Gifts and Scents of the Season. Skhye Moncrief. Blog Event.

It’s officially December and my ‘What Every Woman Wants Beneath Her Christmas Tree’ blog event is in full swing! Every two days a new author or vendor stops in to share a holiday story and offer giveaways. In addition, all comments on posts between now and Christmas Day are entered for a chance to win a $100 gift certificate to Amazon!

Today I’d like to welcome over author Skhye Moncrief. She’s graciously offering an Ecopy of FERAL FASCINATIONS to one lucky commenter. Also up for grabs to one lucky commenter between now and Christmas, a $100 gift certificate to Amazon!

From Skhye’s lips to this blog…

Giving gifts: What’s Christmas without searching for that perfect gift for someone and finding it on SALE? I spend most of each year on that mission! I’m one of those sick people who has to give gifts to everyone. My 6-year-old daughter’s second Christmas was a toughie. Between her friends and cousins, I had to buy for nineteen children! So, now we don’t give adult gifts. LOL

Baking cookies: There’s nothing like cookie dough! I used to bake about fifteen kinds of Christmas cookies. Then my wrists went bad on me. I couldn’t squeeze the icing bag! So now, it’s chocolate chip and pumpkin oatmeal cookies. The most amazing chocolate-chip recipe is on the back of the Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate chips. Use butter-flavored Crisco instead of butter and add ¼-1/3 cup of molasses. I take them out of the oven when they’re still a tiny bit damp and wet to the touch as well as barely brown. They continue to cook on the cookie sheet for a minute as they cool and are extremely moist when eaten. Perfect! People tell me these are the best cookies ever. And my friend’s husband gets mad if I don’t send him a cookie when she and her kids come over to play and have the cookies for a treat. ;) And then, there’s all the homemade candy!!! I have a recipe for what we call coconut candy—a homemade Mounds Bar candy. Covered in dark chocolate, just like fingers when dipping things in the melted chocolate!

The scents of the season: Don’t you love the way Christmas dinner smells? And Yankee Candle has every kind of candle you could want to burn during the holiday! My favorite Yankee Candle scent that I can’t find any longer is Yankee White Christmas. Now, I have to go with pine trees and cinnamon.

Sky here. Great recipe, Skhye! Yummm. Thanks so much for sharing!

Skhye Moncrief’s Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

Werescape Book 1: COUGAR

Post-apocalyptic Earth: after alien invasion, AEI, 2064 AD, The Wild

With her beloved Shifter mate two days in the Oregon’s ground, Sierra must choose to live or die. She has two options—join a Shifter clan by choosing a mate or live alone. Life is dangerous for a woman, AEI. Women choose protection in a group or are sold into slavery, even to the aliens. She opts for the protection of the clan, him.

He’s glorious. Empathetic. And resolved to mark her. He will not lose her. Jackal, the powerful right-hand Shifter of the clan’s leader, her brother-in-law, is determined she will be taken care of properly as mates aren’t easily come by. Especially in The Wild. But they just met, and she fights mating in her early stages of mourning. Honor-bound with a vow made over his brother’s death bed to see her safe, he internally swears to win her love. Whatever it takes.

But she harbors a dangerous secret. Born a Cougar, she dares not risk revealing she’s a Shifter, or bounty hunters will descend upon the remote mountain village to capture her for extraterrestrials. Villagers would die in the attacks. However, her Cougar rises up to claim Jackal for its mate. Shifter meets Cougar. Cougar claims her mate. Never-ending fireworks mark their raw attraction. But when the post-apocalyptic world is determined to tear them apart, will Normals, Shifters, or aliens win? Bet your money on COUGAR.

Purchase COUGAR at Amazon.

Don’t forget to comment for a chance to win an e-copy of FERAL FASCINATIONS. (blurb and reviews at the link) and whatever romance trading cards Skhye has. See her website for the cards she’s created to get an idea of what she might have on hand. ;)

What's Under Your Christmas Tree? Blog Event. Hywela Lyn.

Welcome! For those of you just joining me, it’s all about Christmas at this blog. Now through December 25th, sixteen authors and jewelry vendors are visiting A Writer’s Mind to share some heart-warming holiday stories and offer some fabulous giveaways. As an added bonus, everyone who comments on any of the posts between now and Christmas Day is entered for a chance to win the grand prize, a $100 gift certificate to Amazon!

It's time to continue my ‘What Every Woman Wants Beneath Her Christmas Tree’ blog event. Today and tomorrow I’d like to welcome over romance author and dear friend, Hywela Lyn. Lyn is graciously giving away to one lucky commenter a PRINT copy of Dancing with Fate and a hand-crafted Christmas ornament from the Christmas Tree Farm in the UK.

Let’s hear from Lyn now! From Lyn’s lips to this blog…

THE CHRISTMAS TREE FARM

I love Christmas – as long as it doesn’t start too early! I like to have the ‘magic’ feel fresh and new, so we don’t put the decorations up until a week before the great day and in keeping with tradition, don’t take them down until 5th January, 12th Night.

I really enjoy the build up to Christmas, and one of the things that makes me feel Christmas is really close is choosing our Christmas tree from the CHRISTMAS TREE FARM. After our artificial Christmas tree at last gave up the ghost and went to the ‘great artificial tree farm in the sky’ my husband and I decided, to revert to the real thing.

There are a number of reasons why we decided to go ‘real’. For each tree sold from the farm, another is planted, Since it absorbs carbon dioxide and 'breathes' out oxygen, each tree is helping reduce our collective carbon footprint. Although an artificial tree can be used for several years, the noxious chemicals produced in their production do nothing to help the fight against global warming, and they are certainly not biodegradable like a real tree. Also, it’s a great day out and we can take our dog Bouncer as well.

At the entrance to the farm is a full size Father Christmas. A little wooden fox greets visitors as they go through the gate and we pass by the little workshop where animated elves are busy making the gifts for Christmas and preparing Christmas trees. (Although one in this picture seems to have decided it was time for a mug of tea!)

The Farm uses two Shire horses, Thomas and Ambassador, who are working forestry horses. They are owned and trained by Steven Jones, who is a highly skilled forester based in Wales. Shire horses are a breed of horse which was used as draft animals on English farms for centuries. They are believed to be descended from English "Great horses" which were also used to carry armored knights in medieval times. Shires stand at least 17 hands tall (5ft 8in - 6ft/1.7m-1.8m) and weigh slightly less than one tonne.

Despite their size, the horses have a very gentle temperament. The horses leave the fields in much better condition than modern tractors. Tractors running over the ground can damage the soil structure and reduce its fertility by compacting it. Horses weigh less than tractors and their hooves spread that weight over a larger surface area. As a result, even in wet weather, the field is not damaged by the use of the horses, and the farm tracks are left un-rutted.

At the end of the rows of trees is a corral where we love to make friends with the horses, who, in this picture, were having a well deserved rest.

We spend a long time choosing our perfect tree. There are many different varieties and sizes to choose from. Choice made, while our perfect tree is being ‘netted’, we visit the Christmas Tree Farm shop. It is always like a fairy land, with a huge selection of beautiful ornaments and decorations - and close to the counter, a full size sleigh with a moving Santa on his sleigh drawn by a beautiful reindeer.

There are also woodland animals in various places around the shop, with twitching noses and paws, looking very realistic. They also sell things like magical reindeer food and special keys that only work for Santa, for houses with no chimneys. The display changes slightly each year, but it is always full of enchantment.

Before I leave, do you know the legend of the Christmas tree? This legend comes down from the early days of Christianity:

In Britain, Saint Wilfred was a monk who was helping to spread Christianity among the Druids. One day he struck down a huge Oak tree, which in the Druid religion was an object of worship.

As the tree fell to earth, it split into four, and from its centre grew a young Fir tree, pointing its topmost branch towards the sky. The crowd gathered around the monk gazed in amazement.

Wilfred dropped his axe and turned to the watching people. "This little tree shall be your Holy tree tonight," he said, "It is the sign of eternal life, for its leaves remain green all year round. See how it points toward the heavens. Let this be called the tree of the Christ Child. Gather round it, not in the wilderness but in your homes, surrounded with loving gifts and gestures of kindness." And so it is, to this day.

Sky here. Oh, I’d love to visit the Christmas Tree Farm! It certainly sounds like my kind of place. Thank you so much for sharing these stories, Lyn. I didn’t know the tale behind the Christmas Tree. While I mourn to hear of any Oak being chopped down, I love the part about the fir being a sign of eternal life.

AUTHOR BIO

Hywela Lyn lived in Wales for most of her life, and the beautiful countryside and legends inspired her to write. Although she now lives in a small village in England, she is very proud of her Welsh heritage and background. She enjoys weaving romantic tales of the future, and distant, mysterious worlds. Her pen name is a combination of her first two names.'Hywela’ is Welsh and her first name but it was never used and she has always been called by her second Christian name, Lyn. One thing remains constant in her writing: The power of love. Love, not only between her hero and heroine, but between friends and siblings, and for their particular world and the creatures that share it.

She is crazy about all animals, especially horses. She lives with her long suffering husband, Dave, and her animal family includes two horses, two ferrel cats and an adopted Jack Russell terrier called Bouncer.

Lyn’s first novel, 'Starquest', a futuristic romance, and and the sequel ‘Starquest’, 'Children of the Mist' are available in Ebook format or print from the Wild Rose Press and she is currently working on the third stories in the series. (Please watch her blog for more details) She has recently self published her fantasy novella 'Dancing With Fate' featuring Terpsichore, Muse of Dance, on Smashwords.

This was originally one of nine stories in the Wild Rose Press anthology ‘Song Of the Muses.'

Lyn loves to hear from fellow authors and readers and can be found at her...

Website ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

VIDEO: ‘DANCING WITH FATE’

Don’t forget to comment for a chance to win a print copy of Dancing with Fate, a Christmas tree ornament from the Christmas Tree Farm and a $100 gift certificate to Amazon. Contest ends Tuesday, November 29th, 12 AM, EST.