Casey Hays's Blog, page 4

“The Replacement” by John Mark Tucker

This Christmas season, I’ve decided to do something a little different. I’ve invited 24 authors to share some of their favorite things about the holidays. I hope you enjoy the 24 days of Christmas countdown with “These are a few of my Favorite Things.” Enjoy! ~Casey Hays

*Be sure to look for a GIVEWAY at the end of each segment.*

 

     “The Replacement”

A Christmas memory, eh? I’ve got one. Maybe not the most warm and fuzzy, but let’s do this.

The first six years of my life my grandmother on my father’s side of the family would visit several times a year. The drive was five hundred miles, so it was always a big deal when she showed up. I was her only grandchild and that translated into her lavishing me with gifts and attention on every trip. Our visits to Kmart were adventures in excess.

“Go find another toy!” she would urge, and I’d race away.

We would laugh our way down the various aisles, the two of us leaving with armfuls of new toys for me. I was a spoiled brat with her. I knew it and I loved every moment.

And then it happened. And by “it,” I mean that my father’s brother and his wife decided to create my cousin, Chris.

Chris ruined everything.

After his arrival, my grandmother rarely visited. My family would pack up and travel either to her home or my uncle’s home for the holidays. I no longer had my one-on-one hedonistic toy shopping trips with her. Chris was always there, first as an infant, and later, as he began to grow into a child. Worse than the lack of toys was the lack of attention. My grandmother was absolutely obsessed with Chris. I vividly remember standing in the Toys “R” Us checkout line with my father, grandmother, a two-year-old Chris, and his mother. My grandmother had loaded up an entire shopping cart full of toys for him and I was standing next to my dad holding a small bag of plastic dinosaurs she had handed to me. I looked up at him and he just shrugged and gave me a pat on the shoulder.

Right or wrong, you can imagine that as the years went on, I became a bit resentful toward my cousin. Very, very…resentful.

Fast forward to Chris’s fourth Christmas Eve. He and I were playing with his toy cars in his room. I was contemplating whether anyone would figure out if I was the one who had pushed his dresser onto him. Not that I would have ever done it…but the thought had crossed my mind. My parents, Chris’s parents, and our grandparents were out in the kitchen and living room talking and doing grownup things. The smell of the house was the definition of Christmas Eve with the dinner having been finished and a real tree set up, loaded to the gills with presents…mostly for Chris.

My aunt’s and grandmother’s voices sounded loudly.

“Chris! Chris! Santa is HERE! Come here, Chris! Hurry!”

I’ll never forget the look on Chris’s face when he heard this. He locked eyes with me, his mouth wide open in shock and excitement. I had long since been “informed” of Santa—my father looking at me when I was five and confirming what I had begun to suspect.

“Your mother and I get up in the middle of the night and put your presents under the tree for you. And we drink the milk.”

“I eat the cookie,” my mother thought to add.

“Oh…”

So I knew this was a ruse. And I was eager to see how it would turn out.

My dear cousin launched out of his bedroom like a rocket ship. I jogged behind him and caught up a few steps later.

“Ahhhh…Chris, you just missed him.”

“Sweetie, he went up the chimney only a second ago,”

“Darn it, he was standing right here!”

“If you had run a little faster you could have seen him!”

My aunt and grandmother’s exchange went back and forth. Then…

Cue the silent, dramatic pause as my cousin looked around at all the grownups in disbelief.

Wait for it…wait for it…

He melted down.

I mean, he went full on Chernobyl. Chris collapsed to the floor, screaming bloody murder and flailing about like a fish caught on a line. My grandmother and his parents were beside themselves as they tried to console and calm him. It was apology after apology after apology. He would have nothing of it, however, and the tantrum began to span into minutes.

I started to smile. I couldn’t help it.

All those terrible thoughts I had had about my cousin over the years, and here his own grandmother and parents did more damage than I ever could have imagined.

My smile grew until I began to laugh. It was a snicker at first, but I ended up standing in place and laughing louder and louder as I watched Chris writhe on the ground.

My mother turned and shook my shoulder a bit, trying to shush me, but I couldn’t stop.

“Don’t laugh at your cousin! That’s not nice, John Mark!” my grandmother and aunt scolded. In fact, everyone was scolding me. Aunt, uncle, grandmother, and grandfather in addition to own mother’s attempts to shut me up. But I didn’t stop laughing. I couldn’t. It was the funniest thing I had seen in my life. I looked at my father, fully expecting to feel his wrath next.

But he was just sitting there with his Christmas bourbon in hand, smirking at me.

It wouldn’t be too many years from this moment when I would lose my father in an accident. After his death, as I grew into adulthood, I learned a great deal about his own childhood and his relationship with his mother. He, being the oldest of his siblings, had also been the prized child in his early years. And, like me, he had experienced the loss of attention from his mother as his younger brother and then baby sister were born. I don’t know why, but my grandmother treated my father very unfairly and often with borderline cruelty as he grew up. Specifically, he was forced to watch his baby sister get lavished with attention and love while receiving little to none of it himself. To his last day on this Earth, my grandmother could barely manage anything but a criticism thrown in his direction. He never had the right job. He never made enough money.

My father and I had our own rocky relationship. We had far more “off’ days than “on” days. In the end, we were just very different creatures who really didn’t understand each other well at all.

But in this moment, he knew why I was laughing.

He understood.

And he began to laugh along with me.

I didn’t fully grasp it at the time, but he had witnessed my hurt and sadness from losing the attention and affection of my grandmother. The exact same hurt and sadness he had experienced for most of his own life.

So, that is my Christmas memory. My father and I laughing together at the expense of my flailing cousin. That magical moment of briefly having a connection with him, as the rest of the family scolded and shushed us over and over. A few seconds where we were on the same page. A few seconds where I knew that he loved me very, very much. It is one of my most cherished memories of him and I am thrilled and honored that Casey has given me a good excuse to write it down.

Merry Christmas, Dad. I love you. I miss you.

-John Mark Tucker

Click the image to take you to John Mark’s Giveaway!

 

John Mark Tucker was born and raised in Roswell, New Mexico. For those that meet and get to know him in the present day, the phrase, “That explains a lot,” is not uncommon to hear. Growing up in Roswell refined John Mark’s keen sense for high-winds and dirt. Fast forward and he now enjoys living in the stunningly beautiful Seattle area. While in the Northwest he’s been having a blast at building a twenty-seven-year career in IT, cooking every night for his wife, watching Seahawk games at his neighbors’ and re-living his childhood by watching Robotech on Netflix.
Tucker is the author of Sci-Fi/Romance novels Elite: One and Two as well as the short story modern day romance, Swans.  He has three books being published before March of 2017.  Elite: Three, Of God and Love and Time Over Time. He’s also currently working on several more awesome novels that should find their way out into the wild in 2017.
http://www.johnmarktucker.com

 

“Pajamas for Christmas”by Rissa Blakeley

This Christmas season, I’ve decided to do something a little different. I’ve invited 24 authors to share some of their favorite things about the holidays. I hope you enjoy the 24 days of Christmas countdown with “These are a few of my Favorite Things.” Enjoy! ~Casey Hays

*Be sure to look for a GIVEWAY at the end of each segment.*

 

“Pajamas for Christmas”

The holidays come so quickly and in a blink, they are gone. I still can’t believe it’s almost Christmas! For me, it truly is the most wonderful time of the year. I love the sights, the scents, the warmth that people have. There are so many great things, but my favorite thing is our Christmas Eve tradition.

When I was young, my mother decided to give us pajamas on Christmas Eve so we didn’t look ratty in our pictures on Christmas morning. My husband and I wanted to keep that going, but we put our own little twist on the exchange.

Once we’ve opened the pajamas, we race to see who can get changed the quickest. There are no prizes, just bragging rights. Afterward, we cuddle up and watch our favorite Christmas movies, eat cookies, and drink hot cocoa. There might be a little something extra in the adult’s hot cocoa.

While the tradition seems simple, the laughter is priceless. I’d much rather our daughter remembers that versus a gift she opens Christmas morning. When the time comes, I hope she carries on the tradition, maybe even adding her own twist, if she has a family of her own.

Click the giveaway button for a chance to win a $5 Amazon Gift Card – International!

 

Rissa Blakeley is the author of a fantasy paranormal series, Corvidae Guard, and a post-apocalyptic saga, Shattered Lives, which features a paranormal twist and has been adapted into graphic novel form.
As a native New Yorker, Rissa is now a Georgia transplant who is completely addicted to black coffee and La Croix, obsessively listening to songs on repeat. Her days are packed with characters screaming for more scenes, cats living up to their Harry Potter namesakes, lazy dogs, a teenage daughter, who’s bringing Emo back, and a Viking husband, who finds her puns less than funny. When Rissa isn’t writing, she can be found procrastinating on social media.
 
Links:
Website: www.rissablakeley.com
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Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Rissa-Blakeley/e/B00K042WWU/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorrissablakeley
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/rissasarmy/
Shattered Lives Saga Page: https://www.facebook.com/SHATTEREDLIVESSAGA/
Corvidae Guard Series Page: https://www.facebook.com/Corvidae-Guard-337531749920556/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RissaBlakeley
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“My Favorite Christmas Gift” by Casey L. Bond

This Christmas season, I’ve decided to do something a little different. I’ve invited 24 authors to share some of their favorite things about the holidays. I hope you enjoy the 24 days of Christmas countdown with “These are a few of my Favorite Things.” Enjoy! ~Casey Hays

 

 

 

“My Favorite Christmas Gift”

Most people, when asked what their favorite Christmas gift would be, probably answer with whatever gadget is most popular this year. Mine is different.

Every year, my family puts up a Christmas tree, like most of the world. It’s green and big and has lights in every shining color of the rainbow. It’s trimmed with garland and crowned with a star. But my favorite gifts hang from its branches: ornaments. I have ornaments that my kids made when they were smaller. Memories of sweet smiles and pudgy fingers.

We have ornaments made or purchased by my grandmothers who have since passed away. These things are priceless to me. The love in each ornament and getting to hang them on the tree, passing that tradition on to my girls, is the most precious gift of all.

From our family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas!

 

Award-winning author Casey L. Bond lives in Milton, West Virginia with her husband and their two beautiful daughters. When she’s not busy being a domestic goddess and chasing her baby girls, she loves to write young romance in all its glorious forms.
You can find more information about Bond’s books via the following links:
Website: www.authorcaseybond.com
Newsletter: http://authorcaseybond.us10.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=e812bbce406a10776c6a28162&id=79850847f2
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/authorcaseybond
Twitter & Instagram: @authorcaseybond
Bookbub Author Profile: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/casey-l-bond

Available or Soon-To-Be Released Books:

Winter Shadows

Pariah, Book 1 in The New Covenant Series

Paradox, Book 2, The New Covenant Series

Devil Creek

Shady Bay

Reap, Book 1 in The Harvest Saga

Resist, Book 2 in The Harvest Saga

Reclaim, Book 3 in The Harvest Saga

Sin (Serial Series)

Light in the Darkness (YA Anthology)

Fractured Glass (Novel Anthology)

Crazy Love

Water Witch

Dark Bishop (Serial Series)

 

“Four Facts and a Fib- Christmas Style” by Marissa Schrock

This Christmas season, I’ve decided to do something a little different. I’ve invited 24 authors to share some of their favorite things about the holidays. I hope you enjoy the 24 days of Christmas countdown with “These are a few of my Favorite Things.” Enjoy! ~Casey Hays

*Be sure to look for a GIVEWAY at the end of each segment.*

 

“Four Facts and a Fib—Christmas Style”

Let’s have a little fun today and play a game. See if you can spot the fib among some of my fondest—and silliest—Christmas memories.

1) I once brandished a nativity scene stable as a weapon.

During college, I lived in a townhouse with four other girls. One December night, we returned from a movie only to have an unexpected visitor knock, knock, knock, and knock on our door.

We huddled in the living room and strategized how to protect ourselves from this strange person who wouldn’t leave. While my practical friend called the police, I grabbed a ceramic stable and proclaimed, “I have…a weapon.”

Eventually, our persistent visitor went away, a policeman stopped by, and I didn’t need to use my weapon.

2)There is a tie for my favorite childhood Christmas present.

The best Christmas gifts I received as a child were Molly, my American Girl doll, and a Lego Airport Shuttle. Molly was my favorite American Girl, in part, because she has glasses like I did. Plus, the 1940’s fascinated me. The shuttle was a shared gift with my brother, but since we both loved playing with Lego bricks, neither one of us minded.

3)The best Christmas present I’ve ever received is learning I was going to be an aunt.

Nine years ago my sister-in-law had family members unwrap a special gift at the same time. We found a baby bottle with the message that Baby Shrock would be arriving in July.

4)Making a gingerbread house is a yearly tradition.

This ritual started when I was in elementary school and a teacher had us make gingerbread houses out of graham crackers, icing, and candy. The next year my brother and I made our own. Since then, we’ve both graduated to boxed kits for our houses.

5)While performing “O Holy Night,” I forgot the words.

In a candlelit room, the audience listened, satisfied by the desserts they’d enjoyed at the banquet. I stepped up to the microphone and began singing. All was well until I came to the chorus of this reverent carol.

I didn’t remember I was supposed to fall on my knees, but I did recall hearing angel’s voices.

The people who spoke with me after my performance simply thought my voice had given out temporarily. I didn’t correct them.

 

Which one is the fib? Keep reading to find the answer below. Leave a comment by Tuesday, December 13 at midnight EST for a chance to win an e-book copy of your choice of any of my novels. I’ll pick one random commenter and announce the winner on December 14.

 

Marissa Shrock is a teacher and the author of The First Principle, The Liberation, The Pursuit, and The Agitator. She loves shopping for cute clothes, baking for family and friends, traveling to new places, and playing golf. Visit her at http://www.marissashrock.com.

And…

Number four is the fib. For a long time, making a gingerbread house was a tradition for me, but that ended a few years ago. That year, while creating a house, I became so frustrated (due to other stress in my life) that I dumped the half-built cottage in the trash, brushed off my hands, and slammed the trash can shut.

Maybe I’ll try again this year. Merry Christmas!

 

“Lighting the Way” by R. L. Blalock

This Christmas season, I’ve decided to do something a little different. I’ve invited 24 authors to share some of their favorite things about the holidays. I hope you enjoy the 24 days of Christmas countdown with “These are a few of my Favorite Things.” Enjoy! ~Casey Hays

*Be sure to look for a GIVEWAY at the end of each segment.*

 

“Lighting the Way”

Christmas in my family has always been a time of chaos. And I mean that in the absolute best way. In my family, Christmas is a flurry of togetherness. Baking. Laughter. Lights. Decorations. Kids and the wild excitement they bring. Last minute plans for something fun.

By far, my favorite time at Christmas is when my family comes together on Christmas Eve to put up luminaries. My parents picked up the tradition from neighbors when they lived in Arizona as a young married couple. Thirty years later, the tradition is a large part of my family’s celebration.

Luminaries are easy to make. Simply put a cheap tea light candle in a brown paper lunch bag. Add in a bit of sand to weigh the bag down and you’ve got a luminary! The bags are then lined up along the curb around the neighborhood. Individually, they aren’t anything special. But once it is dark and they are lit, it is truly a thing of beauty.

Luminary lighting is an all-day affair in my family. It doesn’t take many to create the gorgeous look, but as our family has grown so has the number of luminaries. Each year we prepare around 300 bags. Everyone comes over early in the afternoon. We chat and cook and put the luminaries together. Often times the younger kids help Grandpa (my dad) put the sand and candles in the bags. In the meantime, many of us are inside cooking homemade soups, baking, or making candy. Chicken noodle with homemade noodles, chowders, chili. And there is nothing like a nice warm bowl of soup after hours outside in the cold lighting luminaries.

But the luminaries don’t just bring my family together. Many times, it brings the neighborhood together. In 2005 when my parents first moved our family to St. Louis, the luminaries we put out on Christmas Eve enabled us to get to know many of our neighbors. It’s not uncommon for neighbors to come out to chat and, in some instances, help and participate the following year. They’ll stand at their doors and watch, just enjoying the sight.

More than Christmas, I enjoy Christmas Eve. I love spending time with my family, doing something simple and fun, that we enjoy. That others enjoy too.

What is your favorite Christmas tradition? Let me know in the comments below and like my author page to enter to win a signed paperback copy of Devour!

R.L. Blalock’s love of reading started young, but her love of zombies started later in life. In 2008, when R. L. Blalock first watched the remake of Dawn of the Dead she instantly fell in love with the genre. Born and raised in Sacramento, California, R. L. Blalock now lives in St. Louis, Missouri with her loving husband, precocious three-year-old daughter, two dogs, and a bird.
You can find the Death & Decay series on Amazon (link: https://www.amazon.com/R.-L.-Blalock/e/B01IRTRC1K/).
Stay connected with R. L. Blalock at rlblalock.com!
You can also connect with her on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RocBlalockauthor/)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rlblalock/)
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rocblalock)!

“The Christmas Eve Box” by Nicole Zoltack

This Christmas season, I’ve decided to do something a little different. I’ve invited 24 authors to share some of their favorite things about the holidays. I hope you enjoy the 24 days of Christmas countdown with “These are a few of my Favorite Things.” Enjoy! ~Casey Hays

*Be sure to look for a GIVEWAY at the end of each segment.*

 

“The Christmas Eve Box”

Last year, my husband and I started a new family tradition. We box up new kids’ Christmas PJs, throw in a few treats, and a Christmas DVD. The kids open the box on Christmas Eve, and we watch the movie and eat the treats and they wear the PJs as they wait for St. Nick to come that night. It’s so nice to be able to pick out girlie PJs, and not just boys’ (we have three boys, and a one-year-old girl).

Eventually, our Christmas DVD will grow enough that maybe we can watch one movie a day for all of December!

Christmas is all about giving, so of course I have a giveaway! You can win your choice of one of my Christmas romances (Love Before Honor, Joy to the World, or Masked Love).

How to enter? First, sign up for my newsletter. You can sign up here: http://www.subscribepage.com/m0k3l8 and then comment below telling me your favorite Christmas movie so I can create a list for the kids. Oh, and you’ll also receive another free story automatically when you sign up, too!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

All the best,

~Nicole

Nicole Zoltack loves to write in many genres, especially romance, whether fantasy, paranormal, time travels or regency. She’s also a freelance editor and a ghostwriter. Her works include the Magic Incarnate series, the Heroes of Falledge trilogy, and the Kingdom of Arnhem trilogy.
 When she’s not writing about knights, superheroes, or witches, she enjoys spending time with her loving husband, three energetic young boys, and precious baby girl. She enjoys riding horses (pretending they’re unicorns, of course!) and going to the PA Renaissance Faire, dressed in garb. She’ll also read anything she can get her hands on. Her current favorite TV shows are The Walking Dead and Gotham.

Follow Nicole at these sites: 

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1PpYUI0

FB Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/authorNicoleZoltack

FB Street Team: https://www.facebook.com/groups/NicolesRockinReviewCrew/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NicoleZoltack

Authorgraph: http://www.authorgraph.com/authors/NicoleZoltack

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/nicole-zoltack

“The Code of Christmas” by Brea Behn

This Christmas season, I’ve decided to do something a little different. I’ve invited 24 authors to share some of their favorite things about the holidays. I hope you enjoy the 24 days of Christmas countdown with “These are a few of my Favorite Things.” Enjoy! ~Casey Hays

*Be sure to look for a GIVEWAY at the end of each segment.*

 

“The Code of Christmas”

Sponsored by http://www.midlifebloggers.com

Christmas is that holiday every year that has become the stable feel good time of year for our family. Like many families, mine has been through a lot. Marriages, divorces, moving away, new careers, health issues and even deaths. Yet through the chaos, there are two times a year we put all the drama and stress aside to come together for a meal and fun. Christmas is one of those times.

Since I was a kid, Christmas was a holiday that meant the house filled up with people, food and of course presents! There are a lot of us. I have two older brothers, a twin brother who is now in heaven, two step-sisters and a step-brother. Now we all have kids and even our kids are starting to have their own (my first great-nephew will be here soon!). Our family is a bit complicated and a bit divided now, but one thing we all know to anticipate and expect in our family Christmas is “the code”.

The code started when my older brothers were kids. They made it their mission to find our mom’s stash of presents. One year she even wrapped them, but they figured out who got which wrapping paper! My mom decided to work with them instead of against them and turned it into a game. She wrapped all of our presents in different wrapping paper with no easy way to figure out who got what paper. Think pink princess paper for my brothers and Ninja Turtle paper for me. Ha! Then, she made up a code to write on all the gifts. It worked! My brothers thought it was fun so they left the presents alone.

Now it has become the thing to expect every Christmas. The code changes every year and we have to figure it out before we know what presents are for who. Here are some examples. Our favorite colors, how many pets we have, our favorite animals, etc. She has had to get more and more creative every year. One year, she wrote numbers on each gift. It turned out to be the miles away we lived from her then. Another year it was scientific sounding names. We were each a species of butterfly based on our favorite colors! Google and her library books have often been involved. It has become a tradition that no one can open any presents until we solve the code and no one can start on the code until we are all there to work on it together. It is something I know I will never forget and neither will my kids.

Which is what the holidays is really about, isn’t it? Not the food or presents, but how they are presented for each of us. The traditions we each learn to love and pass on to our children, family and even our friends.

How does your family handle gifts? Do you open one on Christmas Eve? Maybe you each get a gift for each other? Hop on over to my Facebook author page (give it a like if you choose) and tell me! www.facebook.com/authorbreabehn. I will enter you to win my Christmas gift to you. I’m giving away a swag package for my dystopian book, Wolves in the Woods. Thank you for your support and Happy Holidays!

Brea Behn is a hybrid author who started writing at the age of fifteen, when she wrote a memoir for her twin brother. Currently, she writes fiction, children’s fiction of several genres, nonfiction, and is building her career as an author and public speaker.
Brea’s titles include a four book dystopian YA series beginning with Wolves in the Woods, a teen non-fiction titled, Death Sucks Life Doesn’t Have To and two short stories in dystopian anthologies. She has also completed a YA dystopian titled Vaxxers and her agent is pursuing publication of a middle grade book.
When Brea is not writing, she is reading, usually several books at the same time. She is also passionate about animals, has a degree as a veterinary technician and volunteers at her local humane society. Brea also enjoys gardening and time spent with her children.
Brea lives in central Wisconsin with her husband, their two children and their many animals

 

“List Elf Strikes Again” by Sarah Noffke

This Christmas season, I’ve decided to do something a little different. I’ve invited 24 authors to share some of their favorite things about the holidays. I hope you enjoy the 24 days of Christmas countdown with “These are a few of my Favorite Things.” Enjoy! ~Casey Hays

*Be sure to look for a GIVEWAY at the end of each segment.*

 

“List Elf Strikes Again”

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sponsored by www.cartoonaday.com

Some of you may feel somewhat organized this holiday season. You’re shopping is already done, due to the handy-dandy lists that you ever so carefully scribed, completed and then filed away.  Some of you may have been fooled into believing you were on top of everything. You proudly plopped down in your favorite chair and put your feet up as you marveled at your achievements all wrapped, cleaned, or perfectly baking in the oven. But what’s this? A crinkled piece of paper poking you in the back between the seat cushions? You reach down to figure out what your spouse lost out of their pockets this time, and to your horror you realize it is an uncompleted list. It is the forgotten list; the lost list, the one that holds the cheer of the holiday season in the balance! The questions now start shooting through your mind: “Is there time to finish the long-forgotten list?” “Even if there was, would you want to interrupt the peace you welcomed and were experiencing?” “Does Aunt Cindy really need a present this year?” and “Eggnog? No one really wants that at parties anymore, do they?”

Stop. Take a breath.

Some of you are probably not having the above nightmare. For those of you who have been hit by the list elf, there is support. Try remembering that the chores and errands that really needed to be completed didn’t need a reminder and they’re most likely already done. Think of that lost list as the optional one you can complete if allotted enough time and energy. We tend to spend too much of our precious energy planning, and lose our imagination to our own compulsive organization. Now there’s the positive spin we’ve been looking for all along! When you remember something you forgot to do, you can be certain that the tasks you completed were given more of the creative thoughtfulness that can only happen in neglect of a smaller task.

If you’re not buying this, then it’s probably better that you scoop yourself out of the chair and rush off to the store for a mixing bowl for Aunt Cindy.

…and don’t forget the eggnog.

Click the image to claim your free gift from Sarah Noffke

and to subscribe to her newsletter:

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Sarah Noffke writes YA and NA sci-fi fantasy and is the author of the Lucidites, Reverians, Ren and Vagabond Circus series. She holds a Masters of Management and teaches college business courses. Most of her students have no idea that she toils away her hours crafting fictional characters. Noffke’s books are top rated and best-sellers on Kindle. Currently, she has eleven novels published. Her books are available in paperback, audio and in Spanish and Italian.

To stay up to date with Sarah please subscribe to her newsletter: http://www.sarahnoffke.com/connect/

“The True Purpose of Christmas” by JN Chaney

This Christmas season, I’ve decided to do something a little different. I’ve invited 24 authors to share some of their favorite things about the holidays. I hope you enjoy the 24 days of Christmas countdown with “These are a few of my Favorite Things.” Enjoy! ~Casey Hays

*Be sure to look for a GIVEWAY at the end of each segment.*

 

“The True Purpose of Christmas”

 

I’ll admit, I’ve never been a huge Christmas person (or holidays in general), but there’s no denying the fact that once a year the entire modern world completely changes. For better or worse, we’re all struck by the season and our lives are drastically altered for a few weeks and nobody understands why.

I mean, have you ever really thought about what Christmas even is or why we have the traditions we have? Where did the Christmas tree even originate from? Here’s a hint: Vikings. The same goes for pretty much every ritual you see during the holiday season: Christmas presents came from Roman pagans, mistletoes were used by Druids to promote fertility, and early Christian churches (as well as the Puritans) hated the holiday. But still, despite its absolutely insane history of mishmashed global traditions, the holiday has come to symbolize something greater than the sum of its parts.

Originally, Christmas wasn’t about religion at all. It was just a celebration of the winter solstice where families would get together before the hard winter came around. They held a special party to celebrate their togetherness, exchanging small tokens of affection and feasting. They did this because they didn’t know which of them would survive the coming months, so this was their last stretch of time together. It was a day of love and celebration of life, forgetting the impending trouble that would soon be upon them and instead focusing on the good year they had just had together. This was eventually adopted by the Catholic Church (originally the major Christian holiday was Easter). Over the centuries, it has adopted various other traditions from across multiple parts of the world into its celebration, allowing it to morph into a global phenomenon that spans multiple religions (over two dozen). However, through all of this, the actual purpose of the celebration hasn’t actually changed. Today, at its core, Christmas (and most other winter holidays) is still about visiting the people you care the most about and spending time with them, sitting and laughing together, because you value them and appreciate their presence in your life. Through all the shopping blitzes, Santa Claus movies, and holiday extravaganzas, that sentiment hasn’t changed at all, despite the thousands of years that have passed since its earliest inception.

We aren’t hunter-gatherers huddling together in preparation for the winter storm anymore, but that doesn’t stop us from celebrating what it means to be a family. That should tell you something about how powerful Christmas is—that something as simple as love and togetherness can create a worldwide holiday with real staying power, something that spans multiple religions and touches every corner of the Earth.

This season, try to ignore all the noise and focus on the importance of what Christmas represents and why it even exists. Forget the Starbucks cup dramas, the debates over using “Happy Holidays” versus “Merry Christmas,” and the decorating extravaganzas that always serve as stressful distractions. Instead, remember what actually matters: your family and the people closest to you. At the end of the day, that’s the whole point of this holiday. Everything else is just background noise.

Click the image to claim a free book by JN Chaney:

 
J. N. Chaney has a Master’s of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and fancies himself quite the Super Mario Bros. fan. When he isn’t writing or gaming, you can find him online at www.jnchaney.com
He migrates often, but was last seen in Avon Park, FL. Any sightings should be reported, as they are rare.

The Variant Saga includes:

The Amber Project

The Variant Saga Book 1

Transient Echoes

The Variant Saga Book 2

Hope Everlasting

The Variant Saga Book 3

The Vernal Memory

The Variant Saga Book 4 (Coming March 2017)

“The Real Magic of Christmas” by M. Lauryl Lewis

This Christmas season, I’ve decided to do something a little different. I’ve invited 24 authors to share some of their favorite things about the holidays. I hope you enjoy the 24 days of Christmas countdown with “These are a few of my Favorite Things.” Enjoy! ~Casey Hays

*Be sure to look for a GIVEWAY at the end of each segment.*

          “The Real Magic of Christmas”

Christmas. It’s a magical time of year. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we think of snowflakes and reindeer and hot chocolate by a roaring fire. When I was a child, I always looked forward to the big countdown from Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve, time spent with family, and of course piles of pretty presents wrapped up in ribbons and bows. Our big family tradition growing up was to have tomato soup with popcorn in it (yes, IN it) and fried ham and mayonnaise sandwiches on Christmas Eve. If you’ve never tried it, popcorn “melts” when it gets wet. It may not be for everyone, but it was like a slice of Heaven back in the day. The ham sandwiches. Another delight. The bread has to be Franz “big loaf” white bread, and it has to be fresh. The mayonnaise? Best Foods (also known as Hellman’s) spread on both slices of bread. The ham…sliced somewhat thin and fried until brown. As a final touch, cut diagonally in half or into quarters to share on one big plate. My mom always made the popcorn and soup and my dad always did the sandwiches.  What wonderful memories. I always went to bed early in the hope of waking up “that much sooner.” I would wake up it seems every few minutes to look at the digital clock beside my bed. Christmas morning was always a commotion of torn wrapping paper and fun new toys, followed by a hearty breakfast. As all things do, Christmas changed as I grew up. It’s always been magical, but the sparkle and shine changed to a better night’s sleep and more adult things like clothes and books. Giving became a priority over receiving.

In 2002, I spent my first Christmas as a new family of two. It was the first time I spent it as a wife. 2003 was a lonely Christmas. We were expecting our first child only about two months away and I was on bedrest for preterm labor. With being out of work, and our income cut by more than half, we didn’t have money to buy gifts. My husband and I were perfectly fine with not receiving gifts, and we were more than fine with not buying each other gifts. I recall such a feeling of sadness, though, not being able to buy for extended family. Our son was born 29 days after Christmas. Labor was long and he was three weeks early. Family went home for the night. It had already been over 50 hours and everyone was tired. At 10:41 pm I became a mom. Our first Christmas as a trio was in 2003. By then we knew we’d be a family of four well before our next Christmas. Wow. That’s magical. In 2007, we were gifted with our third and final son. Christmas became about family again, but with roles reversed. It became about seeing the wonderment in our kid’s eyes. Eventually it also became so much more, as our family grew to know God in a way we never had before. Ribbons, bows, cookies, snowflakes, hot chocolate, and fireplaces became things that put smiles on the faces of our precious children. Being given the honor of passing down the Christmas Story of Jesus to our own little ones…magical.

We celebrate Christmas with a new view of life now. Becoming a mother was life-changing, but even more so was almost losing our oldest son to cancer in 2014. We view things so differently now. Every day is a precious gift. Every birthday and every holiday is a reminder of how blessed we are to still have him with us. We know that life can change at any moment. We know that there’s so much more than shiny things and material items. Each day, to us, is a miracle. Each day is precious. The real magic of Christmas? That’s easy. Life, family, and knowing that miracles do happen.

May your Christmas be magical this, and every, year.

M. Lauryl Lewis

Author of the Grace series

M. Lauryl Lewis is a horror author who loves all things zombie. In her writing, she strives to write realistic characters who are flawed in an effort to make the story more believable. Her books are touted as too gory for some, too sad for others, and too scary to read alone at night. A former labor & delivery nurse, she retired in 2013 to focus full time on a writing career. She lives in the great Pacific Northwest of the US with her husband, three sons, and a handful of dogs and cats (and one dog who thinks he’s a cat)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MLaurylLewis/
Twitter handler: @MLaurylLewis
Website http://www.zombieauthor.com

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