Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!

This Christmas week, I want to share some of my favorite Christmas lore with you. Much of this is already familiar, but I love thinking about it this time of year.

Did you know the custom of ornately decorating Christmas trees is fairly new? It was an old German custom that really took off in Victorian times when Queen Victoria married the German Prince Albert and starting decorating Christmas trees for him.

The first Victorian Christmas trees were fairly simple. Candles, glass balls, and tinsel prevailed. Back then, tinsel was a luxury reserved only for families who could afford to decorate with and dispose of precious metal. Later, foil-wrapped nuts, candied fruits, small toys and angel or star shaped cookies crept onto the trees. Soon after that Victorian ladies were creating highly embellished tasseled and beaded needlepoint ornaments for their family Christmas trees.

Do you know why we kiss under the mistletoe? I’m sure you do, but I’ll risk repeating myself. It’s a legend connected to an old Scandinavian myth. The beautiful hero-god Balder was killed by an arrow made of mistletoe. His mother the Norse Goddess Frigga was so distraught, she wept over the mistletoe until it bloomed with white berries in the heart of winter, a miracle. Her love and compassion brought Balder back to life. In gratitude for this miracle, she promised to kiss and bless all who stood under the mistletoe.

Did you know the original Saint Nicholas was a wealthy, Turkish, only child orphaned by the plague in 300 AD? He became a priest at the very young age of seventeen and began to give his wealth away to the poor, especially children. He was rumored to surprise people by tossing bags of gold coins down the chimney or lobbing coins through open windows hoping they would fall in the stocking hung in front of the fireplace to dry… Sound familiar?

He later became a Catholic Bishop and also a saint. This is why some early artwork depicts Saint Nicholas dressed in flowing Papal robes and miter. He was also strongly associated with the Catholic Church and when the Protestant Reformation came to England “Saint Nic” went underground. A new “Gift-Giver” and Father Christmas figure arose, but this Gift-Giver wore a suit of breeches and tunic not unlike the long beloved “Green-Man” of Celtic mythology.

The familiar name “Santa Claus” is actually an American corruption of the Dutch name for Father Christmas, which was “Sinterklaas”.

This season, no matter what faith you are, and regardless of how you may or may not celebrate the winter holidays, be conscious of the fact we are passing through history together and adding to the richness of the human story. The harshness of winter is a wonderful time to share our love and light with each other.

Merry Christmas and happy winter holidays to all.

XXOO Kat

Cerise sings #Santa, Cutie with these writer/reader lyrics!

I can’t sing worth a plug nickel. So I do it in private in my office when no one can hear me bray.

One song I love is this one where a woman asks The Man With the Bag for a few items she would love to hold dear.

What I hold dear are my readers, others novels and my hope to write more of my own works next year.

Hope you love my lyrics.

And happy holidays to all of you!

Best,

Cerise

(And for those of you who’d like to read Cerise’s bestselling Santa, Cutie, here are the cover and buy links:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/ssT5GL.
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-santacutie-652955-166.html

Cerise’s Santa, Cutie song:

Santa cutie, slip a million novels ‘neath the tree for me;

I’m a fast reader, honest, Santa cutie.

So hurry down my chimney tonight.

Santa cutie, I need no new convertible, true. Mine’s blue.

I'll write romances for you; Santa cutie.

So hurry down my chimney tonight.

Think of all my readers in bliss;

Think of all my men who’ve earned hot chicks to kiss;

Next year I’ll write just as much, if you check off my Christmas list.

Santa cutie, I’ve really no need for yacht. Next to that, not a lot.

Been hard-working all year; Santa cutie.

So hurry down my chimney tonight.

Santa honey, one little thing I really do need...

The deed…to a swell Paris pad, Santa baby.

So hurry down my chimney tonight.

Santa cutie, fill my stocking with first class air and new specs;

To complement my research on sex, Santa cutie,

and hurry down my chimney tonight.

Come and trim my Christmas tree…with wide Mac screen and a stirred martini;

I honestly believe in you.

Let's see if you believe in me.

Santa, cutie, I love you all year round.

That statement is sound.

Santa cutie,

So hurry down my chimney tonight!

Tonight!

Hurry down my chimney tonight!

* * *

P.S. My view from my apartment in Paris this past October. Love it.

Visit me at http://www.cerisedeland.com and my blog (with views of her recent research trip to Paris! http://cerisedeland.blogspot.com

Celebrate the Holiday with a Christmas Spanking

I have a Christmas special up on Kindle and B&N – Get Unwrapped for only .99!


I have to thank Jackman for this beautiful cover! :o)

Blurb:

Meg Trainor has one wish for Christmas every year: Two men who will fulfill all her fantasies.

Santa's in a giving mood this year.

Brothers and co-owners of Turquoise Toys, Brad and Shane Griffin will give her a Christmas she'll never forget.

Gifts of glee!

Gifts I give myself for Christmas.

Hot fudge sauce I dare not make any other time of year for fear of overdose. I make it for my friends, too. (Today, I am making 3 batches. Hmmm. Sample, anyone? Here's your spoon.)

Home made pasta. Takes for damn-ever to do. Melts in your mouth. Like butter. The greatest lasagna this English-German girl ever made.

No tree. Ten minute house decoration! Of course, this is mainly because we have no little people living with us any longer. All our "little" ones are Big Ones. They get their own trees. We Admire.

Fewer Christmas cards. Oh, joy to the world. Our friends get phone calls, we get dinner or lunch out with them, long emails and no Christmas letters of summaries of the year past. We figure if we know you, you know what we did last year. We probably did it with you! And what you don't know? Won't hurt you.

Since in our family, we have in the space of 20 days, Christmas, Wedding Anniversary, New Year's and a Child's Birthday Jan 1, plus one more Birthday later, by mid-January, our goose is cooked. We look on January as R&R.

Hubbie and I also give ourselves great wine to go with our carefully planned and jointly executed dinners this time of year. (Which come to think of it is becoming every night, any way!) Great wine means not the most expensive, but not the cheapest either. We'll do $15-$40 per bottle. You get to live another day, you get an education on what goes with what. With the not so pricey stuff, you get Headaches. They are not worth it. And bad wine tastes like crap and isn't worth the few $$$ we might spend on them.

The other thing I have learned to give myself is freedom in the stores. I go to the mall or stores by 10 a.m. at the latest. Me and the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker. We know what we want and we have the time and tendency to smile at each other at that hour. Plus all the drinkers are either re-cuperating or haven't begun yet. The roads are clear of traffic, too.

Food, wine, peace of mind.

What do you give yourself for the holidays?

It’s December 1^st and the runaway train rushing toward the winter holidays has begun its down-the-mountain cannonball assault on my work schedule, energy and budget.

Every year I vow to stay on track and not let things get out of control but somehow they always do.

Why can’t I keep it simple? I don’t know why!

As December kicks in I start thinking about all the terrific memories I could be creating for my family. I say yes to every holiday activity flung far or wide, volunteer time I don’t have and get too involved with too many things. I know I’m not alone in this. I see a lot of other stressed women doing the same thing.

Then I realize the new year is just around the corner, and my personal ambitions kick into high gear. It’s time to go to the gym and really get back in shape so I can pull up the zipper on a nice New Year’s Eve dress… I'll fantasize about it. This is ridiculous because most New Year’s Eves we stay home and I don’t own a New Year’s dress.

Then my mind wanders towards the possibility of getting a new book finished. The thought of turning in a new book is so invigorating I begin to fantasize about finishing two books… I did that last year and I really enjoyed the challenge. This year it makes no sense at all, yet I still think I should be doing it because I associate it so strongly with last year’s holiday season and the great sense of accomplishment it brought.

The holidays just seem to bring out my crazed side that lays dormant most of the year. 

I seem to crave exhaustion or testing the limits and that’s not what the holidays are about.

This season I really am going to try to stay sane and not pressure myself so badly. Holiday activities and time spent with loved ones are going to be my “Big Ticket Gifts” to myself.

If a few things don’t get done—so be it.  

If a WIP gets finished, hooray, but if I don’t, I won’t push it.

Brave words we’ve yet to see if I can do any of it. 

Does anybody else have a few dirty little self-imposed holiday stresses they would like to confess? Come on, I know a few of you are already shedding tears over making handmade gifts, turning your living rooms in Elven villages or that upcoming, over-ambitious cookie exchange at the boss’ house…confess! lol

XXOO Kat

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

This is me on Christmas morning. I've been this way since I knew what Christmas and Santa were. My parents would sleep and I'd sneak out to the tree, stack all the presents in neat little piles for the three of us and wait. Like a good little child I'd check out all the cool stuff Santa brought, peek in my stocking, and anticipate what was wrapped.

As a new parent some twenty-two years ago I couldn't wait for my son to wake me up on Christmas morning all excited because Santa arrived while he was sleeping. That never happened! While most parents beg their kids for another hour - I always had to wake mine up. Not that they weren't excited about the holiday, they're just heavy sleepers. I'm hoping the grandbaby and new baby are different! LOL Either way I'll be up at the crack of dawn waiting!

This year I'm blessed with a house full of children again. Hope this holiday season finds you healthy, happy and full of many blessings!

What to Do With Triplet Sexy Hunks!

photo rockshots.com

My blogs this month will all be fun ones and feature hunks.

Work with me on this one. Fantasize that these are Christmas triplet hunks that I got as a present.

Hmm. What could they do for me? They look strong enough to do any heavy lifting I need done. Cheerful enough to keep me in a good mood. Just the right amount of clothing to catch my attention...you did notice the Santa hat and jingle bells hanging down their legs, right? How about the socks?

Or, did you just concentrate on the cute, red undies?

Maybe I could have one clean my house, one cook for me, and one... You get the idea. Being triplets, wouldn't they all give me the same satisfying service? Think about the fun I'll have, rotating them and their jobs.

But, who do I start with first? Sigh. Decisions, decisions.

I've never written a book about triplets, but these guys are giving me LOTS of ideas! Think about the women...or woman...they could satisfy.

Three at once. Could you handle that? Wanna try? If so, ask Santa for your own set of triplets. I think I'll keep these three!

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