Celebrating Christmas in a Culturally Blended Family. Masha Holl's, The Joining.

Happy December 1st! Welcome to A Writer’s Mind’s, WHAT EVERY WOMAN WANTS BENEATH HER CHRISTMAS TREE blog event. It’s my pleasure to welcome over author Masha Holl to share a little bit of her unique holiday with us. Don’t forget to comment for a chance to win an eCopy of Masha’s story, The Joining.

YULETIDE NOTE: I encourage you to leave a comment for a chance to win each featured author's given prize (Include email addy). Their individual winners will be announced in a comment after their post. In addition, be sure to enter the Rafflecopter provided after each post as often as you like for a chance to win the grand prize, three $30 Amazon Gift Cards, 12+ ebooks and over six print novels. Three winners drawn and announced December 26th, 2012. Click on 'Ready to be Served?' at the top of this blog to find the itinerary.

Let’s hear from Masha…

Christmas is not a simple matter, especially in a culturally blended family. It can be complicated enough, even these days, when Old World and New World mix and we try to recreate childhood recipes and experiences for the next generation. But when East and West collide it gets really interesting.

Otter Creations. One-of-a-kind Book Trailers!

Welcome to A Writer’s Mind’s, HOT SUMMER NIGHTS BLOG EVENT! Today's guest is Masha Holl, owner of Otter Creations. I’m going to hand the blog over to Masha so she can tell you more about her company. Be sure to enter to win your own 2-minute video story. Keep reading for details.

Let’s hear from Masha…

There's summer... and then there's summer. Once upon a time, summer was the magical time of freedom and warmth we still imagine, regardless of where we end up living.

But then, there's real summer, and real summer in South Texas is the Hotter time of the year (as opposed the Regular Hot time of the year that may by interrupted by a few Not So Hot days).

Summer is a time of no-classes, that's for sure, especially if you have kids, and more so if the parents are teachers or academics. But then, if the parents are teachers or academics, you know that summer is not a time of do-nothing, but instead a few stolen months of research, writing, preparation, and all the other projects and tasks that never get done during the work months.

And if you're a writer with a twisted imagination and you start thinking beach... sand... sea... and you keep going with bodies washing up on the shore, murder, mayhep, pirates -- vintage or modern, spy games... And maybe eventually a story like the one that got me going on a little video project over on my site.