About the holidays...

So I was thinking about the holidays last night. Mostly because I've caught some respiratory crud and I'm not getting the things I want to get done, done. I'm two days behind on baking, which has to be done so that cookies can be packed into boxes which must be shipped very soon. But who wants cookies I coughed on?? Also, I barely have the energy to walk to the kitchen, much less stand there and mix cookie dough.

So while I wallowed in my "how the hell am I going to get all this done and I was doing so good" thoughts, I started thinking of holidays past. And trust me, I can out Martha Stewart all the other Martha Stewart wannabes when I set my mind to it, and have in the past. The last two years have been less MS-y because we went to Florida one year (didn't even seem like Christmas to me) and last year I had bronchitis all month. But I was on track for full Martha Stewartdom this year and I was on track for an early finish. Next Saturday is a huge day for me and I can't tell you why yet, but I need to have all or most of my Christmas prep done before then so I can be stress free for the days following. Now, my sister and her family, my folks, and CJ will be with us on Christmas, but we're doing Mexican food for dinner because my sister hates traditional fare, and everyone loves Mexican! I can make the enchiladas up ahead of time and freeze them. And the other stuff is mostly crock pot magic, so the meal won't be a pain. I've got all my Christmas presents bought, paid, and accounted for and a week to wrap them. So as long as I get this baking  done this weekend and packages mailed on Monday, I'm still on schedule.

But the thing that struck me most in my memories is that while I always have a good time on the day of the holiday, visiting with family, munching some awesome food, watching my loved ones open their gifts, my very best memories are the day after the holiday.

I remember distinctly one Friday after Thanksgiving when the kids were probably 5th, 4th, and 3rd grade just hanging out. Eating hot turkey sandwiches (you know, with the mashed potatoes and gravy, and sandwich, and dressing), and watching some show on TLC about carnival sideshows. I remember another day after Christmas when it was just Mike, CJ, and I cleaning up the massive mess that is usually my living room following Christmas day and watching Law & Order: SUV reruns. It struck me that it's those laid back, day after, times that are the most memorable. When the stress is done and everyone is just enjoying the lull following in the wake of the storm. Those quiet times are hard to beat.

So while I wish you a whole happy holiday season, including an awesome Christmas day, I also wish you all a peaceful day or two after, a day to relax, breathe a sigh of relief, enjoy the "pulling off" of your Christmas feats, and a deep appreciation of the quiet times with those you love.

Happy Holidays,
♥Stacey

A little bit of everything....

What a week, month, year this has been. Not quite what I'd expected that's for sure. But it's not time for the yearly wrap up yet, so I'll just talk about this last few weeks. I thought November was going to be a "quiet" month. I actually had a plan for NaNoWriMo (which is probably where I went wrong, you know, planning). I wanted to write ten stories instead of a novel, roughly the same word count, but so that I'd have something to submit. Know how many stories I wrote? Zip. Nada. It was a failure of epic proportions. Although I did get one story edited and subbed and rejected. Once. And I got my novella finished, edited, and sent off to the publisher. So there's that.

We didn't get back from California until the 5th and then I took a day or two off to rest. The grandbabies were sick pretty much the whole time we were there so I wanted to make sure my body had time to adjust and not end up sick myself. Then we got heavily involved in a project I'm doing that has nothing to do with writing and cannot be explained at this time. Let's just suffice it to say it's huge and I'm super excited about it and will share as soon as I can. But it ate up like a whole week. Then we got CJ for a visit. And two days later Mike got sick and was hospitalized for six days. We've been home for less than a week and boom! the month is over. How does that even happen??

Good news, Mike is mending. Not as quickly as he'd like, but he's mending. And he doesn't have colon cancer, and he didn't end up septic (just really, really close). That's a lot to be thankful for. Sometimes I think The Universe gives us these little scares in order to remind us not to take things for granted.

Mo's pregnancy is going well. She's fifteen weeks along. We're all super excited for that 20 week sonogram so we can find out if it's a girl or a boy. I'm betting boy. She's going to have a houseful of rough and tumble hooligans.

Sean is doing well in North Carolina. Unfortunately he won't be making it home for Christmas. I had planned to drive out for Thanksgiving, but you know, The Universe intervened and all. I miss that boy like crazy.

And, I put up three previously published short stories on Amazon and Smashwords. All three had been published in different anthologies but the rights have since reverted to me, so I thought, why not? Maybe those of you who don't want to purchase a whole anthology of authors you don't know might like to purchase a story at a time. The fantastic covers were done by Rebecca Treadway of www.atrtink.com. I highly recommend her excellent cover art. She's the master behind the truly frightening Snow Globe cover. So here are the covers, click on any of them to be taken to Amazon. But if you have a Nook, or other reading app, they are also available on Smashwords.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving, and are going into the holiday season with the most joyous of moods. I, myself, am feeling unusually Christmas-y this year. And for a change, I'm almost done Christmas shopping.

 

Stayed tuned for some big news headed your way on the Angelic Knight Press front this week. But above all, be good to each other. 'Tis the season.

 



♥Stacey

12 (now 11) days of Creepfest...

So the "Twelve Days of Creepfest" started yesterday and I'm a day late. What? None of you are surprised? Rude. I don't know why I put up with you people...

What, you're now asking, is a Creepfest? It's a blog hop of course. I know, I know, now you're wondering what a blog hop is, aren't you? Well, so did I. It appears that it's a very good chance to check out other horror writer's (in this case) blogs and also to win prizes. For free. Did I mention that there were prizes to be won?

So, when you're finished here...hey! Come back, we aren't finished! You should check out all the other lovely (scary?) blogs that are listed at the bottom. Maybe you'll find some new blogs to read. Maybe you'll win some prizes. It's not like you're doing anything else right now...

So what kind of prize am I offering? Well, I think I'm going to run two contests and give away two prizes. Why? Because I'm feeling immensely relieved right now that I've just sent "Satan's Toybox: Toy Soldiers" to the formatter. I'm finished with the editing and compiling, and can finally come up for air. Want to know a secret? It's good. I mean, really good. Don't get me wrong, "Satan's Toybox: Demonic Dolls" is good. But I think I like Toy Soldiers even better. But to be fair (can't go playing favorites), I'm going to give away a free eBook of both. The winners will receive Smashwords coupons so that they can download in any format their little heart desires.

What do you have to do to win? Easy-peasy. To win a brand new, hot off the presses copy of "Satan's Toybox: Toy Soldiers", which releases on Monday, the 19th, you must leave a comment on every blog post between now and December 24th. The contest will end on December 24th and I will pick a winner, randomly, out of a hat, and announce said winner on the Christmas Eve blog post.

To win a copy of "Satan's Toybox: Demonic Dolls" you merely have to ask for one. And promise a review on either Amazon, Smashwords, Goodreads, or, of course, all three, if you're feeling generous. It would be way cool if you reviewed it on your blog, but I won't get too picky. Just leave a comment on any blog post between now and December 24th and I'll draw names out of a hat again.  The winner will be announced on the Christmas Eve blog post.

I have some fun things planned for the next few posts, including some author interviews (who are also doing give-aways), some fiction, and some rambling. So come back soon. Oh, and don't forget to go visit the other participants! You never know what you want to win- until you see it! I've posted the linked blogs at the bottom of this post. Have fun! Win big!

♥Stacey