It's Not Just New Year's --It's the 8th Day of Christmas!

Did you know Christmas has really just begun? Today, Dec. 26, is only the second day of The Twelve Days of Christmas, according to the traditional church calendar, established in Medieval times.

So how about celebrating with me? "The Peaks at the Edge of the World" Trilogy is on what's called a Kindle Countdown. Beginning at 8 a.m. Pacific time on Dec. 28, the price is only 99 cents--for the entire trilogy! The price will go up by one dollar increments through January 2, and return to its original price of $7.99 at 8 a.m. on Jan. 3. This deal is for Kindle only.
BUT once you've got the Trilogy, you can get the sequel, Book 4--"When the World Grows Cold" for Kindle FREE on Jan. 1 & 2 to welcome in the New Year.

As the old song goes, "Fast away the old year passes...Hail the new, ye lads and lasses, Fa la la la la...lol
By the way, the 12th day of Christmas is January 5...

Winter is Officially Here!

December 21 - Arrival of the Winter Solstice

8:35 a.m. local Montana time: the sun is officially up, but hidden in clouds, of course. We greet the Winter Solstice with four inches of fluffy, beautiful snow--it's a winter wonderland-for now...and now the daylight hours last a minute or two longer each day- the Dragon hasn't swallowed the sun (or is it Son?) Check out Revelation chapter12, for the symbolism of this.

I find I'm using a lot of this kind of spiritual symbology in my books. It runs through the myths and tales of nearly all ancient cultures--interesting... sometimes it's some other fearsome creature. And sometimes there's an unlikely hero who rescues the light-like the Raven in some native Alaskan tales.

Time to get ready for the ultimate winter journey in the Peaks Saga - BOOK FOUR:  "WHEN THE WORLD GROWS COLD".  If you haven't read the first three books, you can still get them at LOW Kindle prices of $2.99  And through Sunday, 12/23 Book Three is FREE.

Merry Christmas!

Counting Down to the Winter Solstice

Some of you may have noticed that I've been counting down to the Winter Solstice on my Facebook Page for the past month.  And it's almost here.  My first step in setting up my very own circle of standing stones!

Meanwhile, you can also get FREE deals on my first "Peaks Saga" books to celebrate Winter:
OKAY, THE FINAL COUNTDOWN IS HERE! Between now and the Winter Solstice, you can get my first three books FREE for Kindle, on the following dates:
Book One: Finding the Light - Dec. 13-14
Book Two: Searching for Maia - Dec. 16-18
Book Three: Mountaintops & Valleys - Dec. 20-22

Then you'll be really ready for Winter--and you can move on to Book 4: When the World Grows Cold ( how's that for a wintery title?)...

Anybody out there know how to say "Merry Christmas" in Latin?   It's 'Io Saturnalia' !

Let's Get Online

We are in the middle of blizzard right now.  I get tired of fighting the crowds and the weather, trying to do Christmas shopping.  Seems I have spent a lot of my life living in remote places, too.  I used to tease my husband that we always lived 60 miles from anywhere!

Before the Internet, I did a lot of catalog shopping, and I still do that occasionally.  But increasingly I find that I do more on-line shopping.  Especially since I got my Kindle.

Speaking of Kindle, watch the Kindle store for Free download offers this month.  I am going to put each book of "The Peaks at the Edge of the World" saga on sale at some point.

Right now it's the newest one, "When the World Grows Cold"  --now that's an appropriate title for what the weather is doing here right now--can't you tell I wrote most of this book in winter?  Well, you'll know if you read it...

The Long Road to the Sequel

When I started "The Peaks at the Edge of the World" my goal was to write a Trilogy, and I did.  But then some more really unusual ideas occurred to me, and I just had to press on.  I'd barely published the Trilogy when I started on Book Four, which I called "When the World Grows Cold"

As it turned out I put a lot more labor and time into this book than I expected.  Now it's almost two years later, and finally, I have it where I want it.

It is set about 25 years farther along in time than the Trilogy, so it's about the next generation, Jon and Martina's descendants.  Thought some of the main character from the original Trilogy are still around.  There is a really strange time-travel twist that I think readers will find intriguing.

And just in case anyone is wondering, I have started Book Five, too!

Big Brother Is Still With Us

Well, almost 30 years have passed since the year 1984--the time setting of George Orwell's iconic book--he wrote it in 1948, by the way, and just transposed the numbers--so a legend was born.  And few in the world don't know the significance of the year and the term Big Brother (not to be confused with the 'reality show').

Now as we approach 2014, I feel there is no doubt that some form of Big Brother is watching. Subconsciously, I think we all know it, unless we live under a rock or in a secret cave somewhere.  (For my take on this, check out my next book, "When the World Grows Cold"!)  Most of the time, though, we try to keep the thought out of our minds.

Here's a little illustration:  About 2 months ago, my husband bought a kayak at a local sporting goods store, using a nationally-known credit card.  A few weeks later, he went to a local branch of a national hardware chain and bought some cord and a small block and tackle set, so he could rig up a way to store the kayak suspended from our garage ceiling, for the winter.  He thinks he used the same credit card to pay.

That's the only connection between the two purchases, and I was not with him either time--the credit card is in his name.  This morning I got a 'special offer' in my email from Amazon--for a kayak storage hoist!  My husband's name is not on this Amazon account--he doesn't even have one.  How did they put all this together?  Creepy, huh?

We might as well accept the fact that there is no personal privacy now that nearly everyone is carrying some kind of access to the "Worldwide Web" in their pocket.  Hmm--'web' makes me think of spiders--and they give me the creeps, too!   We're probably all walking around with little cursor squares on our heads, persons of interest to someone.

So what happens next?  I don't know.  But I've done some fictional speculation in my book series, "The Peaks at the Edge of the World".  Book 4, When the World Grows Cold, will be released by the end of this month.  And guess where you can check out the entire series?  Amazon.com, of course!  The computers rule...

Book Four is nearly in print!

Had a great evening at the Whitefish Library Montana Authors open house. Sold two books of "The Peaks Trilogy". Met lots of interesting people, and saw a few old friends. Have decided to get more involved in the local writers group.

THE next book in the PEAKS Series is coming soon-  Book Four:  "When the World Grows Cold"
Hit like or post a comment if you would like to be the first to know! Also to be notified of freebies and specials.  Check Amazon. com  -- it will be on Kindle Select, and there will also be specials on the first three books, too...