From my House to your House

I love the excitement of children and the anticipation of watching people open gifts I purchased for them.  This year we are spending Christmas with our two youngest children and their families. There will be ice skating, sledding, card playing, and lots of yummy food. 

Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and if you happen to be spending this day alone, pick up a good book and dive into another world. That is the next best thing to being surrounded by family.

Merry Christmas!

Kissing under the Mistletoe

(a repost from a group blog in 2011)

Mistletoe is one of the traditions of the Christmas Season. But did you know—

Mistletoe is an evergreen.  The traditions of displaying evergreens at Christmas came about as a way to bring color and the green hope of spring into the home.

This plant however is a parasitic shrub. It grows on trees, living off the host plant. They are not full parasites, since the plants are capable of photosynthesis. But these mistletoe plants are parasitic in the sense that they send a special kind of root system down into their hosts, the trees upon which they grow, in order to extract nutrients from the trees.

Mistletoe has long been regarded as an aphrodisiac and fertility herb. It may also possess abortifacient qualities, which would help explain its association with uninhibited sexuality.

The unusual botanical history of mistletoe goes a long way towards explaining the awe in which it was held in the Norse myths. For in spite of not being rooted in the soil, mistletoe remained green throughout the winter, while the trees upon which it grew and upon which it fed did not (the European mistletoe often grows on apple trees; more rarely on oaks). This little plant remaining green while the host plant died fascinated the unscientific masses.

The folklore, and the magical powers of this plant, spread through the centuries It was thought placing a sprig in a baby's cradle would protect the child from faeries. Giving a sprig to the first cow calving after New Year would protect the entire herd.

Ancient Scandinavia and the Norse mythology is where the tale of kissing und the mistletoe started. It was considered a plant of peace in Scandinavian history. If enemies found themselves under mistletoe in the forest they laid down their weapons and called a truce until the next day.

Most say kissing under the mistletoe is an English custom even though there is a story that dates back to Norse mythology. It is about an overprotective mother.

The Norse god Balder was the best loved of all the gods. His mother was Frigga, goddess of love and beauty. She loved her son so much that she wanted to make sure no harm would come to him. So she went through the world, securing promises from everything that sprang from the four elements--fire, water, air, and earth--that they would not harm her beloved Balder. 

Leave it to Loki, a sly, evil spirit, to find the loophole. The loophole was mistletoe. He made an arrow from its wood. To make the prank even nastier, he took the arrow to Hoder, Balder's brother, who was blind. Guiding Holder's hand, Loki directed the arrow at Balder's heart, and he fell dead. 

Frigga's tears became the mistletoe's white berries. In the version of the story with a happy ending, Balder is restored to life, and Frigga is so grateful that she reverses the reputation of the offending plant--making it a symbol of love and promising to bestow a kiss upon anyone who passes under it.

Is hanging mistletoe a tradition in your family?

Guests- Christmas at Cutter's Creek

It’s a Christmas sugarplum celebration! Christmas in Cutter’s Creek means a Christmas social; sugarplum contest, dancing, a dash of mayhem and a heaping helping of romance. 

First off is Kit Morgan’s Recipe for Christmas. This novella is set in 1866 and is the very first Cutter’s Creek Christmas social, and so much mischief happens, it’s a wonder they had another! Lucius Judrow from Love is Blind has a brother and he’s on his way to Cutter’s Creek. Come see who Eldon meets in this hilarious and sweet romance!

The next is Vivi Holt’s Seasons of Love. It takes place in 1872. The social has changed just a bit. You’d think they’d learned with all the trouble, but no, the social is more fun than trouble. Margaret is a lonely school teacher from the East looking for a little love and adventure. She finds just that and a whole lot more in this sweet Christmas romance!

Third Christmas novella is just a few years later and the social has changed yet again, to a cider competition! The contestants get a little rowdy and words are said that might ruin Christmas! Felicity will need special help to solve this mess. Find out more in Annie Boone’s Christmas Spirit.

The fourth and final Christmas novella takes place in 1892 and rumors of Christmas social’s past dominate the festivities. Carol needs to find a husband and the new doctor in town provides a great opportunity. A snowball fight leads to romance in Kari Trumbo’s A Carol Plays.

Recipe for Christmas  ǀ  Season of Love  ǀ  Christmas Spirit  ǀ  A Carol Plays

Today the spotlight is on: Season of Love:

Here is an excerpt-

Margaret cinched her scarf more tightly around her neck and shivered as her booted feet crunched through the icy snow. The main street of Cutter’s Creek sparkled in the sunlight, and drifts of snow pushed up against storefronts and house walls all up and down the street. Juniper and hemlock branches drooped under the weight of the white powder, and icicles hung from the eaves. Her breath burst from her mouth in white clouds as she struggled along, being careful not to lose her footing.

When she pushed open the door to the mercantile, a bell dinged above the doorway, announcing her arrival. She stamped the snow from her boots, and unwound her scarf to greet Abigail Smith.

“Abi, it’s good to see you. How’s Jasper Jnr? Last time I came in he had a cold.”

“Why, hello there Meg. Junior is doin’ just fine now, thank you for askin’. He’s still got a bit of a cough, but nothin’ some chicken broth and gruel won’t fix.”

The bell over the door rang again, and Margaret turned to discover Mrs Agatha Waverley tapping her boots on the welcome mat.

“Mornin’ Abi, mornin’ Meg. What a day it is.” Agatha had a habit of grumbling and complaining first thing, to get it out of the way so she could deal with the more important matters of conversation over the rest of the day.

“Good morning Mrs Waverley. It’s lovely to see you on this fine day.” Margaret removed her gloves with a tug at each fingertip, and smiled at the older lady. She strode to the counter, and began perusing the wares behind it, calculating in her head the supplies she’d need to get through the week. 

Mrs. Waverly nodded, and followed Abigail, who was stacking a new supply of brooms in a corner of the store. “Did you hear about the incident over at the school,” she whispered conspiratorially, with a dip of her head.

Margaret’s ears pricked at the mention of the school. She listened closely, her eyes still focused on a barrel of red and white striped candy.

“No, I did not. But I’m sure you’ll tell me all about it,” sighed Abigail as she pushed the last of the brooms into place. She turned and hurried back to the counter to wait on Margaret. Mrs Waverly followed her like an eager pup.

“As you know, Mr Waverley checks on the schoolhouse regular-like through the winter months, since no one else seems to feel the responsibility.” Here she paused with a meaningful look at Margaret, who was running her fingers over a bolt of blue and tan calico. She gasped in surprise and turned to face the women. Abigail’s face flushed red. She scurried the last few steps, to stand before Margaret.

“I’m so sorry to keep you waiting, Meg. Have you decided yet what you’ll need?”

“Yes please. I’ll have a pound of flour, a half-dozen of your wonderful eggs, and a half pound of butter, thank you kindly.”

Abigail set about wrapping the items in brown paper.

Mrs. Waverley waddled close, and interrupted them to continue. “Well, he went by the schoolhouse yesterday, and noticed smoke comin’ from the chimney. Well now, he says to hisself, ain’t no one supposed to be in there, then how come there’s smoke a’comin’ from the chimney?” She grinned with delight at the intrigue of her own story, and Margaret and Abigail exchanged a glance of aggravation.

“Is that so?” asked Abigail, strumming her fingernails against the counter top.

“Yep. And when he went inside, do you know what he found?”

“I do not. Pray tell.”  

Find the Cutter’s Creek author’s on Facebook!

Mass of the Rooster#Christmas #TheGiftofChristmas

I’ve never had the pleasure of being in another country during Christmas, but I love learning how other cultures and nationalities celebrate the holiday. My book Secrets of a Mayan Moon is set in Guatemala in the jungle and not during the holiday, but I wondered how Christmas was celebrated and gathered snippets from the blog, Guatemalan Genes. http://blog.guatemalangenes.com/ The woman who writes the blog, Cynthia, was born in Guatemala, lived in the U.S. for a while, and then moved back to her country.  She helped me keep things authentic in Secrets of a Mayan Moon when I couldn’t travel to the area.

There are many recipes that are served in Guatemala during the holiday on Cynthia’s blog so I won’t put any here, you can find them under her Christmas posts.

However, you will find mention of a Venezuelan Christmas dish, Hallaca, a plantain leaf-wrapped food that required days to prepare in my short story Isabella's Christmas Box found in the anthology, The Gift of Christmas by Windtree Press authors. Isabella prepares this dish for Tino during their first Christmas together. If you're an Isabella and Tino fan you might want to get the book. It's available in ebook and print. I'll be signing and selling copies at Jan's Paperbacks in Aloha, OR this Sunday the 14th at 5pm. 

One of the interesting stories I learned about a Guatemalan Christmas is the Misa de Gallo, or Mass of the Rooster. This sounds strange thinking of a rooster as being linked to Christmas and a mass. The Guatemalan legend says that at midnight Christmas Eve as the baby Jesus was born a rooster crowed. Everyone knows that roosters don’t crow at midnight, they crow when the sun is coming up in the morning. Because of this reality, “Midnight” mass is held early in the morning when the roosters really do crow

.

The other interesting event that Guatemalan’s do to celebrate, which is what you find in the United States during the Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve, they have fireworks displays at midnight.  I’ve found this to be true of other countries such as the Netherlands.

What you believe and how you celebrate Christmas is up to each individual. What is a tradition you have for Christmas?

Rain Trueax Spreading Christmas Cheer!

First I want to thank Paty for having me on her always interesting blog. I really appreciate the chance to share here two of my books—both involving the Christmas season. Writing any book where Christmas is an important part of the plot has, for me, responsibility attached. I know. It sounds simple. Christmas tree. Christmas Eve service. Family dinners. Gifts. Pageants. Religious services. Santa Claus. Baby Jesus. But the thing is there are so many expectations involved with this very busy and important time of year. If I incorporate it into a book and I have several times, I feel a sense of responsibility.

If a person is going through a divorce, separated, feeling hurt or had a family that wasn’t much of a family, then Christmas will have one set of expectations. For those who have great memories of wonderful family sharing, it will be another. A writer may cover it different ways depending on what the characters need but considerations for how it will impact the reader have to be taken into consideration at least by me.

The symbolisms for the season, with both pagan and religious roots, are those of beauty, light, love, family and giving. It’s both fun and challenging to think about different ways to tell the truth of a complex season while giving the reader something positive. Twice in my books I’ve glossed over it, but I have two where it’s an important part of the story-- one its essence and the other its beginning.

A Montana Christmas

A Montana Christmas carries on characters in From Here to There. I realized there was something more to resolve in this story especially since I had opted not to have an epilogue. The novella picks up a few years later where a husband and wife, Phillip and Helene, have worked out a comfortable life where they live part of the year in Boston, where his successful business is based and the rest at a ranch home they built on her uncle’s ranch in Montana. Phillip likes the ranch life, finds he is good at cowboying, and loves to please his wife. What she has next in mind though throws him for a loop.

She wants to invite all of Phillip’s family to spend the holidays on the ranch with her uncle. This had been her second home and a place she had come to love as the place of her heart. Her own parents, wealthy and not particularly family oriented were divorced and heading off hither and yon for the holidays. Helene, who is hoping to have a baby soon, wants family for her child to grow up knowing and that means Phillip’s mother and siblings.

Phillip, who has not had good memories of family Christmases, expects disaster. Although he has helped his mother, brother and sisters, he has been emotionally estranged from them mostly out of self-protection. Christmas seems to him like a time fraught with ways to go wrong, but he wants to please his lovely wife; so he arranges his schedule to be on the ranch. With Helen’s uncle having had heart surgery, the ranch foreman has a lot of work planned for Phillip. Ranch work doesn’t take a break for the holidays.

This story is about family, love, Montana, gathering for the holidays, and ranch living.

Trailer at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C84Je5kNexc

A Montana Christmas: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AOU0IQ2

From Here to There: http://www.amazon.com/Here-There-Romance-Edge-ebook/dp/B006PNS7EC

Tucson Moon

Tucson Moon is a western historical romance, but it starts off with the Christmas season as Deputy US Marshal Cole O’Brian shockingly learns his daughter, Grace, whom he had left to be raised by her dead mother’s parents, is on the train heading for Tucson to live with him. Cole wants to know his daughter but is ill prepared to be a father to a nine-year old. Fortunately that day, also waiting at the depot is Priscilla Wesley, who sizes up the situation and offers to let Grace stay with her while father and daughter get acquainted.

It’s Christmas and really neither Cole nor Grace have had much experience with the kinds of Christmases Priscilla grew up with or what she offers to them. They are about to learn. Besides the usual Christmas activities like baking cookies, decorating a tree, having a great dinner, this Christmas involves a Yaqui celebration.

Tucson Moon is about a great deal more than Christmas as it takes the story forward with two dissimilar people finding they have more in common than they imagined with danger waiting and trials ahead.

Trailer at: http://rainydaytrailers.blogspot.com/2013/11/tucson-moon-trailer.html

Tucson Moon: http://www.amazon.com/Tucson-Moon-Rain-Trueax-ebook/dp/B00GYL9DVQ

Arizona Sunset: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EV69EYC/

Excerpt:

“All right, we’re in agreement that if it’s all right with Grace, she will stay with you and I guess I can visit, get to know her?”

“That would be my suggestion. You know Christmas isn’t far off.”

That was a holiday Cord rarely if ever thought about. It meant a few more drunks in the bars; but otherwise, it wasn’t anything he had celebrated in any way for years—if ever. It meant Santa Claus? He remembered sarcastically asking Priscilla Wesley if she believed in that personage. He wondered now if Grace did. Hellfire, he was so far out of his depth that he couldn’t see how he could get to the surface. He rose and walked over to the fireplace staring blankly into its darkness.

Priscilla came to stand beside him reaching out to touch his arm. “It will just take time. Actually the holidays might be a good time for you with her. It’s fun to put up a tree, decorate a bit, attend church, sing carols, give presents, have a wonderful Christmas dinner—which is Rose’s forte. It will be a time to ease yourself into what she’s like, who she is.”

He whistled low as he met her gaze. “Can I take notes? I have to admit I know nothing about any of that. My world... well it’s not the same as yours.”

She smiled. “Part of it will be for awhile as you give Grace a chance to adjust to you. As much as you don’t know her. She doesn’t know you either.”

“And what she does know has to be pretty bad given how Janice’s parents felt about me.”

“Well that will all change now—slowly.”

He surprised himself by his urge to reach out and take her into his arms. He resisted the impulse. He realized this was going to be a test of his will power to be close to this woman as he got close to his daughter. He’d always found her physically attractive, challenging but now he saw there was another side. Damn.

Before he could say more or even think of what to say, Rose came to the door. “Lunch is ready. You two ready for it?”

“Grace is hungry now?”

“Yes, she is.”

Priscilla smiled. “Maybe you can eat now too, Marshal?”

He was surprised to realize he was hungry; and although he knew it wasn’t going to be easy conversation around the table, he was ready to give it a try.

As he followed the two women to the kitchen, he thought getting to know Priscilla Wesley was going to be as hard on him as trying to make peace with his daughter. He wondered if he was up to any of it.

**************************************

Other places to find my work both contemporary and historical love stories set in the American West. Please come and visit. I try to keep readers updated especially on Facebook and Twitter but lots of images from the books and my own life on Pinterest.

Rain Trueax blog:  http://raintrueax.blogspot.com

Trailers to all of my books: http://rainydaytrailers.blogspot.com/

Amazon Central with profile and my books: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B006UX64X8

Twitter: Rain Trueax@RainTrueax

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/raintrueax/boards/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rain-Trueax/200584236675973

Merry Christmas and hope everyone has a great holiday season of their own.