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Showing posts from December 13, 2015

30 Days of Christmas Day 25: Her Royal Highness' Christmastide

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My old friend Simon, I have thought of you often in recent days. It has been some years since we last met and I sent you off to Scotland. I am certain you have grown ancient, for I myself am old. It came to my mind to write to you of my days in Christmastide. Perhaps you will in turn tell me of yours. We are keeping Christmas now, since it is December 24th. The next twelve days will be busy ones, with parties each day until the last and largest one on Twelfth Night. Much of it is silliness, with men dressing as women and women as men. There is also gambling, which some abhor, but I believe life must offer good times to balance the bad ones we cannot avoid. I have ordered the cooks to spare no expense in feeding the household, so we shall dine on meats of all kinds, marchpanes, pies, custards, frumenty, plum porridge, and much else. I look forward to the Christmas pie of neat's tongue, eggs, sugar, lemon, orange peel, and spices. As I told you when last we met, s

30 Days of Christmas Day 24: The Blizzard & Mrs. Beard

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The Blizzard and Mrs. Beard by Peg Herring I slid the holdup note and a plain cloth bag across the counter toward the teller and watched her professional smile turn to a grimace of fear. “Put $10,000 in the bag or I’ll shoot the place up good.” I was proud of the note: succinct but definitely informative. The woman looked fearfully at me, or rather at the persona I presented. A heavily padded overcoat made me look twenty pounds heavier, cotton balls in my cheeks rounded my face to a moon, smoky-tinted glasses hid my eyes, and a dark wig with a knit cap pulled over it covered my real hair. Her mascara-laden eyes searched the place helplessly. I had all the advantages, and she had none. It was a small credit union with no security on site, and outside there was a blizzard. Even if she rang her supposedly secret buzzer, it would be a long time before help arrived. The sheriff’s officers were all out helping honest citizens involved in fender-benders and worse as the storm rag

30 Days of Christmas Day 23: A Happy Pet

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Those of you who keep track of me might recall that about a month ago, my cat decided she needed to sleep on the computer desk, between me and the screen. It made her happy, but me not so much, since she'd playfully reach down every once in a while and swipe a claw at my swift-moving fingers.  Someone suggested I bring a second chair to the computer desk and make it hers. At first she wasn't sure (note the look on her face). You want me this far away? Really? Okay, I guess this is good It took a procession of pillows and blankets before I found one that suited her, and I had to block the chair so it doesn't swivel and make her feel insecure. Now she spends most of the day there, even if I get up to do something else. Of course, there's a caveat. I have to lift her onto the chair. If I'm not around, she gets up there just fine, but if I'm working, I have to listen to her cry until I stop typing and settle her in. So today's topic: What

30 Days of Christmas Day 22: Random Questions

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1. Why are some words so hard to type? I invariably type Crhistmas and have to fix it. Also Goerge. 2. Why do we make stupid people famous? 3. Who decided that Christmas (or any holiday, for that matter) means going broke buying presents? 4. Who's Making Love to Your Old Lady (While You Are Out Making Love)?-- Sorry, it just came into my head. 5. What was I thinking when I planned a 30-day blog event? 6. What happened to being able to eat whatever I want and never gaining weight? 7. Where did I set my phone down this time? 8. Where can I find out if the 1998 Lincoln Continental had an escape button inside the trunk? (This is the kind of research question that drives authors crazy.) 9. When will I release my next book? (Only editors & cover artists know the answer!) 10. When will we learn that Peace on Earth is the only gift that matters?

30 Days of Christmas Day 21: IndieBrag Blog-Hop & Giveaway

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Santa & Maggie Pill Santa was trying to get ready for Christmas, but things weren’t going well, and his droll little mouth pursed in frustration. He couldn’t find the fur-trimmed hat that went with his red suit. He needed a clean hanky to wipe away the ashes and soot after each trip through a chimney. And one of his boots had gone missing. Those were things his wife usually took care of, but she was nowhere to be found. Rubbing his little round belly, he looked in the kitchen to see if she was baking. Visions of sugar-plums danced in his head, but no. She wasn’t there. Was she in the laundry room, washing tiny elf socks and underwear? Scratching his snow-white beard, the jolly old elf peered into the small room at the back of the house. Nope. She wasn’t in the den taking a long winter’s nap, nor in the pantry sorting canned goods. When he finally found her, Mrs. Claus was in the den, curled up on the couch, reading a book on her Kindle. “What’s so interesting, dear?”

30 Days of Christmas Day 20: What's a Blog-Hop? & Bad Christmas Music

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A Blog-Hop is a line of blogs put together so that readers meet new authors. A group that awarded their BRAG medallion to THE SLEUTH SISTERS, IndieBrag, has arranged one for the month of December, and I'm to be high-lighted tomorrow, Dec. 15th. I plan to share a Christmas story I wrote that will remind you of another Christmas tale, and I plan on giving away advance copies of my next book to some who visit either me (here) or Maggie (maggiepill.maggiepillmysteries.com). Be sure to visit!  Today's topic is Christmas music. I love the classics, both religious and secular, but I have to admit I'm distressed by performers who shouldn't attempt them. Walking through the stores, I hear stuff and think, "Who thought this was a good idea?" I found this site that demonstrates: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/10/worst-christmas-songs_n_4416509.html I have a soft spot for George Michael that I can't explain, but the rest? Shouldna done it!