Give a Little Thought to A to Z this Holiday Season

Wow. It's the holiday season! It seems as if 2015 just started and now here we are near the end of the year; amazing isn't it? With the holidays in full swing now is the perfect time to spend a moment thinking about the A to Z Challenge in 2016!

It's true, it's true! To be sure you'll be bustling about having lots of fun and shopping and whatnot but you'll probably have a spare moment here or there that is perfect for thinking.  Say you're shopping and you're standing in a very long line. Look around you for inspiration for the blogging challenge.

For example, while standing in line, what if you see an outrageous hat? Why not blog the A to Z of crazy hats? How about the A to Z of your grandma's clothes? Can you name the A to Z of Professor Snape sayings? Or what if you blogged the A to Z of movies you've seen in your lifetime? You could always go back and look at your old A to Z Challenge posts and see what posts worked and revamp those into something new. What about the A to Z of bad challenges? Bad blog posts? Bad dogs?

But seriously, the holidays provide you with plenty more time to think about the A to Z than you realize. When I'm standing in line or looking at a row of books I try to get inspired by the things that I'm looking at. Sometimes my ideas are genius and sometimes they're not. But you know what? Waiting til the last minute stinks. I've learned to use snippets of downtime each day to brainstorm: Sitting at a stop light? Thinking. Standing in line to buy presents? Pondering. 

You won't know if your idea is good or not until you think it through. So instead of playing Candy Crush with friends on your phone, consider that idea that is floating near the surface of your brain. The A to Z of lollipops? Possibly. How many flavors can you name? 10? 3? 60?  You won't know until you think it all the way through.  Isn't it better to discover NOW that your idea is no good rather than on April 5th when you've run out of flavors? 

Just like some gifts are better left on the shelf, some ideas are better left in your brain.

Make 2016 the best A to Z Challenge ever and start thinking about possible topics now! So tell me, what are some bad topics you've already tossed out for next year's challenge? Here's one of mine: The A to Z of dog books. I mean, seriously, how many could there be? 

Too many to choose from.

So, be prepared future A to Zers!

The A to Z Challenge is coming! 

Give a little thought to A to Z this holiday season. You'll be glad you did.

Many thanks to Pinterest and Buzzfeed for all the funny pics.

Christmas stories to discover

Had enough of The Gift of the Magi for a lifetime, and always found The Fir Tree and The Little Match Girl sort of depressing? (Our teacher used to read them to us every Christmas in class, and I don't think I'll ever recover from it)
Here is a list of books you can explore for funny, heartwarming, less well-known, and lovable Christmas tales - most of them traditional.
Enjoy!

Midwinter Folk Tales
Written by legendary storyteller Taffy Thomas, published in 2015. A collection full of winter tales from Taffy's own repertoire - free to tell for anyone who takes a fancy to them. He does not only include the best of his stories for the season; he also tells little anecdotes about how each story came into his possession, and what hidden importance they might have. It is an entertaining, lovely collection, written in Taffy's original voice and sense of humor.

Joy to the World: Christmas stories from around the globe
Okay, so not a recent edition, but one of my newly discovered favorites. Beautifully illustrated book, with well selected stories. I am including it with an extra recommendation because it features one of my favorite Christmas legends, the story of the Little Camel from Syria. In Syria, children who celebrate Christmas believe that their gifts are brought by the little camel that traveled with the Three Wise Men. It's one of the cutest stories ever.

Tell Me a Story for Christmas: Traveller Tales
A seasonal collection by another legendary storyteller, Scottish Traveller Duncan Williamson. Once again, not a recent edition, but many copies are still available from online stores and libraries. I highly recommend reading other books from Duncan Williamson as well; he is a huge name in the storytelling world, and did incredible work to preserve the oral traditions he grew up with.

The Other Wise Man 
Okay, so this is a more well known one, but also one of my favorites, so I will include it, in case it's new for some people. Written by Henry van Dyke in 1895, it is an original Christmas tale about Artaban, the fourth Wise Man that somehow got left behind. I love telling this story, and audiences respond to it really well. Also, there is a famous sapphire named after it. In case you like shiny things like I do.

May your days be merry, and full of books!

'Tis The Season

'Tis the Season to Hit the Road. . .

and buy those presents!

Photo Credit

My family knows what they’re going to receive from me each Christmas. The only surprise for them is what book is hidden inside the glittery wrapping. And each season I search for both the classics and something new. I thought that since some of you might be on the hunt for book gifts I’d share what I’m considering putting under the tree. Family: DO NOT PEEK!

The Classics for young readers’ libraries

The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore

The Twelve Days of Christmas by Accord Publishing

The Elf on the Shelf by Carol Aebersold

Night Before the Night Before Christmas by Natasha Wing

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen

Olive, the Other Reindeer by J. Otto Seibold

How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

Dream Snow by Eric Carle

A Wish to be a Christmas Tree by Colleen Monroe

The Christmas Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood

The Nutcracker by Alison Jay

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Reindeer Christmas by Mark Kimball Moulton

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Random House

Christmas Activity Books for the really young ones

My Very Merry Christmas Coloring and Activity Book 

Christmas Carol Activity Book, Book 2

A Very Krabby Christmas

The Berenstein Bears' Christmas Coloring and Activity Book

Christmas Is Coming

The 12 Days of Christmas: The Story behind a Favorite Christmas Song

Christmas Jigsaw Book

Some not so Christmasy ones, but great gifts for mature readers in the family

The Art of Racing in the Rain

The Book Thief

Women of the Silk and The Language of Threads (Series)

Bel Canto

The Suspect

Boy Toy

Marcelo in the Real World
The Kite Runner

Photo Credit

Merry Christmas! 

Writing Through the Holidaze

Even the Cat Can Go Bonkers with Holidaze Stress

Nothing's busier than a person who writes, unless it's a person who writes during the Thanksgiving holiday. I prefer to call it "holidaze" for the obvious reason. The only way I get through this time and still remain sane is to have a schedule. I schedule everything during November, even when to take out the garbage. If I didn't, the garbage just might be ignored and that would be very bad indeed.

One DAY of my THANKSGIVING HOLIDAZE SCHEDULE:


AM

• 4:00 open eyes, create mental list for the day
• 4:30 find coffee maker in dark--don't risk waking family with bright lights
• 4:40 boot computer, sip coffee, wait for computer to wake up, sip more coffee, nudge computer, cuss
• 5:00 answer emails
• 5:40 check blogs and respond to all comments, visit at least 15 blogs before break
• 6:15 BREAK, coffee maker now clearly visible in dawn light, so make another cup, listen for footsteps upstairs
• 6:20 fb, twitter, LinkedIn, Google+
• 7:00 greet first family member with smile, but silence. They are very cranky in the morning.
• 7:30 find food, eat, talk about the day's plan, do dishes
• 8:15 return to computer, more emails and blogs
• 9:00 shut down social media, pull up WIP, cry, then rewrite
• 10:00 check garden, clean up after raccoons, cuss
• 11:00 eat lunch, take a walk down to the creek

PM

• 12:00 call friends and family re: Thanksgiving plans to firm up menu and make sure they're bringing stuff
• 1:00 Take out garbage (See, I was serious.)
• 1:15 Make Turkey Stuffing, boil Sweet Potatoes, look for wine.
• 3:00 Set table for T'day
• 4:00 Call in and order Pizza for pick up.
• 4:45 Drive to town, pick up Pizza, return home (MY ROAD TRIP FOR THE DAY)
• 5:15 Drink wine, make salad
• 5:30 Eat Pizza, drink more wine--use counter because table's set
• 6:30 Stack dishes in sink and call Elves
• 6:40 Find happy 30 minute sit-com on Netflix
• 7:15 Shower (if we have water--drought year)
• 8:00 Open Kindle and read
• 9:00 Face in pillow

Repeat with adjustments for after the T'day celebration. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

#atozchallenge -- Let the Challenge inspire you!

 
The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is more than just a bunch of letters.

It's a community.

Not just for writers, but for any number of creative people all around the world. 

Doing this Challenge brings bloggers together that might never have found each other.

It unites like-minded bloggers and yet it also introduces us to brand new ideas, categories, and people.

The Challenge gives us all something to look forward to and something to strive for.

Meeting our own expectations, and cheering on our fellow bloggers, is not only exciting, but also inspiring!

Heather