest Post – Billie Holladay Skelley & Winning Story Interview with Roberta Eaton Cheadle – Writing to be Read: https://writingtoberead.com/2022/10/17/welcome-to-the-wordcrafter-visions-book-blog-tour/

Tuesday – October 18 – Guest Post – Michaele Jordan – Patty’s World: https://pattysworlds.com/wordcrafter-visions-book-blog-tour-day-2-farewell-my-miko-guest-post-and-review/

Wednesday – October 19 – Guest Post – D.L. Mullan – The Showers of Blessings: https://theshowersofblessings.com/2022/10/18/visions-a-wordcrafter-anthology-blog-tour/

Thursday – October 20 – Guest Post – C.R. Johanssen – Robbie’s Inspiration: https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/2022/10/20/robbies-inspiration-visions-wordcrafter-blog-tour-featuring-her-beholder-by-c-r-johansson/

Friday – October 21 – Guest Post – Patty L. Fletcher & Review – Zigler News: https://ziglernews.blogspot.com/2022/10/wordcrafters-book-blogtour-for-visions.html

Saturday – October 22 – Guest Post – Jeff Bowles – Writing to be Read: https://writingtoberead.com/?p=25382

And interview w/ Kaye Lynne Booth on SaraWesleyMcBride.com: https://www.sarawesleymcbride.com/

Sunday – October 23 – Guest Post – Stephanie Kraner – Roberta Writes: https://roberta-writes.com/2022/10/23/roberta-writes-visions-wordcrafter-book-tour-here-now-wherever-by-stephanie-kraner/

Monday – October 24 – Guest Post – Joseph Carrabis – Writing to be Read: https://writingtoberead.com/2022/10/24/day-8-of-the-wordcrafter-visions-book-blog-tour/

And Review – Undawnted: http://www.undawnted.com/2022/10/wordcrafter-blog-tour-joseph-carrabiss.html