A Curious Statistical Anomaly

When I was offered the opportunity to have Sharon Lathan write a guest blog – I did happy dance about the office. Then I began to think of what topic to ask her to write about. I tried to come up with something erudite and not something she’d answered a million times already. But, you know what? In the end, I simply asked the question that had been rolling around in the back of my mind. It’s the same one that I ask myself. Why do I feel drawn to this couple? Why do I read and reread Pride and Prejudice? So, I asked:

What got you started on writing follow-on stories for Elizabeth and Darcy from Pride and Prejudice? What drew you to these characters as opposed to say the sisters in Sense and Sensibilities or and of the couples in Austen’s other stories.

Hanging Out With The Darcys by Sharon Lathan

“Once upon a time..” is a phrase naturally associated with fairy tales and legends rather than real life happenings a mere five years ago, yet for me I already connect the phrase with how I began writing. Somehow the initial days and months feel like the stuff of myth rather than logical steps. Like the heroine on a written page my journey began simply when I walked into a movie theater to watch the 2005 cinema adaptation of Pride and Prejudice as directed by Joe Wright and starring Keira Knightley as Lizzy Bennet and Matthew Macfadyen as Mr. Darcy. The story was entirely new to me, I being largely a Jane Austen virgin at the time. Much like a literary heroine, emotions overtook me. Passion surged and curiosity raged! I was insatiable in my desire to learn more of Jane Austen, this story and these characters, the Regency Era, history in general, and so on.

Events snowballed and before I hardly knew what was happening I was writing a sequel. Wait, didn’t Mr. Darcy say something similar in regards to his love for Elizabeth? What was it again?

“I cannot fix on the hour or the spot or the look or the words which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.”

Yes, that sums it up well. Thank you Mr. Darcy! Just as our favorite hero was lost amid the throes of passionate love before he admitted it to himself, so was I. This story had captured my heart in a way no other story ever had. These characters were real, viscerally embedded within my soul, speaking inside my head. Rather frightening I suppose, but I wasted no time fretting over it. I simply sat down and started typing and researching and typing some more. It was heaven!

Later, especially after curious folks began asking me the questions of why and what, I tried to narrow it down. I am not sure if I have ever adequately explained why this story so mesmerized me. I am not sure if any artist can logically explain their creative inspiration. But I have tried to step aside – so to speak – and look at it objectively.

Everyone loves Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet! Sure the other characters who inhabit Austen’s wonderful novels are adored and appreciated, and some are even favored over Lizzy and Darcy, but there is little dispute that these lovers rank highest. Readers delight in Lizzy’s wit, spunk, personality, bravery, humanness, independence, etc. Readers swoon over the handsome, honorable, intelligent, misunderstood, and, yes, rich Mr. Darcy. For two centuries these two have provided joy to millions of readers, their love and infatuation similar to mine. Certainly in my case the visual of the movie spurred and enhanced my inspiration, but Colin Firth fans have experienced that for over a decade so nothing new in that regard!

I have often wondered if it also comes down to timing. Being in the right place at the right time in my life for the unrealized creative spark buried deep inside to be kindled. Honestly I do think that has something to do with it, but I also do not think the fire would have burst forth from any other story. At least it never had!

In truth I prefer to keep it a mystery. I know how this passion makes me feel and for once this clinically minded gal is content to ignore her obsessive need to figure out every puzzle. Maybe someday another Austen character or story will hit me in the same way. For the present I am fine with hanging out with the Darcys. They are quite hospitable!

Now, if you are up for a treat, here is an excerpt from The Trouble With Mr. Darcy. Enjoy!

“He is quite active at this moment.”

Her whispered words broke into the silence, momentarily halting the fingers trailing over her hipbone. Eagerly they altered their random path, purposefully brushing along her inner thigh until reaching the swell above. As she said, the baby was moving with gentle nudges against his palm.

“Hmm… Wonderful. You continually say ‘he’ as if sure of the sex. Another vivid dream as with Alexander?”

“No. Not this time. More of a feeling.”

“Ah, a feeling. So scientific.” He accented his tease with a tiny pinch.

“As scientific as my dream, but that proved true.”

“Very well then. I suppose that means we do not have to assign a female name, and since Alexander was instantly agreed upon, we have a task on our hands. Any choices? Do you wish to name him after your father?”

“Thomas? Perhaps, although we could reserve it as a secondary name after your father’s. James should be chosen before Thomas.”

“I do want to pay homage to my father if possible, yes. However, I do want to add Charles as a secondary name as well, if you do not mind? He is a dear friend and instrumental in my meeting you.” He gently drew her away from his chest, attempting to see her eyes in the dark, but to no avail so he kissed her instead, his fingertips flittering over her most sensitive zones while maintaining contact with their unborn child.

“How sweet,” she said once her mouth was released. “Charles is mutually agreed upon. So, we have numerous secondary name choices but nothing for the Christian name. Do you have a favorite?”

“I have always liked Nathaniel. And Adam. Not common, I know, but nice names.”

“Possible. What do you think of Gabriel? Lisle’s son is Gabriel and it struck me as pleasant.”

Suddenly Darcy chuckled. “Gabriel, Thomas, Nathaniel, Adam. I think we are cornering Biblical names!”

“Indeed,” she joined his laughter. “Of course, if we have this many babies you alluded to last night, we may work our way through the entire Bible. Just do not ask for Methuselah. I draw the line there.”

“Does that mean Shadrach and Meshach are eliminated? And no on Potiphar or Boaz?”

She shook with laughter and a fair dose of arousal now that his fingers had crept to the apex between her legs and were confounding her senses with their antics. “Absolutely not! I have no urge to torture our son with a hideous name. What say we remain in the realm of non-ridiculing names like Matthew or Daniel or Michael…”

“Michael,” Darcy interrupted, although Lizzy’s voice had paused on the name. Even his fingers had ceased moving, a fact Lizzy did not initially register as she too was dwelling on the name. “That has a nice ring. Michael. Michael Darcy. Michael Charles Darcy. What do you think?” He tried vainly to see her eyes, but the room was still too dark. He felt her gaze upon his face, the gap of inches separating allowing him to feel her exhaled breaths. Somehow he knew she was smiling.

“I love it. Yes, very much. It does not have to be definitively settled as yet, but… It fits for some inexplicable reason. Michael Darcy.”

“Michael Darcy. Yes. At least the choice for the present and much better than Methuselah. Shall we seal it with a kiss, Mrs. Darcy?”

About the Author: Sharon Lathan is the author of the bestselling novels Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One, Loving Mr. Darcy: Journeys Beyond Pemberley, My Dearest Mr. Darcy and In The Arms of Mr. Darcy. Sharon also wrote a novella as part of an anthology with Amanda Grange and Carolyn Eberhart, A Darcy Christmas. In addition to her writing, she works as a Registered Nurse in a Neonatal ICU. She resides with her family in Hanford, California in the sunny San Joaquin Valley. For more information, please visit www.sharonlathan.net. Come to Austen Authors – www.austenauthors.com where Sharon and twenty other authors of Austen fiction blog together.

Sharon Lathan’s newest book:

The Trouble With Mr. Darcy by Sharon Lathan
Sourcebooks Landmark ISBN 1402237545

Even charmed lives will encounter troubles along the way….

After a time of happiness and strife, Darcy and Elizabeth gather with family and friends in Hertfordshire to celebrate the wedding of Kitty Bennet. Georgiana Darcy returns from a lengthy tour of the Continent with happy secrets to share, accompanied by the newlywed Colonel Fitzwilliam and Lady Simone, who may have secrets of their own. The stage is set for joy until the party is upset by the arrival of the long absent Mr. and Mrs. Wickham.

Wickham’s jealousy and resentment of Darcy has grown steadily throughout the years and Darcy rightly suspects that Wickham is up to no good. Darcy enlists the aid of Colonel Fitzwilliam to keep an eye on Wickham’s activity, but neither anticipate the extreme measures taken to exact his revenge. Nor do they fathom the layers of deception and persons involved in the scheme.

George Wickham returns to Hertfordshire bent on creating trouble, and Elizabeth and her son are thrown into danger. Knowing that Wickham has nothing left to lose, Darcy and Fitzwilliam rush to the rescue in a race against time. This lushly romantic story takes a turn for the swashbuckling when Mr. Darcy has to confront the villainous Wickham and his own demons at the same time… devoted as he is, what battles within will Mr. Darcy have to face?

It has been a heck of a chaotic, and hectic, and every other descriptive word you can think of, month. Holidays, conventions, and family issues have taken up more time that one would think since there’s always 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week and the usual number of days in the month.

So where does the time go? I’ve been reading and writing like crazy all month and now it’s a matter of getting all the database records proofed and their status changed, getting them ready to go live tomorrow night at midnight (or rather midnight where our servers are). The new issues will definitely be available online December 1st.

Meanwhile, it’s back to work.

As those of you who read this blog regularly know, I’m the chairperson of Capclave 2010. Capclave is the Washington Science Fiction Association’s annual convention, held this year in Rockville, Maryland. Our guests of honor this year are Connie Willis, Ann VanderMeer, and Jeff VanderMeer. There will also be many other guests — writers, editors, publishers, and of course fans of speculative fiction in all its various designations.

One of the things that we’re very proud of this year is the number and quality of the workshops we’ll be offering to participants. If you are registered to attend Capclave, there is no extra charge for being in a workshop, but space is limited and some have requirements (homework that’s due at the time of the workshop or before you arrive in the case of the VanderMeer workshop).

If you are already a member of Capclave and wish to sign up for one or more of these workshops, send email to workshops at capclave dot org (you know how to parse that email address I’m sure). If you haven’t signed up for the convention yet, check out the website and sign up then send your email asking listing the workshop you wish to be in.

Here’s the full list of workshops:

Workshops at Capclave:
Capclave 2010 is pleased to once again host a number of interesting workshops. Space is still available. If you are interested, send an e-mail to our workshop coordinator.

Online Content Workshop
Putting your comics, music, video, and fiction online is easy. Making it pay is harder, but it can be done. Join webcomic creator and comedy musician Rob Balder as he talks about making a living with the free content model. Get practical advice (feel free to bring a laptop/tablet and samples of your stuff) and work out a specific strategy for growing and monetizing an audience around your work. Two hour workshop.

Plotting Workshop
What makes a story a story? How do you construct a viable plot from a bare (naked) idea? We’ll start at the beginning, and by the end, you should have everything you need to know to plot your story. Allen Wold will lead this 2 hour session.

Reviewer’s workshop
A good reviewer does more then read free books and say “I like that”. Peter Heck, a regular reviewer for Asimov’s Science Fiction will demonstrate the hallmarks of a good review and how to create one. Bring a at least 10 copies of a review you’ve written and are proud of.

Wordsmith’s Workshop
Danny Birt will guide you through looking at writing from the perspective of the single word, and then work up from there, making sure that every word counts. This 1.5 hour workshop is good for beginners to professionals and is limited to 16 participants.

Writer’s Workshop
Allen Wold will lead a panel of authors in a hands on workshop. Learn many skills as you work on a short story. Session will be for 2 hours on Sat. and for those interested, a 1 hour follow-up on Sunday. Number of Participants is limited to 12.

Writer’s Workshop
Jeff and Ann VanderMeer will critique short stories of 12 participants. Each participant must write and submit a story of no more than 7500 words at least 2 months before Capclave (by August 22nd) to the workshop email address (workshops at capclave dot org). The story will be shared with the VanderMeers and the other participants. This will be a 2 hour workshop.

Hope your as excited about these opportunities to learn as we are to be able to offer them to our convention attendees.

Finally, and in a blaze of stress and last minute finangling, the online magazine are up.

SFReuv: science fiction and fantasy books review along with a review of Skin Horse Volume 1, and some suggestions for Hugo Nominations for short form.

Gumshoe Review: Has an interview with Rhys Bowen and a review of her new book, The Last Illusion. There’s also an original work of fiction, “Negative Reaction” by Lee Hammerschmidt.  Then there’s the usual assortment of reviews.
Check them out and I hope you enjoy them.

A Contest: The Sourcebooks, the publisher of Mr. Darcy’s Great Escape, is willing to support a giveaway for the US and Canadian readers of this interview. Leave a comment on the post and I will chose a random comment author on Sunday February 7th. I’ll contact the winner to get their snail mail address. Winner will receive one set of three books in the Darcys and Bingleys series).

Marsha Altman continues the story of The Darcys and the Bingleys in Mr. Darcy’s Great Escape, bringing us to 1812. This is book three of the series following The Darcys and the Bingleys and The Plight of the Darcy Brothers. The books are a delight, continuing the lives of some of literature favorite characters Elizabeth Bennet Darcy and Fitzwilliam Darcy. One reviewer said that “that [these books] would please even Jane Austen.” The more I read about Austen’s wit and humor, the more I do believe that she would appreciate Marsha Altman’s continuation of the story.

It may be Mr. Darcy’s Great Escape but you gave the women a very big role this time. Just how much fun was it to pair up the unlikely duo of Elizabeth and Caroline?

Marsha: A lot of fun, but also a little tricky. Even though nine years have passed since the events of Pride and Prejudice, these women still haven’t completely warmed to each other. Elizabeth is still witty and stubborn, and Caroline has to retain a certain edge to her for her to remain Caroline Bingley, even if she’s now Caroline Maddox. It’s not my attempt to make these characters unrecognizable, even if they do evolve significantly as they go through milestones in their lives, particularly marriage and children. Nor was it appropriate to have them constantly sniping at each other, because their journey was very serious. So I had to find a kind of balance there. Darcy and Dr. Maddox actually have more time to bicker, because they have few ways to pass the time while they’re waiting to be rescued.

So much of this resonated with Bram Stoker’s Dracula only without the vampires but with all the Gothic scariness. There’s even a ninja. Did you intend such a homage? Or am I just seeing a connection you didn’t intend?

Marsha: Just a straight-out correction here: There are two vampires in this story. The book just never says it outright, but the hints are hidden in the details. They reappear in other literature I’ve written that’s not Pride and Prejudice related and is either going to be published soon or I’m hoping will sell later this year. And there are no ninjas, only samurai (book 8 has ninjas).

The homage is entirely intentional, but more for the reader than the characters. To them, Transylvania is a place they’ve never heard of and can’t locate on a map before this story begins, except within the context of Brian Maddox having mentioned it was in Austria somewhere in the previous book. Let’s remember that Dracula by Bram Stoker wasn’t published until 1897, and that book was the formation of the modern vampire legend and its association with Transylvania, whereas previously the legends about vampires were less centralized to a place and more nebulous. Vlad the Impaler, on whom Dracula the character is supposedly based, was actually from Wallachia, not Transylvania, and his legend wasn’t widespread until the book was published. So the name “Transylvania” wouldn’t strike instant fear into the hearts of people in 1812. It would be intimidating for being so far east, beyond the known and safe world of the European Continent even if it was technically part of the Austrian Empire at the time, because of its remoteness. The fear comes from leaving familiar Regency England and traveling into a dangerous backwater area, where the “other” is the real scare, not the supernatural.
Nonetheless I chose Transylvania because it has an instant connotation for my audience, and it does have a wealthy historical tradition of folklore to draw from in the scenes that use it. When you’re in a mysterious place, it’s an easy step to be drawn into the foreboding local tales that might surround it, so it’s a simple jump from “scary count who kills people” to “vampires, witches, and warlocks.”

I should remark that this isn’t totally fair to Romanian history. Transylvania had plenty of European, cosmopolitan nobles who had encountered the Enlightenment and were beyond this nonsense (there’s one in the book), but the villains are particularly backwards to heighten the experience.

It seems with each book that Mr. Darcy has to face some of his inner devils or at least learn to broaden his view of the world and the people in it. Do you enjoy tormenting him? Have you got much more torment in store for him?

Marsha: This is as bad as it ever gets for Darcy. Seriously, I let him off easy from here on. He’s better equipped to deal with strife that involves his family lineage in future books after his experiences in this book. This book was my attempt to stretch as far as I could my interpretation of Darcy. In many circles, there are two schools of thought to explain Darcy’s actions in Pride and Prejudice – either he made his mistakes because he was “proud” and then genuinely learned from his actions and changed his characters, or he was “shy” and misinterpreted, causing multiple misinterpretations on both ends that needed to get cleared up before the right people could get married. Austen provides fodder for both explanations: Mrs. Reynolds, on Elizabeth’s visit to Pemberley, goes out of her way to proclaim that her master has always been good and kind to everyone, and Darcy admits at Rosings that he’s not good in making easy conversation with strangers, leading to the “shy” interpretation. Then you have Darcy at the end saying that he was spoiled as a child and expected only the best, leading to the “proud” interpretation. I’ve always sided with “shy” because it makes Darcy a better man – he’s not a jerk who reformed so much as someone who made bad decisions and then corrected them.

Today we have a larger understanding of people who are uncomfortable around other people, myself being one of them, and don’t have an easy time making new friendships or retaining old ones. For people like this, parties full of strangers can feel like living hell. In extreme examples, you have Social Anxiety Disorder, where people can actually develop shortness of breath in the presence of too many people, and you have medication for it. I don’t believe that these problems didn’t exist in the past, they just weren’t acknowledged or understood. I am not, for the record, diagnosing Darcy with SAD (his symptoms don’t match), but pushed to the edge as he is in this book, the darker side of whatever makes him an unsocial person comes out in full force, and coupled with a genetic predisposition you have a serious problem on your hands that tests not just him but everyone around him. It’s a pretty radical interpretation of Darcy, but I like doing new things.

It appears that Gregoire may be learning to relax a bit. You’ve taken all the characters in new directions that wouldn’t have been expected just one book ago. But, it all feels so consistent with their growth. Can you tell us in some very general terms what we might have to look forward to in future volumes?

Marsha: G-d willing, this series will keep being published by my benevolent publisher Sourcebooks, and the next book will be mostly concerned with Grégoire, and his spiritual evolution after some events force him to return to England. Grégoire is like his half-sister Georgiana in that he believes in the good in everyone, but he’s a Darcy, so that makes him stubborn as hell about the way he wants to live his life, even if it seems in direct conflict with the way a modern person (in Regency terms) should live their life. In the fourth book you also have the emerging characters of the children. George Wickham (the third), Darcy’s half-nephew, is old enough to be in University, and Geoffrey Darcy is about to leave for Eton, and Georgiana Bingley is getting ready to enter society, so the shape of their characters as adults is starting to emerge, and the parents have to take a greater hand in trying to guide them into adulthood, where potential fortune or disaster awaits depending on their behavior. When they’re little kids, you can kind of let them run around and occasionally give them instruction, but the stakes become much higher much faster in their teenage years.

The fifth book, which a lot of my readers on the internet feel is the best book so far (nobody’s had a chance to weigh in on the last book and the Velociraptor-related ending), is the one where most of the children have entered society or are about to do so, and they become instrumental to the conflict and resolution in the story. There are still a lot of young kids running around, but the main cast of the next generation has emerged as players, sometimes to their parents’ disapproval. I didn’t want to write a series where BOOM! the kids are all adults trying to get married and the adults haven’t changed except that they have more gray hair and wear glasses. Books skip ahead a few years to key events, but the evolution is steady and somewhat mapped. Nobody ever stops evolving, because people are always growing, even in their later years.

What’s been the biggest surprise about response to your series?

Marsha: That people who have not read Pride and Prejudice have read it and enjoyed it. My parents re-watched the movie and that helped them out. I really should have included a summary of Pride and Prejudice in an introduction to the first book.

Mr. Darcy’s Great Escape—in stores February 2010

Hilarious and action-packed, this installment brings the Darcy and Bingley families to the year 1812 and the intrigues of the Napoleonic Wars. Darcy and Dr. Maddox go in search of Darcy’s missing half-brother and land in a medieval prison cell.

Much to his dismay, Charles Bingley is left to hold the fort at Pemberley while his sister Caroline, Elizabeth, and Col. Fitzwilliam traverse Europe on a daring rescue. Meanwhile, Lady Catherine de Bourgh kicks up a truly shocking scandal. One never knows what might happen next between the estates of Rosings and Pemberley.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Marsha Altman is a historian specializing in Rabbinic literature in late antiquity, and an author. She is also an expert on Jane Austen sequels, having read nearly every single one that’s been written, whether published or unpublished. She has worked in the publishing industry with a literary agency and is writing a series continuing the story of the Darcys and the Bingleys. She lives in New York.

Edgar Allan Poe was born January 19, 1809. He was a writer, poet, and critic. He wrote mysteries, horror, and just plain weird stories. His poetry was often sad and/or depressing but mostly unforgettable. Classics Illustrated #4: The Raven & Other Poems has a good selection of his poetry illustrated by Gahan Wilson.

I first read many of his short stories in a collection that my grandfather let me read when I was quite young. Some of the stories kept me up at night with a flashlight for company and to keep the shadows at bay. Many people know of Poe’s writing even if they haven’t read it themselves. I doubt there are many people in the English speaking world who don’t connect raven’s with the word, “Nevermore”.

In Baltimore, there has been a tradition that on Poe’s birthday someone in the dead of night leaves a rose and a bottle of cognac on his grave. This year the watchers who keep a vigil waiting for this person to show up reported that the tribute to Poe was not left on his grave. A tradition of over sixty years maybe at an end. There have been two visitors to the grave. The first left a note and said he couldn’t do it anymore and someone else took up the mantle. Was the mysterious visitor ill? Has this person now gone to talk with Poe in person beyond the veil? Who knows. The watchers who wait for this yearly visitor will keep their vigil for another two years before they give up hope.

Whether this mysterious visitor once again visits Poe’s grave to leave a tribute of a rose and a bottle of cognac, people will go on reading Poe’s works, and enjoying the genres that he helped to develop. There may not be any more tributes left at his graveside but his legacy to literature lives on with readers everywhere.

Sherlock Holmes is and was a fictional character created by Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle. According to wikipedia, Sherlock Holmes first appeared in print in 1887.

During the Christmas holidays, a new Sherlock Holmes film was released in theaters. Directed by Guy Ritchie, Sherlock Holmes was played by Robert Downey Jr., while Jude Law and Rachel McAdams played Dr. Watson and Irene Adler. Many fans of Sherlock Holmes were upset by the film because this is not the Holmes they were expecting. The plot is a bit wild but within the acceptable canon. Holmes however is more scruffy and common than most people expected.

Personally, I thought that he was closer to the Holmes I thought he was when I first read the books as a child. This Holmes could disguise himself as a laborer and get away with it. He could mingle on all class levels and blend in. That, however, doesn’t mean that he couldn’t dress up and appear in the highest levels of British society and also fit in smoothly since, as I mentioned, he could blend in on all levels. Holmes adapts and the only thing he can’t stand is boredom and ignorance. So, take a chance and see the movie, whether you like it or not will depend on your inner vision of Sherlock Holmes.

The second major complaint that I heard/read was that there was paranormal and magical aspects in a Sherlock Holmes film. Tsk. Tsk. In point of fact, Sherlock Holmes doesn’t believe in magic or the paranormal. He attacks the problem in his own way looking for clues and facts. While the movie appears to have real magic occurring, never once does Holmes say it is so. By the end of the movie you’ll know what Holmes does, and that changes how you view what you’ve already seen. Again, strictly canon in the Holmesian universe.

10 Facts about Sherlock Holmes on FactsMonk.

For my own Holmes adventure, Hyperion and I were traveling from hither and yon and managed, as we usually do, to get lost. However, we found Gillette Castle State Park. It’s in East Haddam, Connecticut and was the home of William Gillette who played Sherlock Holmes on Broadway and for years it was his image that was used as that of Holmes in magazines, books, and other print media. Gillette was a bit of an inventor and the castle has some interesting features. The one that’s relevant to this post is that he had a room set up to look like 221B Baker Street including the VR in the wall made by bullet holes. If you’re ever in the area in Connecticut, check it out. It’s high on a bluff overlooking the river. There’s a ferry that makes trips across the river and the view of the castle from the ferry is spectacular. (Unfortunately, I couldn’t find our photos of the visit so here’s one from the Gillette State Park site.)

I loved the books when I was in my early teens. I liked them even more when I was in my twenties and could appreciate the convoluted plots and Holmes’ dry wit. But I guess what I continue to like is the reliance on facts before hypothesis that Holmes insisted on. My favorite line is the one, “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.” This is even more astounding when you realize that Doyle fell for just about every scam that was about in his day — he was a stanch supporters of the girls who claimed to have fairies in the bottom of their garden, for example. But Doyle managed to have Holmes believe only in facts, science, and what he himself could deduce from clues.

In recent years, many authors have been writing stories using the Holmes character. I’ve reviewed several. Most remain true to the character as it was developed by Doyle. Even if they bring in paranormal appearing events, they manage to have Holmes stand true to his motto: “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”

Celebrate the birthday of Sherlock Homes. Read a mystery.

November and start of December have seemed to pass in a haze at times. Hyperion and I have both had swine flu. However, we both had lots of commitments — things that just can’t be pushed off. Some days it seemed like pushing that boulder up a mountain just to do it over and over and over again.

However, I did find a December coffee cup. I spotted this at Home Goods and just burst out laughing. After the rough few weeks I just had, anything to make me smile, let alone laugh out loud just had to be the December cup. The only drawback to this design is it has to be used right handed. So, good ole lefty me has to remember to pick it up with the right hand.

Christmas is my favorite holiday. I love it. I love the smiles, the happiness, the anticipation. The happy holiday wishes from everyone. I don’t like buying gifts, wrapping them, or doing all that other stuff. But I love the feeling behind the holiday, not the commercialism. Heck, today is December 11th and I’ve only watched two holiday films so far this month. Well okay we’ve been watching the Star Trek (original) movies and just finish The Undiscovered Country but still I miss not seeing the Christmas ones. The ones I did see are The Polar Express (this is the 25th Anniversary of the book) and Love Actually. Maybe if I finally get caught up on my writing and reading I can watch some more as I quickly knit to finish off Christmas gifts.

Last year I complained because we’d looked and looked and looked and couldn’t find a tree topper. We ended up buying a Santa that was made of white painted tin in a conical shape that fit on the top though it wasn’t an actual tree topper. This year, we stopped at one store and looked and found this one. This one looks much better lit up than in the box. It’s sort of poinsettia shaped and has lights inside it. It took a while to get it up since the cord is short and the tree we have has the lights already on it so the cords for each section go all the way down. Took two days to find an unused extension cord. But it really does look good at night.

We didn’t feel like going all out for Christmas this year, so just did the tree and put out my collection of Santa statues — or most of them, some are still packed. We’ve been collecting Santa and folk art ornaments for years and the statues were just an extension of that collecting. If you look very carefully at the tree you’d see that most of the ornaments are Santa variations, bears, or folk art type, or some from our childhood trees.

My son is coming down for Christmas this year. He normally only comes down for Thanksgiving, but this year he couldn’t make it then and will be here for Christmas. We’re looking forward to his visit and we hoped to put up all the decorations since he hasn’t seen the house fully done up. We normally put up the tree the evening of Thanksgiving day or the day after since he lives in a small apartment and has a teeny tiny tree when he bothers with one at all. We may do more later but probably we’ll call it enough this year since we still catching up. I feel like I lost November all together.

However, I hope that you’re all enjoying getting ready for the holiday and forget the stress and the rush and just enjoy the spirit that’s in the air– I think it’s pine, cinnamon, and spice.