Thursday, December 31, 2015
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Haunted World coming soon
Just around the corner...
Haunted World by multi-published author P.M. Griffin...
another riveting read for fans waiting for her next release.
http://bit.ly/1PvxUYw
Haunted World by multi-published author P.M. Griffin...
another riveting read for fans waiting for her next release.
http://bit.ly/1PvxUYw
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Sunday Musings: Our Holiday Wishes
Happy Sunday and Holiday wishes from us to you:
I hope that everyone has the holiday they would wish
themselves this year, in a peaceful, gentle world
My Christmas Wish for all my fellow authors is to write the
best book, or story that is within you. May it contain a bit of your heart,
your soul and your personality tucked in nicely between the lines. Any jazz
musician will tell you the spaces are as important as the literal (pun
intended) content. If your spirit can be found within your work, the reader
will sense your passion, and buy into your story. And they will care. May you
have that.
My Christmas Wish for all my fellow readers is that you find
THAT BOOK you are looking for. If I can say with no modesty, Muse is a great
place to look. How fun it is, to pick up a book and be transported. If you find
that book over the holidays, you will have found a most precious gift. Simply
stated, your belief will be suspended and you'll be gone for hours. I wish that
for you.
I wish all the folks
at MIU, their families, and those many others who have become our family by
reading and sharing in our books all the happiness of Christmas.
This holiday season all I wish for everyone I know is health
and peace. I am trying to spread peace in whatever I write and wherever I am. I
feel it is so important to be able to live your live in peace and harmony. So
that is what I wish could happen. Let’s all spread peace and love and hope.
Especially in the writing community I feel it is so important that we as
writers spread the idea of peace and love in whatever we write. That is my wish
for my friends and for the world.
I wish for all writerly friends and readers, safe and happy
holidays, and a wonderful 2016!
Dear reader, thank you again for joining us and we’d love to
hear from you. Keep smiling and have a fun week. Never stop believing. See you
next Sunday…nothing better than being cozy in bed with some Musings.
If you have a question or comment you’d like us to muse upon, do not hesitate to contact me Christine Steeves-Speakman at MuseChrisChat@gmail.com
Monday, December 21, 2015
Far Beyond Rubies
When they
first meet, Gervaise’s soul recognizes Juliana’s eyes, and from that moment on,
their destinies become inevitably intertwined.
Far Beyond
Rubies by multi-published author Rosemary Morris
Historical
Romance
Now ONLY
$0.99 during our MuseItUp 12 Days of Christmas Event
See all of
our specials this month:
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Sunday Musings: Holiday Traditions
Happy Sunday, Musers, one and all.
The holiday season is stressful, frantic, chaotic, happy,
warm, loving, sad, lonely, and filled. It is also filled with traditions and
that's what Musers are sharing today.
For those who celebrate and to all the best of the belief
this celebration brings...Merry Christmas.
Christmas Day in our family has always been fairly
conventional. We open our presents round the tree in the morning, go to church
and then have a wonderful Christmas lunch, after which, there are always board
games - Scrabble, Monopoly, Cluedo. And always, the day is over far too soon.
When I was a young child, we had a lot of Christmas
traditions. My father's side is Italian, and we followed the Italian (Sicilian)
traditions closely. No red sauce, and fish only on Christmas Eve (my brother
and I used to have spaghetti with butter, since we didn't like fish), and then
a massive five course feast on Christmas, which my Italian grandmother would
prepare. An antipasto course, pasta dishes including baked ziti, stuffed
mushrooms and peppers, sausage and meatballs, and so much food you can't move.
One year we had a separate roast as an additional course before the
sfogliatelle and cannoli we always had for dessert. No one even took a bite, we
were too full. Once I became older, my
mom carried on the tradition of Italian Christmas. When I visit my in-laws, who
eat ham and turkey for Christmas, it always strikes me as an excuse for them to
celebrate Thanksgiving again- for me Christmas is all about Italian food. :-)
Holiday traditions…There are many. Some taken from when I
was growing up, combined between my mother and father’s families, and added to
as I had children and got married.
The transferring traditions from my childhood… The
unwrapping of one gift on Christmas Eve and getting new pajamas. My siblings
and I always looked forward to that. We would come home from the family dinner
and wait impatiently for our mother to say it was time. Then there was the stay
home of Christmas. We went absolutely nowhere on Christmas Day that was (as my
mother and her sisters called it) the kids’ day. And we reveled in it. My
children thoroughly enjoy these two. Even now, as the oldest have grown, they
look forward to that one gift and new pj’s on Christmas Eve. It’s pretty much
the only time I don’t have to scream at children to schedule their baths,
because they have it all figured out between them. lol
The traditions I added… Watching nothing but Christmas
movies on Christmas Eve. The old classics and newer ones. Children’s cartoons
and animated shows. Each and every one of them. Along with listening Christmas
music. Nothing fancy, honestly, but the kids love it and look forward to it.
Because even as they’ve grown, they still want to sit together with their
siblings watching those holiday classics together.
The tradition I miss… I added this one. Because I do miss
it. We live in Wyoming now, and trust me, there are more wild animals in this
state then people. I miss driving around after our family Christmas dinner and
looking at all the holiday lights. People still decorate, not as many as when I
was growing up, and not as close (as when I lived in Michigan, lol). We have to
drive far to see those lights now. Plus, normally, it’s not safe to drive
around at night because of the temps and ice. Like this year. lol
The Christmas season is the only one which my family always
celebrated and which I still "stellar-class" celebrate.
My apartment is fully decorated with my main joy being the
tree. That's a 6-1/2 foot artificial Creation Tree whose ornaments are animals
(extant and extinct), plants, stellar bodies, legendary figures, and, of
course, angels and Nativity-related subjects.
(What would a Creation Tree be without the Creator?) It stands behind a glass door in the bedroom
while the cats and I move into the living room.
This assures peace in my little valley. -- The story of Shamrock's first
(and last) encounter with a Christmas tree would make a blog entry of its own.
The Masses on Christmas Day and Christmas Eve are the
loveliest of the year. When my parents
and aunt were still with us, we went to Midnight Mass, sometimes crunching
through a hefty fall of snow, admiring the
lights on the neighboring houses as we went.
When we returned home, tea was made and, finally, presents were
opened. I go to church earlier now, but
tea and presents still follow.
Dinner is smaller now,
just my brother and myself and sometimes a friend. Dessert is a traditional Christmas (plum)
pudding. We pour brandy over that, turn
off the lights, and set it ablaze at the table while all present clap and
admire the show. One year, our guest,
who had never seen one, took a picture of it and e-mailed it to her entire
family.
Because this is a season, there are many meetings with
friends and many phone calls to family scattered around the world. In my case, that means Ireland, England, and
Canada.
I wish all of ye the full happiness of the day and the
season.
Traditions are important to me and mine, but we also adapt
as life changes. Christmas Eve is spent with my aunt and uncle, it's as vital
to me as Christmas Day at home with my hubby, child, and mom. How do you blend
families...mine and hubby's...we always have family day with them on the 26th.
And while I know "things" are not important, there
are a few items I've kept from my childhood that bring the warm fuzzies...my
Santa, Rudolph, Jingles the Elf, an Angel, a nativity scene, and I was lucky
enough to find the same angel tree topper for our family tree.
Dear reader, thank you again for joining us and we’d love to
hear from you. Keep smiling and have a fun week. Never stop believing. See you
next Sunday…nothing better than being cozy in bed with some Musings.
If you have a question or comment you’d like us to muse upon, do not hesitate to contact me Christine Steeves-Speakman at MuseChrisChat@gmail.com
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