Christmas Memories with Santa Claus!

Well...the tree is up and arrayed in all it's splendid glory! The rest of the house is still a work in progress but the tree is all a sparkle! What do you think? 

I don't know why, but a Christmas tree can put me in the Christmas spirit faster than anything else. Maybe it's because of the countless memories it invokes. After all, around here, the tree begins the season.

Now, because my only sister was born on Christmas Day (and that event is my most special and favorite Christmas memory) Santa Claus was a frequent Christmas Eve visitor to our home. We thought it so sad that my dad always had a meeting to attend whenever he showed up. Santa was just so busy, he couldn't wait for his return either! Nonetheless, we loved sharing the details of that visit with Dad over and over once he got home. Then as we grew older, our association with Santa provided even more amazing memories.

In An Attitude of Gratitude...and a gift for you!

For me, the Thanksgiving week is not only filled with the hustle and bustle of dinner preparations, which takes us two days to prepare, but to also reflect on my many, many blessings. 

First and foremost, my family. I wished every one of you could meet them. If you stopped in for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, you just might! I can't remember a single year our house wasn't filled to capacity with family and friends. With my mother being one of nine children and my dad one of four, I have more cousins than I care to count. All throughout my youth a goodly portion of them always showed up for dinner at our house.

As it always does, time marched on, my childhood faded away, and adulthood took over... 

My parents during their dating years...Aren't they just the cutest things?

Helen C. Johannes, Author of Bloodstone & The Prince of Val-Feyridge...

I am so excited to have the very talented Helen C. Johannes visiting with me today as she speaks a little bit about the craft of writing and gives us a look at her exciting fantasy romances!

I’m Helen C. Johannes and I write fantasy romance for The Wild Rose Press. Thank you, Deb, for kindly offering to host me on your blog. I’ve given some thought lately to the fine art of writing, and I have a point I’d like to discuss. I’d be delighted to hear your thoughts on this:

“Write what you know.”

That’s the advice given to aspiring writers. And it’s basically good advice. No one can write authentically about a career, place, time, or situation without having ‘knowledge’ of it. Aspiring writers of suspense and crime fiction, for instance, ought to know what a police detective or private investigator really does before attempting to write a story around such a character. Stories fall flat when the author’s ‘knowledge’ fails in the eyes of a reader or editor.

Say Nothing of What You See, by Author Christy Effinger...

I am really excited to have Christy Effinger here today as she tells us a little bit about her newest novel, Say Nothing of What You See!

Say Nothing of What You See by Christy Effinger

Published by The Wild Rose Press

Released August 29, 2014

Genre: Paranormal New Adult

Length: Novel  

Tillamook Lighthouse and the Ghosts that Haunt it...

Now, because of my recent release, Heart of the Storm my thoughts have once again, turned to haunted lighthouses!

Department of the Treasury. U.S. Coast Guard. Thirteenth Coast Guard District. (ca. 1944 - 04/01/1967)

More specifically, The Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, off the coast of Oregon. They built this lighthouse on the top of a jagged rock that, according to the native indians in the area... is inhabited by spirits. Despite the legend, on January 21, 1881, the lighthouse entered service. The terrible weather conditions plaguing the waters gave rise to her nickname, "Terrible Tilly."

Cover Reveal! Poison Tree by Kacey Vanderkarr...

I am excited to have Kacey here today as she shares her lovely new cover for her upcoming release!

Poison Tree

By Kacey Vanderkarr

Release date: December 2, 2014

Poison Tree Blurb:

The road to the City of War is dangerous.

Shadow of the Witte Wieven Book Tour Begins!

Inkspell Publishing and I decided that an extended Second Edition of Shadow of the Witte Wieven, graced with a brand new cover, deserved a brand new book tour! We will be giving away a $15 gift certificate for Amazon at the end of the tour, as well as a few other surprises along the way, so stay with us! Today I'm answering questions at Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews so stop by, say hello and enter to win!

Covery design by Shandra Kay!

The Blurb:

Despite a contract on her head, lone Drug Enforcement Agent, Aliyana Montijo must ferret out a mole and stop the assassination of top DEA officials, as so ordered by the Colombian drug lord she seeks to take down. The task is a daunting one, for there is no one she can trust. No one that is, until she encounters a most unlikely ally.

Former seventeenth century captain of the Dutch West Indies Company, Wolfaert Dircksen Van Ness, now from a parallel dimension, encounters the beautiful agent during an unearthly storm in the Bermuda triangle. Drawn to the Spanish beauty he rescues, he pledges his assistance, despite her reluctance to accept either his help or his heart.

Wolf must bridge both space and time to claim the woman he loves...

 http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/nssl/nssl0011.htm Public domain

The Excerpt: