Happy Holidays... Mostly

I have complicated emotions around the holidays. Not all holidays, of course. For instance, I love Valentine's, no holds barred and White Day (a Japanese semi-equivalent of Valentine’s Day, more on that in a future post) is a high favorite on my list. No, the ones I have issues with tend to be Christian holidays. Specifically, because I'm not Christian anymore, which means that most of my feelings on them are more complex than whether or not I enjoy it or believe in it.

I won't be getting into why I changed religions here. I didn't change my beliefs because paganism is better or because there was anything wrong with Christianity. For me, asking why someone follows a specific religion is like asking why someone chose blue as their favorite color instead of yellow. One clearly fits better on a personal level. My experience doesn't invalidate yours, any more than your experiences would invalidate mine. They’re different and that’s okay.

So, why do I bring this up? Well because Christmas is the one holiday that I feel invested in, regardless of the fact that I'm not Christian anymore. It was a part of me, ever since I was a child. Being born only three days before Christmas essentially meant that as I grew up, that was simply part of my holidays. The two were connected. Add to that my inherent love of pageantry and you can see where I lost everything.

Still, for a few years after changing my religion, I was adamant. My tree was a Solstice tree, gifts were Solstice gifts. We celebrate Solstice, not Christmas. Despite that dedication, there were some things I just couldn’t seem to shake the habit on and therefore kept or adapted and traditions from other places that I’ve stolen to add to our own celebrations. So, what does this end up meaning?

Well, it means that my winter holidays tend to end up a bit muddy.

I love Christmas songs, even if I’m more fond of the modern songs than I am of the classics. They get added to my music list usually on December 1^st. I set up a Christmas tree every year (since I never remember to call it a solstice tree), crowned by a blue/silver angel that my husband and I found and loved, despite my preferences towards wanting a star (to stand in for the Sun). I give gifts throughout the season to friends and all of my family gifts on the 24^th. After that, things start getting odder.

I love Santa Claus but prefer to go with the ‘history’ as coined by L. Frank Baum in the Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (where he’s a human raised by fey who gives gifts to children) and he delivers gifts whatever and whenever your winter celebration is. December 25^th is a dedicated non-work day, usually devoted to reading and playing video games. We will usually order Chinese food for dinner. I say Happy Holidays, rather than Merry Christmas, to people and I support service staff not being forced to say Merry Christmas to everyone (happy holidays will suffice if the company insists). I give all of my friends and family books and snacks for Jolabokaflod rather than giving Christmas gifts, unless I have no money and then I make art for them. We honor the Jólakötturinn (the Yule Cat) and make certain that every year both my husband and I receive something made of cloth (blankets, socks, and scarfs are common gifts). We celebrate the Solstice (this year on the 21^st) and the return of the sun on the twelfth day after that (usually celebrated on the first of January because we’re more likely to have it off) as the first day you really notice the longer days.

Yes, it is kinda weird to say "Merry Book Exchange" but I've been
using it in holiday cards for too long to change now.

So yeah, that is my muddy, nostalgia-filled holidays. Do you celebrate any holidays this time of year? If so, what and how do you celebrate it? Do you take traditions from multiple sources or are you still doing things the exact same way your parents did it? I know we have a lot of readers from the southern hemisphere, so I’ll be excited to hear what differences there are among us.

All the ART!

And yet, nothing I can share in pictures yet! It's so frustrating. 

Since I don't have a job this year, I knew that I would be art-ing all of the gifts this year. Which is awesome until I realized that I only had a few weeks to make those gifts. Fortunately, I'm nearly done now. Arting is the right word, too! I have a few pictures painted with ink and watercolour, I have a few gifts made of resin, and more than a few acrylic pour canvases done (a style that I seem to have a natural gift in). In addition to that, I've also done a canvas painting for myself (it's adorable, but I don't know if it matches anyone's aesthetic but mine). 

Not the drawing I was talking about, but a picture I took a few weeks ago.

What does this mean? It means I have very little to show off for all this work. At least, until after the holidays, when I can ask people if they mind me sharing pictures later. 

I've also been editing. I got my work back from my editor on the 10th and spent a couple days reading it over and thinking about the changes she suggested. Now, I'm going through the biggest problem area she suggested and I'm working out what it's doing and what I need to change. She's suggested a rather large rewrite, but I want to see exactly what needed before I commit to that suggestion. 

What does all this mean? Well, firstly it means that I've been trying to avoid editing and succeeding. It also means that now that I'm actually working on it, it is getting done now. I'm hoping to have a full idea of what changes are required before the 25th and hopefully a full idea of exactly what rewrites will be required before my next post on the 27th. 

I will also cheer in getting another review as an early X-mas gift! I'm up to 4 on Goodreads, as well as three up on Amazon (over the different countries and locations). Hopefully, I'll get even more before Lord's Curse is released! I was so excited I made this for it!

As a final aside, I'll wish of you lovely readers a Happy Holidays, no matter what you celebrate this time of year. I'm personally very excited to have Solstice and Jolabokaflud happening this week. I don't know if I'll be able to afford a new book specifically for it, but I do have a few new books that I haven't had a chance to read yet, so one of those will probably have to do. 

Have any of you bought a new book for your friends/family for Jolabokaflud yet? Which books did you buy for them, if you did?

A Mis-Binding of Epic Proportions Makes for a Cool Gift

          Hello, Hello everyone! I hope that you've had a rocking holiday so far. I have been busy with family, shopping, getting ready for the holidays and, of course, editing my novel. And for the first time in a very long time, I can say I'm finished. Literally, all I need to do now is to give it a quick read through, to make sure that all of my changes work well and then it will be ready to go. I think I have a title now, so I'll probably be ordering a cover in the next four or five days. Which means I should be able to start sharing hints of it in the next week or so! I am super excited. 

          That said, this will be a super quick update so that I can get back to work. I've been working on some artwork over the holidays, and it's all turning out really well. I got some really kickass books to read as well as one book I'm keeping with the weirdest error I've ever seen before. The book is labelled and covered as Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare, but the actual book inside is Stephen King's 11/22/63. I could return it and pick up an un-erred copy of the novel, but I totally think I'm going to keep this one and see if I can get it signed by both authors. 

          Oh, my Jolabokaflod gift for this year was Jade City by Fonda Lee. I remember that a friend of mine, Calvin Jim, had mentioned it during a panel at last year's When Words Collide on Asian fiction. I can't remember exactly what he said, but I remember being super interested in reading it and so I was exceptionally pleased to receive it. I gave my husband a hardcover of John Scalzi's Old Man's War. He seems to be enjoying it so far. I can't wait to start mine, but I'm about a quarter way into a re-read of Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan right now, so I have to finish that up first. 

          Okay, with that said, I'm going to sign out now and start editing. Reading should only take two to three days at most and then I'll be able to start doing things like giving you guys dates for release and cover reveals and fun stuff like that. 

          In the meantime, tell me what your favourite gift was, or what books you got or gave this season that you were excited about and why? Or perhaps a story of misprints you've found in a book? 

Jolabokaflod!

      First off, I'm certain some of you are wondering what the hell that word above is. It's the name for an Icelandic holiday that I have begun celebrating in recent years. It translates roughly as "Christmas Book Flood" and the idea is that on December 24th you give friends and family a new book and chocolate. You are then supposed to spend the rest of the evening, warm in your bed, with chocolate at your side and begin reading your new book. It is a  huge thing over there... all of their new book releases tend to be released from September to December just to make the most of this holiday. Also, when they buy books, they don't go cheap. Hardcovers are the preferred gift here and I assume they get snazzy about their chocolate too, though don't quote me on the last.

      Now I've changed that a bit in my own gift giving. For instance, I tend to give softcovers or hardcovers, and the books aren't always newly released. I do my best to not give books out that I haven't read, though it does happen on occasion. I do that so that we can chat about the books once they're done reading it... it's a guaranteed conversation starter later that year. I am also not hung up on giving chocolate. I prefer caramel or salty snacks to chocolate, so I tend to try and give people their preferred snacks (as an example, I gave out small bags of Kernels Christmas flavour popcorn this year and everyone seemed super pleased). But everyone I know gets a book and snack to enjoy.

      Unfortunately, Jolabokaflod is over this year already, but I figured I'd share with you the books that I was given as gifts or that I picked up for myself as part of my Yule book buying binge. I stress that these are in no particular order.

      Firstly, I received Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I've read the Harry Potter books and while they aren't favourites of mine (I was already over 20 years old when they were released), I do quite enjoy the series so I'll be looking forward to reading this one later this year.

      Next is a super fun and nerdy book called Wordsmiths & Warriors: The English-Language Tourist's Guide to Britain by David and Hilary Crystal. This book is exactly what it sounds like. A look at Britain through the very specific lens of the Warriors who fought for Britain and its poets, writers, ect that helped shape its culture. As a language buff who loves weapons, I can't image a better book for me. Really looking forward to this one.

      Next are three books I bought myself. I am a big fan of the Log Horizon anime and I love the light novels they're coming out with to accompany them, so when I found out that Log Horizon had a set, I picked them up. Last year, I picked up books 1-3 and quite enjoyed them, but then I didn't hear anything else about them until this Christmas when I found books 4-6 gracing the shelves. Needless to say, I picked up all three for myself. I already re-read the first book in the series to prepare for the new set!

      Monstress Volume 1 is a graphic novel that I picked up earlier this year in digital form, but had never finished reading it. A friend of mine picked it up for me in paper copy and I finished it within a day. It's well-written, it has interesting characters and the art is really nice. If you're looking for a good graphic novel to read, you can't go wrong with this one. I think I gave it 4/5 stars on Goodreads.

      Lastly, there's another gift, The Fox & the Peach by Nick Thaler. A YA novel about a kitsune who is being hunted during the time of Oda Nobunga's reign in Japan, I started this one just a few days ago and am quite enjoying it so far. I was really excited to start this one since its a book about a kitsune that I hadn't heard of yet! That is always a pick me up!

      I'll leave you with my personal New Year tradition. Every year, I head to the bookstore on the 31rst or the 1st and buy myself one book. That book must fit three critia to be bought. One is that I must enjoy the cover art. Two, I must find the idea of the book interesting. Three, I must have never read anything written by that author before. Basically, it's like a blind date with a book and makes sure every year I am giving at least one new (to me) author a go. Sometimes I find authors who aren't my thing, and sometimes I find new favourites. The point is that I'm always trying something new for the new year.

      Do you have any bookish traditions? What do you think of the books I got? Either way, let me know and I hope you have a great New Year!