Random Locally Based Holiday Gift Pluggage

For the bibliophile on your list, Samuel Montgomery-Blinn over at BullSpec has put together what's undoubtedly the most comprehensive list of available locally sourced speculative fiction I've ever seen. Check it out here. (and in case you were wondering, a BullSpec subscription also makes a great gift.)

For the little girl on your list who needs some neat new duds, there's Cary-based Sam's Closet, available through Etsy or Facebook. Don't tell my 2 year old niece, but I'll be shopping there for her.

The best hot chocolate I've ever had in my life came from Matthew's Chocolates in Hillsborough, NC. They also do homemade marshmallows that are ludicrously good, and the chocolate is, of course, sensational. Plus, Billy Strayhorn grew up in Hillsborough, so if you're shopping at Matthew's (or at Purple Crow Books or one of the nearby galleries), you're getting musical brilliance by osmosis.

Another great local bookstore is Flyleaf Books, over in Chapel Hill. Between them, the Regulator, and combination book/comic/CD emporium Books Do Furnish A Room, most of my book budget is spoken for - several times over.

Here endeth the pluggage.