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
 

The A to Z of Harry Potter Names

If you're a book lover, you probably love Harry Potter as much as the next reader. Harry Potter blogs abound on the internet and it's easy to get your Harry Potter fix. Sometimes we even get Harry Potter themed posts for the A to Z Challenge.

Recently I hosted a Harry Potter Tea Party; it was an all ages affair and I was impressed at the level of knowledge the adults had! One of the games we played was a Harry Potter Who's Who where everyone had a note taped to their back with a character's name on it. The object was to give clues to your partner and they had to guess who their character was.

Harry Potter Party table display

This game made me wonder if it was possible to do an A to Z of  Harry Potter names?

Let's see:

A - Hanna Abbott (part of Dumbledore's Army)

B - Katie Bell,  Sirius Black, and Lavender Brown (that's who I was dressed as for the party).

C - Cho Chang, Vincent Crabbe, and Barty Crouch (Jr & Sr).

D - Fleur Delacour and Cedric Diggory (way before Twilight)

E - Marietta Edgecomb (I know, who?)

F - Nicholas Flamel, and Mundungus Fletcher (I love that name)

G - Hermione Granger (of course) and Godric Gryffindor

H - Rubeus Hagrid and Helga Hufflepuff

I - Ivanova. An obscure Bulgarian Quidditch player

J - Angelina Johnson

K - Viktor Krum

L - Bellatrix LeStrange (try explaining who that is to a 9 year old), Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Remus Lupin

M - Malfoy (yuck) and Professor Minerva McGonagall

N - Theodore Nott (he sees Thestrals)

O - Garrick Ollivander

P - Harry Potter!

Q - Quirinus Quirrell

R - Helena Ravenclaw

S - Rita Skeeter (and her pen)

T - Nymphadora Tonks (Tonks!)

U - Dolores Jane Umbridge (kittens & pink do not make her a nice person)

V - Voldemort, duh.

W - Ron Weasley (or any of them really)

Y - Yaxley, a Death Eater

Z - Blase Zabini, friend of Malfoy




Well, how'd you do? Were you able to name that many?





Pam Margolis
A to Z co host and Unconventional Librarian



Many thanks to these websites for the odd bit of help: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Harry_Potter_characters, http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Bulgarian_National_Quidditch_team

Themes That Rocked the Challenge - Mark Twain's Boyhood Town

Today we welcome Jennifer Hawes!

If you've struggled with your A to Z theme, it might be right there under your feet. Jennifer chose her hometown of Hannibal, MO, which also happens to be the boyhood town of a certain author named Mark Twain…

What made you choose Hannibal, MO as your theme? (Besides the fact you live there!)

I love the natural beauty of this town nestled on the Mississippi River. Photography was a big part of why I chose to feature Hannibal for the challenge.

Which topic was your favorite?

My posts on "Trains" and "Meet Me in St. Louis" were fun to feature because of the recent trip I took with my family exploring the train yards in St. Louis. Urban exploration and photography remain my favorite activities besides writing ,of course!

Which letter was the most challenging?

Toward the end I was getting burned out. Y was a bit of a challenge so I changed my post to "whY you should visit Hannibal" and featured football and my oldest teenage son. This town worships football. This year my son's team, the Hannibal Pirates, went 10-0 are in the playoffs! He was also chosen for first team all conference in Northeast Missouri High Schools two years in a row. I'm one proud mom!

What should first time visitors absolutely not miss?

Mark Twain's dream was to be a riverboat captain. He adored the Big River. You will get a wonderful tour aboard the Mark Twain Riverboat. And don't forget to visit the famous cave!

How many places are named after Mark Twain?

I've lost count.

Just what is the Tom and Becky contest?

Every summer five Tom and Becky couples are chosen right before their eighth grade year. One couple is the main Tom and Becky and the rest stay busy hosting the numerous festivals in town. Tom and Becky are fictional characters created by Mark Twain in his book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. They had a major crush on each other. They hid inside the cave to escape Injun Joe who was after them. Mark Twain really did have a crush on his next door neighbor Laura Hawkins aka Becky Thatcher.

Did you find it odd there was a lighthouse in town?

Not really. With all the hills, rocky terrain, and endless fog, I'm sure the town built the lighthouse to help navigate the boats safely down the river.

What theme are you considering for the Challenge next year?

Oh boy. I'm glad I have some time to think about it! I've debated whether or not to write about the writer's journey to publication. Or something to do with writing. My theme last time featured Mark Twain, one of the greatest fiction writers of all time, and his boyhood home town. Maybe I'll feature more great writers. Writing is my life and passion!

Thanks, Alex, for featuring my blog from AtoZ!

Thanks for doing the interview, Jennifer! I want to visit now.


Co-host Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh is the author of Amazon Best-Sellers CassaStar, CassaFire, CassaStorm, and Dragon of the Stars, and his blog can be found HERE

5 tips for authors who work with folktales

Fairy tale adaptations are all the rage these days. Some of them are stellar, some of them are decent, and some of them are... boring, I guess. But whatever the case, here is something that not many people talk about: Adapting fairy tales (especially if they are also folktales - not all of them are!) is a tricky issue. Many people just automatically assume that folktales are in the public domain - therefore there is no copyright to consider, or intellectual property to tread on. However, when working with traditional stories - especially if they are from a culture other than your own - is a lot more complicated than it sounds.

Here are 5 tips to keep in mind if you work with fairy tales:

Make sure it is actually a folktale 
Not all fairy tales are folklore. Some of them are literary. These might look like a folktale, but they still fall under copyright and intellectual property rules. This becomes especially tricky when some authors write "fakelore" - publish their own work under the title "folktale" (or, ironically, "original folktale"). In other cases they might publish folktales that are real, but publish them in their own version, re-written, re-told or adapted.
This is not only important because you might get in trouble for copyright infringement. You might also be unwittingly propagating false information on the traditions and culture of a certain group of people.
How to avoid: It is useful to look for the same story in other sources. Sometimes you have to approach the author to ask. Good thing we have social media.

Check on a culture's actual stories before you make up new ones
Attributing a fake "folktale" or "legend" to a foreign culture is a huge literary faux pas - especially in the case of indigenous and marginalized groups. This was one of the main problems people brought up about the Twilight series - the author took an indigenous nation, and made up legends that don't actually exist in their tradition. Since most people had never heard about the Quileute before the books/movies came out, they automatically believed that those stories were real "Indian folklore."
How to avoid: If you are featuring an existing culture in your work, do your homework. Go the extra mile. Read their stories. Maybe you'll find more useful things than you thought.

With that said...

Make sure you are not committing cultural appropriation
Not all folktales are up for grabs. They might not be protected by copyright law, but that doesn't mean you are not being offensive, inconsiderate, or hurtful towards the community that claims them and keeps them alive. Don't assume that finding an indigenous folktale in a written collection automatically means they wanted it to be out there.
How to avoid: Be respectful. Educate yourself about cultural appropriation. Ask.

Make sure you are not promoting stereotypes
Even if certain folktales are okay to use and adapt - make sure you are using them the right way. Selecting certain stories to represent certain cultures (especially if those cultures are not generally well known) puts you in danger of upholding a Single Story.
How to avoid: Read more stories from the same tradition. See if you can present a more diverse picture.

Note your sources
This is more of a courtesy than a necessity: I personally love reading about the original sources of folktales and fairy tales people use. I will be eternally grateful if you note them in your Introduction, or Afterwords, or... wherever. In addition, if you are working with less well known tales from other cultural groups, is is courteous to point people in the direction of your sources, in case they want to find out more, and educate themselves about the oral traditions of the world.

Do you like fairy tale adaptations? Do you write them? Let me know what you think!

Halloween Road Trip

It's Halloween season and here I am on a Road Trip? 

Photo Credit

You've got to be kidding. I can't be out here when the spirits walk the earth and need stuff, like, bodies to inhabit or candy to eat. Terrifying. 

Photo Credit

But, because I'm an AtoZer to the core, I'm out and about. *Play spooky music here.* Mario's looking for a smaller hat. If you have one, could you please send it over?

So let's make this an "informative" drive tonight. 

1. What are the most sought after treats? 

Top Ten Favorite Halloween Candies

Reese's - 43% of respondents rank it among their top five favorites

Snickers - 38% rank among favorites

M&Ms - 37% rank among favorites

Kit Kat - 36% rank among favorites

Twix - 29% rank among favorites

Milky Way - 22% rank among favorites

Butterfinger - 22% rank among favorites

Candy Corn - 18% rank among favorites

3 Musketeers - 18% rank among favorites

Skittles - 17% rank among favorites

2. What are the most popular Halloween costumes besides Donald Trump?

Zombies Are Hot, But Clowns Are Not

Top-Ranked Halloween Costumes For Adults, 2009-2013

Hover or tap on each costume to see how its rankings change over time.

Source: National Retail Federation

Credit: Quoctrung Bui and LA Johnson

I'm thinking I'm more in the Witch-Superman-Princess group. The problem with the witch is getting into the car with that pointy hat. Here's to your Halloween on the Road.  

A to Z Themes Made Easy – Handy Lifestyle Hacks for the Busy Blogger

Photo courtesy of Tristan Colangelo

It’s never too early to start preparing for your participation in next year’s Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Year after year, themes continue to be one of the best ways to survive this April blog hop with ease. Themes give readers a good idea of what to expect when visiting your blog while helping you better organize ideas into 26 cohesive pieces of alphabetic content.

Choosing a theme does not have to be a daunting task in itself. In fact, it’s as simple as becoming a virtual handyman for some of life’s challenges. If you’re stumped for topics to blog about during the next April A-Z Challenge, consider teaching people how to do quick repairs -- whether that be for damaged household items, bad hair days, or even a broken heart. Don’t think you have any knowledge of tips or tricks to help other people solve everyday problems? You may be able to provide more handy hacks than you think. 

Just recall the last few times you’ve fixed a dilemma that you or someone you know encountered. Now use these instances to jump-start the topics of your April Blog Posts. Here are some quick topics that can be worked in many ways to help you get from point A to point Z, based on my own experiences with quick fixes that came in handy.

Technical/Hardware Hacks

When cassette tapes were still a thing in the early 90s, I used to play them on a boombox style stereo system. The Bad album by Michael Jackson was one particular cassette that I rocked as a kid “until my tape popped” (*extra brownie points for those who can identify the song/artist reference here) one day while playing in the stereo. Determined to not have to throw this cassette away, I grabbed a screwdriver (or maybe it was a kitchen knife…the specifics of that memory has faded after all these years), opened up the cassette and snapped the jumbled up portions of plastic tape off of the spool. I then re-attached the two remaining portions of the music on this cassette, using a small piece of adhesive tape.

Cassettes remain available from some places such as
TurnAroundRecords. 

The result wasn’t perfect – the beginning of the first song on Side 1 of the cassette was now gone, as well as the end of the last song on Side 2 – but I could now still continue to enjoy most of the album.

Cassettes may be a thing of the past but so long as people still like to listen to music, there are quick fixes that you might know how to employ in the age of modern technology. Do you have a neat way to organize playlists on a home entertainment system, tablets or related electronic devices?

How about syncing or migrating your iTunes library on a computer where the system had to be re-installed? These nuggets of knowledge may come in handy for those of us who do not know how to navigate through various software programs and/or devices.

Style, Fashion & Wardrobe Hacks

When one pair of my jeans started to rip in the back, I continued to wear them until the tear became too large. Having no patience to sew or patch-up denim (or really most other garments), I just wore tights under my jeans, to prevent me from unintentionally flashing people during my daily travels out in the street. Sometimes these tights had cute heart patterns on them and sometimes they were solid colored. It all depended on my mood, the climate or temperature and whether the laundry was done or not. Did you ever experience any clothing malfunctions that you’ve dealt with in a hassle-free manner? If so, try to come up with 26 ways to get around the problem, from A-Z, without throwing the garment away!

Food Prep Hacks

Have you ever made a salad only to find out that there isn’t any dressing in your refrigerator or cupboard? What do you do in that situation? When I found myself in a similar situation, I combined some olive oil, vinegar and all-purpose seasoning such as (Mrs. Dash or Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute) to make a quick vinaigrette. Not only did it save me time in contemplating on whether to eat something else altogether or consume the salad dry, this quick fix was also a money-saving solution; I didn’t have to make a trip to the store just to buy some salad dressing.  If food hacks are up your alley, try coming up with an A-Z theme that provides some quick seasoning tips for when people don’t have the usual staples on-hand and need to substitute it with other items in the refrigerator or cupboard.

Productivity Hacks

My morning routine usually involves books, writing and meditation of some sort. I try to read first thing in the morning to get it out of the way because unless it is for research purposes, it’s HIGHLY unlikely that I will pick up any book whatsoever later in the afternoon or evening after my day gets started and filled with other tasks.  Do you have a productivity hack that helps you get things done? Maybe other A-Z participants can try it to figure out if the hack might work for their lifestyle needs.

Providing handy lifestyle hacks to your readers will save you time on writing and publishing blog posts. That time saved could then be spent visiting your fellow participating blogs on the A-Z Challenge list. Happy blogging!

Have YOU decided on a theme for next year’s Blogging from A-Z Challenge yet?

A-to-Z Challenge Co-Host Nicole Ayers writes about international films, Cinematography and movie goers at The Madlab Post. You can connect with her @MadlabPost on Twitter.