Best-selling author RaeAnne Thayne is in the Bandita’s Lair!

by Anna Sugden

I’m delighted that one of my favourite Silhouette authors, RaeAnne Thayne, is able to join us today.

RaeAnne finds inspiration in the beautiful northern Utah mountains where she lives with her husband and three children. She has written more than thirty novels for Silhouette Special Edition, Silhouette Intimate Moments/Romantic Suspense and Bantam Loveswept.

Her books have won numerous honors, including a RITA nomination from Romance Writers of America, the 2007 RIO award for best short contemporary from Reviewers International Organization, a career achievement award from Romantic Times Book Reviews for series romantic adventure and the RT Reviewers Choice award for best Silhouette Special Edition of 2006.

Check out her current series The Women Of Brambleberry House, published by Silhouette Special Edition. Set on the Oregon coast, in a beautiful rambling house overlooking the ocean, all three books feature a match-making ghost and a dog who’s so smart it’s spooky. The first book, The Daddy Makeover was a wonderful read - full of the rich characterisation and emotional depth RaeAnne is known for. Book 2, His Second-Chance Family is available in January.

For more information please check out RaeAnne’s website: http://www.xmission.com/~rthayne

Welcome RaeAnne

Hi Anna and the rest of the Banditas! I’m thrilled to be here.

Can you tell us a bit more about what inspired you to write this wonderful series?

Two different things, actually. A few years ago, my family had the memorable experience of spending a week camping along the Oregon coast and I truly fell in love with this area. I’ve always lived in landlocked areas (Indiana and Utah. You can’t get much more landlocked!) and while I love my mountains, I’ve also truly come to love the ocean. Visiting the coast soothes my soul in ways I can’t really explain. I knew I wanted to set a series in Oregon but it took a little time for the idea to simmer in my head.

The other life experience that definitely came in handy when writing this series about two women who inherit a rambling old house on the ocean was the 15 years my husband and I spent trying to restore a 1904 Queen Anne Victorian. We built a new house two years ago that better meets our family needs but I still miss that graceful (but drafty!) old place.

Your previous series was for Silhouette’s Romantic Suspense line. How different was it to write ‘home and hearth’ books?

Actually, not different at all. Many of my books for IM/RS had that home-and-hearth feel with perhaps a little bit of danger sprinkled through the book. My books have always very much focused on the emotional journey the hero and heroine make toward each other. My SSEs may have a little gentler pace but that journey is still the same.


The third book in this series is connected to some of your Romantic Suspense books. Can you tell us which ones and how it is connected?

I’m pretty sure this is a universal experience with writers but I have to confess sometimes I create characters I expect to be kind of throwaway people and they end up having minds of their own, siblings, deep histories I have no idea about when I first use them as placeholders in other books. That happened when I created the character of Sheriff Daniel Galvez, who appeared briefly in my 2005 SIM, The Interpreter. I loved Daniel in that book and I wasn’t really surprised when he showed up again in High-Risk Affair, which came out in January '07 from SRS. Eventually I knew I had to write his story and Daniel became the hero of Shelter From the Storm, a June SRS.
And of course in the process of creating that book, I realized Daniel had several younger siblings –Ren, a sexy researcher in the wilds of Costa Rica who became the hero of my SRS, High-Stakes Honeymoon (August '07) and a younger sister Anna whom I sent away to live somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. When the idea for the Brambleberry series was percolating in my mind, I suddenly knew exactly where Anna Galvez was – living in a rambling Victorian on the northern Oregon coast! Anna will be appearing in her own book, the finale to the Brambleberry series, set to be released in August '08.

One of the things I love about your books is the emotional depth you give your characters. Have you got any tips on how to achieve this?

It’s not easy, especially with shrinking word counts. But that emotional intensity is what takes a book from good to truly memorable. Three of us - Deb Salonen, a fabulous writer for Harlequin Super, my editor at Silhouette and I - have actually pitched a workshop to National for San Francisco about punching up the emotion in your writing. I haven’t heard yet whether it’s been accepted. But just for the Banditas, here are a few of the areas we hope to cover if we do end up doing the workshop …

* Intense stories start with powerful characters.
* Ramp up the conflicts -- twist that knife hard!
* Don’t forget setting! Sometimes picking the right time of day, weather, or location for a scene is just as important to building the emotional intensity as the scene itself.
* Pace yourself and your characters. Think of a roller coaster ride in reverse, with several smaller hills and valleys leading up to a huge, stomach-clenching drop.
* Careful use of point-of-view can work wonders in times of great emotion. Showing the emotion through the other character’s POV often works better and gives the reader a little more space to breathe than showing it through the angsty character’s POV.
* See it, smell it, taste it: Use five senses to layer in emotion.
* Dialogue! When it comes to long sections of moody introspection, less is usually more.
* And finally, don’t be afraid to dig deep -- in your characters or yourself! Many writers are afraid to explore those emotions too deeply but you have to tap into your own deepest fears, worries, hopes, etc. in order to make your characters real and worthy of empathy from your readers.

As well as the final book in the Brambleberry series, you have a novella in the Mother’s Day anthology and a Silhouette continuity book. How do you manage to juggle the writing with three kids?!

It’s not easy, I’ll admit. Many days the only writing time I find all day is at night after everyone’s in bed. I often work from about 9 p.m. until 11 or so (and yes, there have been nights I’ve actually fallen asleep with my hands still on the keyboard!). My older two are in school so when the 4-year-old naps, I write. When he has a playdate with friends, I write. He goes to preschool two mornings a week and they’re sacred writing times!

I had four books out in 2007 and will have five out in 2008. Though I’m thrilled to have the work, I always seem to have a deadline looming. It can be very frustrating to block out that sacred time to write and then have unavoidable family stuff get in the way. But I try to remind myself when I’m gnashing my teeth and keeping my eye on the calendar that my husband and kids are the most important thing in my life right now.

My 4-year-old is only going to be at this magical age once when the whole world is spectacularly exciting to him. My 17-year-old daughter will be going off to college next year and when she actually wants to sit down and watch a chick flick with Mom, I can’t turn my back on those rare, ephemeral moments.

A couple of things help me cope:

1) The egg timer. I love these little things and buy them by the dozen at the dollar store! If I can get three thirty-minute segments of writing done throughout the day, I can usually write about six pages of rough draft. It also helps me stay on task by setting a time limit of ten minutes of email or web browsing before I sit down to work. When the timer goes off, I know it’s time to get down to business.

2) I try to make the rest of my life as efficient as possible to free up more time to write. I almost hate to write this because I’m still so scatterbrained most of the time but even one or two changes can make a huge difference. A few years ago I started doing freezer cooking (Once A Month Cooking) and I’ve been amazed at how much that simple thing helps the flow of my day, to know there’s always something in the freezer my family can have for dinner if I get too wrapped up in my characters to remember to shop that day.

With the holidays almost upon us, do you continue to write or do you abandon the writing until the festivities are done?

Wrong time to ask since I just had a party for 25 people at my house Saturday and I’m still recovering from it! I haven’t written a thing in a week. But I can’t abandon the writing entirely because I have a book due Jan 15. I try to get up a little bit earlier in the mornings and I use my old friend the egg timer. I’m lucky if I manage to squeeze out a couple of half-hour stretches of writing amidst baking and shopping and wrapping but that can still be 3 or 4 pages a day. Writing sprints can definitely pay off!

Do you have any special holiday traditions?

Lots of them! We love Christmas at our house and having kids around makes it all seem new and exciting all over again. We love taking outings to see lights, dropping secret presents at the neighbors’ houses, going to visit family and friends. Last year I read a great idea in a magazine to help kids countdown to Christmas – an Advent read-a-thon. Thanksgiving weekend, I wrapped up 24 of our Christmas books – everything from Jan Brett’s gorgeous Wild Christmas Reindeer to How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Starting Dec. 1, my boys get to open one book a night and that’s our bedtime story that day. Part of the fun is trying to guess which book we’ll open that night.

We started a new one this year I’m sure we’ll do again. We live two hours away from most of my husband’s family but they all came up this year to our house for our annual Christmas party. We’re lucky enough to live in a fairly rural area and a neighbor and friend hitched up his big wagon and Clydesdales for us and took all 25 of us on a hayride. My husband’s aunt is 78 and said this was the first wagon ride she’d ever been on! It was a priceless memory.

Wow! Love the sound of those traditions - especially the Advent read-a-thon.

Christmas in the mountains of Utah must be beautiful. If you could spend Christmas anywhere else, where would it be?

Really, anywhere with family. That’s the important thing to me. The older I get, the more important these rare, transitory moments seem to me. I love nothing more than sitting down with my family playing games or watching a DVD or enjoying a great meal.

I can understand that - I feel the same. We never travel on Christmas, though anyone is welcome to visit us. Being with those you love is the best! But if I had to choose something totally different, I'd like to go to Lapland one year and see Santa!

Let's throw that question open to our visitors. If you could spend Christmas anywhere else, where would it be? RaeAnne has got some fab prizes - two lucky commenters will win a copy of both The Daddy Makeover and His Second-Chance Family!

And RaeAnne has a delicious recipe too! It's for her husband's famous:

Black Bean Dip

1 16-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed.
1/2 cup prepared salsa, hot or mild
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 tsp ground cumin
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

In a food processor, combine black beans, salsa lime juice, cilantro, and cumin. Process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Makes about 1-1/2 cups. Great with tortilla chips or as a topping for Mexican pizza!

And the Winnah Is...

The winner of the Christmas in NC giveaway is Kim W! Kim has won a $10 gift card to Borders and all she had to do was eat a pigeon egg - without chocolate! Kim, please send me your snail mail info at carencrane AT gmail DOT com. Congratulations! (And please don't go around popping pigeon eggs in your mouth - people will talk!)

Gifts of Christmases Past

by Beth Andrews


I admit it: I love presents! Not just getting them (although I really do LOVE getting presents *g*) but giving them as well. I enjoy shopping for someone else, looking for that perfect (or as close to perfect) gift, the one that is thoughtful, that says I was thinking of you and thought you'd love this :-)

So, since I do love presents, and since I always get sentimental around the Holidays, I decided to take a trip back in time and blog about some of my favorite Christmas gifts.

My Little People Cabin. I loved Fisher Price's Little People and I spent hours playing with the A-frame cabin my aunt gave me one Christmas. It opens to reveal a large living area and a loft complete with bunk beds.

Weebol Wobbles truck with pop up camper. The truck was light blue and had seats that reminded me of a Deviled Egg tray for the Weebles to sit in.

Weebol Wobbles Disney Land (or World, I can't remember) The Weebles were Disney characters including Mickey Mouse and Goofy and the set came with Cinderella's Castle and a few rides, such as a Merry Go Round.

Buffy. Nope, not the Vampire Slayer. My very first (and only) Cabbage Patch Doll. Okay, to be honest, Buffy's not a REAL Cabbage Patch Doll but a cloth version. A woman in our town began making them when the Cabbage Patch Craze hit and both of my sisters and I got one. I still have Buffy although I have to keep her hidden in a closet as the look of her freaks my youngest daughter out *g*

A cherry cradle. My father made one for each of his daughters and since it's the only thing he's ever made me, it has special meaning. All three of my kids slept in the cradle as newborns and I'm hoping my grandchildren will as well *g*

And last, but certainly not least, I have to add this year's gift from my husband. While I won't technically take possession of the gift until Christmas morning, it is already one of my favorites. This beautiful oak Dry Sink my husband made. Isn't he super talented?? :-)

I even polled my family about their favorites:

Son -- Genesis video game system he got when he was about

Older daughter -- her Pikachu backpack (yes, Jo, I remember the Pokeman Craze well *g*) It didn't have Pikachu ON it, it was shaped like Pikachu. She couldn't fit much inside but she loved carrying it around :-)

Younger daughter -- As a two year old, she was scared to death of the Crawling Minnie Mouse she got from Santa but loved her brother's 2 foot tall walking, roaring T-Rex.

Husband -- He had a three-way tie between:

1. His Roy Rogers cowboy outfit, complete with hat, vest, gun holster and six shooters (I've been informed they used real leather back in those days because cowboys loved the smell of real leather)

2. A Shooting Gallery. A game where metal ducks go around and he shot at them. With a machine gun (he called it) that shot metal BBs. And not the little ones either, but LARGE BBs (what was his mother thinking??) He played with that toy so much, he shot the paint right off the ducks *g*

3. Rock Em Sock Em Robots. "I'll knock your block off!!"

What about you? What's your favorite Christmas gift? Or your most memorable? Heck, maybe even the most dangerous gift you received? (Anyone remember those metal lawn darts?) I'll pick my favorite out of the comments and the winner will receive a $15 Amazon gift card :-)

Raspberry Cream-Cheese Bars

Crust

12 oz graham crackers (about 24 whole crackers) ground or finely crushed ( 2 3/4 cups crumbs)

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Topping

2 bricks (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened

2/3 cup sugar

3 tablspoons cornstarch

2 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam, melted

Decoration:

White chocolate, melted according to package directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees

2. Mix graham-cracker crumbs and butter until crumbs are moistened. Press over bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Bake 12 minutes to set.

3. Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in cornstarch, then eggs, salt and vanilla. Scrape into crust; smooth with rubber spatula. Drizzle with warm jam, then swirl with rubber spatula to marbelize.

4. Bake 25 minutes or until puffed. Cool in pan, then refrigerate at least 3 hours before cutting into 1 x 1 1/2-inch bars. Drizzle with melted white chocolate.

And the Winners are . . .

Christie's signed cover flat and box of chocolates go to . . . Terrio! Congratulations, Terrio! To send Christie your contact information, go to wwwDOTchristiekelleyDOTcom and use the "contact" link.

Nancy's Borders gift card goes to . . . Anne! Congratulations, Anne! Please email your contact information to me, nancyATnancynorthcottDOTcom.

Congratulations to both our winners, and thanks to everyone for stopping by. Enjoy the holidays, y'all!

And finally, the winner of Jo's box of See's candy, chosen by her husband Boyd. Gillian layne wins, says he because (a) hubby finished the degree (b) they blamed the scroungy tree on the kittens and (c) they had the way-cool deer skull wreath.

Congratulations! Send your snail mail addy to jo.lewisrobertson@yahoo.com and the prize is in the mail!

The Holiday Month

by Nancy Northcott

Is your holiday looking like this? Jo had some interesting comments along this line yesterday. I hope to be done with holiday shopping and parking lots in a day or so, which gives me time to think about other things.

There are actually lots of holidays in December. There's Christmas, of course, the 600-pound gorilla in the room because of its combined religious and commercial significance. Earlier in the month, we had Hanukkah, with the dreidl and the menorah.

My husband comes of combined Swedish Lutheran and Polish Jewish stock, so we try to remember Hanukkah in the midst of the Christmas chaos. Neither of us knew much about Hanukkah and were surprised to learn about it from, of all things, The Rug-Rats' Chanukah video when our son was small. Our son immediately wanted to know more about the holiday. He was especially interested in dreidl games and the menorah. We suspected these had more to do with obtaining gifts and playing with fire than with religious observance, but we figured he'd learn about it and then do with the knowledge as he chose. Friends of ours, who had invited us to a Seder that year, were happy to explain Hanukkah and Passover to him. Of course, they'd tried before, but you have to seize the moment when it arrives. So we had a menorah and a Christmas tree opposite each other in the living room for a few days.

Of course, there's also the Solstice. Some of our friends celebrate that, rather than Christmas. The idea of gathering around bonfires seems to have a universal human appeal. The shortest day of the year will be Saturday. The idea of lighting a fire and sitting in front of it, celebrating the end of winter and the movement of the Earth toward spring, sounds great. Unfortunately, we have a wood stove rather than an open hearth, and unnecessary fires are discouraged because of the drought. So we'll be noting the Solstice more in thought than in deed.

The Roman festival of Saturnalia also took place in December and was a Solstice festival. I doubt they used chili peppers to celebrate, but this photo was cheerful and had the right colors in it. Saturnalia was "the" holiday in the Roman year. Martial wrote Xenia and Apophoreba for it. The poems were published in December and intended to accompany the "guest gifts" common in the day. As the festival grew, it came to include choosing a Lord of Misrule, a custom that continued down through the Tudor 12 Days of Christmas celebrations. Saturnalia celebrations continued until about the 4th century, when Christmas overshadowed it completely.

And, of course, we have Christmas. Trees, gifts, and food. Excited children and anticipation. When I was younger, I looked forward to opening gifts. Now I look forward to seeing others open what I've chosen for them. I'll never forget the Christmas our son came into the living room and saw Tigger peeking out of his stocking. His face just glowed. When he was little, he played with his stocking stuffers for a while before even approaching the tree. Then we'd have breakfast and open a few gifts, pausing to watch him play with his. I still look forward to seeing his face, but the experience has lost some of its magic since he aged out of toys and into electronics.

After Christmas, we have Boxing Day, when we'll have a special post by our own Anna Sugden, and Kwanzaa, the African and Pan-African holiday. Kwanzaa celebrates the community and harvest and the principles of unity, self-determination, collective will and responsibility, comparative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. Then the year comes to an end with New Year's Eve on December 31, and a new year begins.

So what do you enjoy most about the holidays in December? How have your observances changed?

Recipe for Decadent Brownies

Ingredients:
Favorite brownie mix for 8"x8" pan (you'll use 9"x9", though)
8 oz. softened cream cheese
2 eggs
1 tbsp. softened butter
2 tbsp. white flour
1 tsp. almond extract (optional)
3 tbsp. granulated sugar
half of a 12-oz pkg. of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees;
Grease bottom of 9"x9" pan;
Prepare brownie mix according to package instructions and set aside;
Beat cream cheese and butter together until well combined;
Add eggs, flour, sugar, and optional almond extract to cream cheese mixture and mix until smooth;
Stir in chocolate chips;
Place brownie batter in pan and spread to make an even layer
Spoon cream cheese mixture over the brownie batter;
Using a plastic spatula, swirl cream cheese mixture and brownie batter together but do not completely combine;
Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean;
Allow brownies to cool before slicing.

If you want to add a note of decadence, frost cooled brownies with your favorite cream cheese or vanilla frosting (made or purchased).

Pressing craisins or red candied fruit into the frosting and then sprinkling with grated coconut will give you a berries-in-snow effect. Dried cherries will work if you can find ones that are actually red; fresh fruit tends to bleed color into the frosting.

One commenter, chosen at random, will receive a $15.00 Borders gift card. Enjoy the holidays, everyone.

Random Christmas Rumblings

I’m going to apply for a job at Walmart.

Seriously.

I spend enough time there, this week alone, five visits within three days. Not all of it was my own fault. Like most women, I was trying to MULTI-TASK. POW! POW! POW!

Multi-tasking is not always a good thing. I get up at 5:00 a.m. to arrive at Walmart by 5:30, shop, and then arrive at my son’s house by 6:00. He’s a single Dad and I often send Ellie (8 1/2) and Preston (10) off to school.

Guess what?

Walmart’s photo department doesn’t open until 7:00.

Walmart’s return department doesn’t open until 7:00.

And worst of all, Thursdays are pay days and employees cash their checks at the service department. Which runs out of money.

A lot.

So if you’re returning an item, you have to wait for a cash run.

Sigh.

I have a BIG confession to make.

Christmas spirit has been hard to come by this year.

I don’t have a tree. The tree to the right is what I wish I had.

My grandchildren are appalled.

My husband is relieved.

My house looks strange. Especially with the ticky-tacky, white-wire-and-gaudy-lights tree that my husband set on the front porch. I can’t complain. After all, I didn’t decorate a tree this year.

Earlier this week I stood in the Pokemon section of Target for over an hour. Who knew a funky little creature called Picachu could create such a blather of major decision-making?

Another half hour in the Star Wars action figure section, and a final half hour in the Tech Deck mini skateboard section.

Yikes! Whatever happened to a ball and jacks?

How many of you women have ever bought a gift for your mother-in-law? Or your sister-in-law -- you know, the SIL who’s related to your HUSBAND? Why is that? How did women come to be the designated gift buyers?

And the designated bakers. And the designated gift wrappers? I mean, are we genetically programmed better than men for these jobs? Is there something about the size of our boobs that creates a physical balance conducive to kneading bread and racing down shopping aisles, children clinging to the cart edges?

When I was a young girl in Germany, I remember my father giggling like a kid the entire Christmas season. Every Christmas Eve around nine in the evening, he’d declare that he was SURE he’d seen Santa Claus creeping out the backdoor, heard his sleigh bells, and smelled the reindeer.

We would all run to the back door, but no, suddenly the man with the bowl-full-of-jelly belly had escaped to the front yard. We’d clamber there. We never noticed my father’s disappearing act until suddenly Dad was right beside us, peering over our shoulders, saying with astonishment, “Darn, we must have just missed him. Maybe next year.”

We returned inside and lo, like the Star shining over Bethlehem, there they were – all the bright, beautiful presents Santa had left!

Dad had a lot of fun with that trick, and we fell for it every year. He couldn’t wait to see the looks on our faces, so he made sure Santa visited before our bedtime. Just like a little boy, he couldn’t wait for Christmas to come.

Mom just looked tired.

My point is, Dad had all the fun, and it wasn’t until years later that I thought to question what Mom was doing while he was whooping it up like a kid. Now I know. She was buying gifts, returning gifts, wrapping gifts, baking cookies, baking rolls, and making candies.

Not that she didn’t enjoy it. She did.

But that’s not the point. The point is what was Dad doing?

I’m convinced Christmas is for men and kids. It’s not that men don’t help; it’s just that they . . . well, they don’t do it as well as women do because they’re reliving their childhood Christmases.

Sure, they put the bikes together, they pull the decorations down from the rafters, and they pay the end-of-year bills.

Sometimes they don’t even complain.

But I don’t see them baking in the kitchen or shopping in the stores – at least not until December 24 when there’s a sudden flurry of testosterone shopping.

There’s a ditty going around the internet called, “Why Men Are Never Depressed.” Apparently, one reason men aren’t depressed is because they “can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes at a truck stop.”

I rest my case.

But the thing about the holidays is they’re supposed to be about giving, not receiving, sacrifice, not greed, right?

It’s not just the shopping and the baking that is the purview of women. They also try to make meaningful traditions for their families so they won’t grow up to be . . . well, selfish.

My daughter Kennan has a few traditions she’s created for her brood of three, four if you count her husband Mike.

They hang stockings, but instead of Santa popping in to fill them up, the family fill each other's stockings with gifts they’ve made, or in the case of four-year-old Gabe, discovered lying around – a drawing, a piece of candy (hence, the lying around), or a “lost” item suddenly found.

Long before Anne Curry made a national production of cutting her hair on NBC, Kennan's daughter Grace cut her waist-length hair and donated it to “Locks of Love," which makes wigs for cancer-striken children. Cutting off that beautiful hair was a sacrifice for her. Oh, probably for Anne, too.

What about you, readers?

Men, do you do your fair share during the holidays?

Women, do you feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the season? How do you handle it?

What are your traditions? Share with us, readers. The best idea, determined by my husband – who is indeed a man – will win a yummy box of See’s candy for your holiday pleasure!

Progress

by Christie Kelley

As most of you who read this blog know, my life has been in a bit of turmoil for the past three months. We’ve been under major reconstruction here, plus I’ve been trying to finish my second book under contract. I never expected that deadline to be looming down my head at this point. I was given more than enough time to have a first draft finished by now. But with everything else going on in my life, I’ve had trouble concentrating on this book and finding a quiet place to work.

So, now I’m only half-way through my book with two and half months to go. It took me only about four months to write Every Night I’m Yours, my February historical release. Of course, it did take me two years to get it to final in the Golden Heart and another three months after that to sell it. I’ve written and rewritten my current manuscript about five times. Each time it gets better but I do believe this is my best version yet. And it’s taking me forever.

On to the house, it is now about 2/3 done. So in honor of all the work being done on my house here are the pictures. This is the way the house looked when we bought it three years ago.

It was a cute little 60’s split level with four bedrooms and two baths. The bedroom level had three bedrooms with no master bath, just a shared hall bath. The ceiling height just over seven feet and with ceiling fans it felt claustrophic.

The remodeled house will have a master suite with vaulted ceilings and its own bathroom!! No more sharing with two boys and a husband! We’re changing the entire look of the house to give it a Craftsman feel.

And best of all, I’ll finally have an office of my own...with a door. Now I can shut out the noises in my house and peace! This is my husband's current office and my soon to be office. Lot's of windows and a door!

Even with all the ruckus in my house, I still made Christmas cookies and here is one of my favorite recipes.

Eggnog Kringlas

4 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp nutmeg
¾ cup of butter (not margarine)
1 ½ cups of sugar
1 egg
1 cup eggnog
Sifted powered sugar and nutmeg (optional)

In a large mixing bowl beat the butter with an electric mixer for 30 seconds or till softened. Add the sugar and beat till fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Add flour, baking power, baking soda and nutmeg, alternating with the eggnog until well mixed. Cover and chill at least 4 hours.On a floured surface, roll one rounded tablespoon into pencil-like strips (6-8 inches long). On an ungreased cookie sheet, loop one end over the other making what looks like a ribbon (think breast cancer ribbons since I don’t have a picture)

Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes or until the edges are slightly browned. Remove from cookie sheet and sprinkle with powered sugar-nutmeg mix, if desired. Makes about 60 cookies.

ENJOY and Happy Holidays!

How is everyone doing on their progress? How are the manuscripts going? How is the Christmas shopping going? Am I the only one not finished with shopping? Tell us what you’re up to now.

And in the season of giving, I will be giving away a signed copy of my coverflat for Every Night I'm Yours and a small box of chocolates to someone who replies to this message and tells me about your progress.

And the winner, Christmas Tacky division, is....

Mshellion! For sharing her family's tradition of towing the hood of a VW Bug behind a three-wheeler & calling it a sled. My father gives props to yours. That is truly, truly wonderful!


Email me at susan.seyfarth@comcast.net with your snail mail address & I'll get your Barnes & Noble gift card in the mail!

Congratulations

The winner of Samantha Hunter's UNTOUCHED is Buffie! Buffie, drop Sam an email at samhunter@samanthahunter.com with your shipping info and she'll get that right out to you!

Christmas, North Carolina Style

by Caren Crane

Here at the Lair, we like to talk about our home states and share a bit about what makes them special. During this (unusually warm) holiday season, I thought I would share some things unique to North Carolina during the holidays:


1. Christmas Town, USA - Since 1956, the small town of McAdenville, NC the citizens and businesses have decorated their town in celebration of Christmas. Thousands come to see the 375 decorated live evergreen trees and streets lined with decorated homes. Nothing will get you in the mood for Christmas faster!

2. Biltmore House - Biltmore House is a fairytale, family-owned chateau and estate in the Blue Ridge mountains near Asheville, NC. Completed in 1895 by George Vanderbilt, Biltmore is decorated in lavish style for the holidays each year. Candlelight tours are especially popular and showcase the beauty of the home in a spectacular fashion that you will never forget.

3. Old Salem - In direct contrast to the lavishness of Biltmore House is Old Salem, NC. Located in Salem, NC, Old Salem is a restored 1766 Moravian settlement, boasting 4 museums, 11 period gardens and a population of settlers in period costume going about their daily work. At Christmas, traditional wreaths hang from the doors, lampposts and fence posts are wrapped in their winter greenery, the smell of fresh baked treats emanating from the bakery warm even the coldest nose, and the sound of music drifts through the air to draw you into the holiday spirit. The candlelight tours are wonderful!


4. NC Fraser Firs - The NC Fraser fir has been judged the nation's best Christmas tree by the National Christmas Tree Association. The NC Christmas Tree industry is ranked second in the nation (behind Oregon) in number of trees harvested and first in the nation in terms of dollars made per tree. We have tons of retail lots and over 150 choose and cut Christmas tree farms in NC. Cut Christmas trees sold in the eastern United States probably grew in NC!

5. Aluminum Tree and Aesthetically Challenged Seasonal Ornament Museum and Research Center - Yes, friends, in Asheville, NC, there is the ATACSOM. Creator and curator Stephen Paul Jackson displays his ever-growing collection of metal Christmas trees, each covered with tacky ornaments. Decoration themes range from Elvis to a tribute to Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. Our own Susan Seyfarth, self-professed tacky tinsel connoisseur, would love this museum. What more can be said, really?

Today is National Chocolate Covered Anything Day. Being my contrary self, I offer you a totally non-chocolate-covered recipe that happens to be a favorite among my family and friends. At least, I assume it's a favorite, since they keep asking me to make it and begging for the recipe!

CRANBERRY CHUTNEY
1 12-oz bag cranberries (sort out mushy ones and watch for stems)
1 c water
2 c sugar (or Splenda, which I use)
1 c orange juice
1 large apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1 c chopped pecans (I toast them before chopping)
1 c chopped celery
1 c raisins
1 tsp grated fresh ginger (I use more, probably 2 or 3 tsp)
1 tsp grated orange rind (again, I use more, probably 2 tsp)

Bring berries, water and syrup to a boil. (If using Splenda, only boil berries and water.) Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat. (If using Splenda, stir in now and make sure it dissolves completely.) Combine all other ingredients in a large bowl or container. Pour berries over mixture and stir to combine. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours before serving. Keeps in refrigerator for 2 weeks.

So tell us, what's cool about Christmas where you live? And what is your favorite chocolate covered something? Has anyone actually eaten chocolate covered insects? Inquiring minds want to know! The coolest story will win a $10 Borders gift card, so do tell!

A tale of three grandmas

Over the river and through the woods, to grandmother's house we go...

I think this time of year is when I remember my two grandmothers the most because Christmas was always the day when we went to visit them both. Even though my grandmothers only lived one county away from each other, I cannot remember a single time when I saw them in the same place together. Perhaps that was because one didn't drive. Perhaps it was because they might never have even met if not for my parents getting married. I'm not sure. But my happiest Christmas memories revolve around these two women.

My paternal grandmother was Grandma. She died when I was 10 (27 years ago), and I still remember the night my other grandparents came to tell us about her passing. We didn't have a phone at the time (I know, hard to believe), so the nursing home where Grandma was a patient called my maternal grandparents instead. But let's focus on happier days with Grandma. She was a tough woman, and if she were alive now I suspect my adult self might see that she was a bit crude. But when I was a child, she hung the moon and spoiled my sister and me rotten because we were her only grandchildren. She lived in this tiny house in rural Kentucky that had an enclosed back porch with a well in it. She didn't have running water, so she hauled water up from that well with a bucket. That's the house at the right as it looked a year or so ago. The little side porch is now open, and I guess the well has been closed off. My memories of her have their shadowy beginning at my grandpa's funeral when I was 5. I don't remember much about him other than him dying and he was old (he was born in 1889 and was 20 years older than my grandma).

Some of the best memories revolve around her good cooking and Christmas. Prior to Christmas, my dad would take her to town to do her Christmas shopping, typically at the old Western Auto store, which had toys, and probably the Dollar General Store. I grew up in a small town with the nearest Wal-Mart 23 miles away. The Dollar General is still there, but even the building that housed the Western Auto is now gone. But even with limited shopping options, Grandma always got my younger sister and me plenty of toys, clothes and other goodies. And she loaded down the table with slow-cooked green beans, mashed potatoes, homemade chicken and dumplings (I used to love eating the dough raw as she rolled it out), banana pudding, and other delicious dishes I've since forgotten. She'd make plenty so we always ended up taking a lot of it home with us to enjoy in the days after Christmas.

While I don't recall seeing Grandma all that often, I got to visit with my maternal grandparents, Mamaw and Papaw, a lot more since for the first 12 or so years of my life they were our next-door neighbors. Or maybe I should say our "across-the-holler" neighbors. We lived on one hill, and they lived across the creek on the next one. Papaw would stand on the porch each afternoon and wave at us as we walked home from the school bus, and sometimes I could see Mamaw out in her garden picking vegetables she would can by the quartsful. Christmas at their house was a much busier affair because they had 15 grandchildren as opposed to two. Consequently, each of the grandchildren only got one small thing. That was okay though because I enjoyed the big family gatherings and sampling all the potluck dishes. While Mamaw was also a wonderful cook, everyone pitched in because it would have been a chore to cook for around 25 people. Memories of Mamaw's cooking ran more to her canned pickles and how she could make something from nothing. I guess that came from raising seven children during the Great Depression. (That's the family in 1948 in the photo. Mamaw was taking the photo, but Papaw is the guy in the back and my mom is the little girl at the far left on the front row.) I also remember making mashed potato sandwiches on white bread at her house, and how my sister and I used to cut up cold bananas in these blue tin bowls Mamaw had and pour chocolate syrup all over them. Yum! Mamaw was also a wonderful quilter, and I could kick myself for not learning how to quilt from her when I had the chance.

There are funny memories, like the one my sister reminded me of recently. When Mamaw got older and her arthritis worsened, someone got her the Clapper for her lights. The only problem was that she didn't ever clap loud enough to make it work. :)

Since Papaw died when I was in high school, Mamaw was my only grandparent who lived long enough to see me get married. (She's at the far left on the front row of my wedding picture, and yes, I have some big honking glasses on. Wow, am I glad glasses are more attractive now.) Thus, I have the most memories of her and miss her the most. She was a sweet, quiet lady. When I was 24, she had a stroke that landed her in the hospital. She lingered for a month, and my mom visited her every day. She wasn't only her mother, she was also her best friend. It was hard to think of losing her. But Mom eventually realized that Mamaw wasn't going to get better, so she went to the tiny chapel at the hospital and prayed about it, saying that if it was time for Mamaw to go, it was okay. That night, Mom had a dream in which she saw the hallway of the hospital that led to Mamaw's room. Papaw was walking down the hall as if he was going to get Mamaw. The next day, Mamaw passed on. I can think of Grandma and Grandpa without tearing up because I lost them so long ago that I'm too far removed from the pain to remember much of it. But I tear up every time I tell this story about Papaw coming to get Mamaw.

Now that I no longer have grandparents living, I focus all my "grand" affection on my husband's grandmother, Mom Mim. (That's her at the right with one of her great-grandchildren, my husband's cousin's little boy.) Like my grandmothers, she's a great cook. After I raved over her jam cake last Christmas, she sent me the recipe. For every birthday and anniversary, she sends sweet cards. And I think she was as excited about my first book sale as I was. I think she might have told everyone in her hometown, and it's quite a bit bigger than mine is. We'll see her in a couple of weeks for Christmas, and I already know she'll come with her crocheting bag in hand. She can't sit still without crocheting something.

So do you all have any wonderful Christmas memories with your grandmothers? The Banditas would love to hear them.

I got this recipe from a former co-worker after she made and brought these to work one day.

Pistachio Cream Cheese Fingers

1 cup sugar
1 cup margarine or butter, softened
1 (8-ounce package) cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 1/4 cups all-purpose or unbleached flour
1 (3 3/4-ounce) package instant pistachio-flavored pudding and pie filling mix
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 ounces (3 squares) semi-sweet chocolate or 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon shortening

In large bowl, beat sugar, margarine and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg; beat well. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. In medium bowl, combine flour, pudding mix, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to cream cheese mixture; mix well. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 1 hour for easier handling.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets. Shape teaspoonfuls of dough into 1 1/2-inch fingers. (You may want to wet your hands to prevent the dough from sticking to you.) Place on prepared cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 9 to 12 minutes or until set. Cool completely. In small saucepan, melt chocolate and shortening, stirring constantly until well blended. Drizzle a small amount of chocolate over each cookie. Allow chocolate to set before storing. Yield: 8 1/2 dozen cookies.