The month started off with my helping Christina Freeburn celebrate the release of her latest book, Dash Away All, on Facebook. It was a fun 2-hour event. We did posts every 10 minutes, alternating them between the two of us. I think that worked out quite well. Her book takes place in July on the set of a Christmas movie. A fun read. Her main character has been hired as the onset crafter for the movie. Things did not turn out as she planned!
Here are a couple of the ornaments I painted this month. I’m working on some others as well. These two I gave away at the Facebook event I mentioned above along with a copy of my own Christmas book, Ghosts of Painting Past.
Other good Christmas books I read are Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge by Laura Levine and Premeditated Peppermint by Amanda Flower, both cozy mysteries.
The other book of note that I’m currently still reading is “The History of a Nutcracker” by Alexandre Dumas. I picked this little gem up at a Barnes & Noble a couple years ago. I’ve never seen the Nutcracker ballet, but I’ve listened to the music and sort of, kind of know the basic story. What I didn’t realize is that it has its origins in a story by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffman, first published in 1816, called “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King”. Fast forward to 1845 when Alexandre Dumas adapted a version of the story in “The History of a Nutcracker”.
In terms of short stories, I’ve been enjoying Steve Hockensmith’s “Naughty: Nine Tales of Christmas Crime”. These all appeared originally in EQMM or AHMM. You can hear him read some of the stories on the EQMM podcast. There’s a list of all of the ones that have been on the podcast at https://www.stevehockensmith.com/steves-stories
I haven’t only been reading or viewing Christmas stuff this month, but my occasional dipping into it has kept me sane.
2 comments:
Back in my graphic designer days (after I "retired" from teaching), I was plenty sick of Christmas by the end of July since a lot of the work we did was around 4-5 months ahead of their release date. For June and July, it was holly, santas, Christmas decorations, all the stuff they use in holiday ads.
I was always worried I'd never get into the holiday spirit when it really counted.
Nice work on those decorations!
Thanks. I admit that I am almost Christmas'd out right now, but it was a nice change from some of the darker stuff I have been reading and watching.
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