My Top Ten Favorite Christmas CD's of all Time

Whether you enjoy more serious, standard inspirational holiday music or the fun more contemporary end of the music spectrum, I'm sure there is something on this list everyone will enjoy.

10. Handel's Messiah by the Bulgarian National Choir - Love this. If you've ever stood inside a choir while belting out the Hallelujah Chorus, you'd understand my love for this song. We preformed it when I was in high school and let me tell you, for a HS choir, we brought the goods. I've loved it ever since. Just brings me to tears every time.

9. Twisted Christmas by The Bob Rivers Group - I know, most of the songs are offensive, but all so freakin' funny. Come on, The Twelve Pains of Christmas is a classic.

8. More Twisted Christmas by The Bob Rivers Group - more of the same, but still on his game.

7. Christmas Island by Jimmy Buffet - It's Jimmy Buffet, enough said.

6. Christmas with the Rat Pack - That ultra cool trio of Frankie, Dino and Sammy. Come on, it doesn't get any smoother or better than that.

5. CBS Radio Christmas by Various Artists - These are just some really solid renditions of some holiday favorites along with some standard Christmas carols by some of the most beloved artists of the 50's and 60's. There are several CD's or downloads in the CBS collection. Check them out, you won't be sorry you did.

4. Boogie Woogie Christmas by The Brian Setzer Orchestra - The man is just so damn cool and talented beyond belief. The arrangements in this collection (there are two different CD's by the orchestra to choose from) are snappy, spirited and just plain fun.

3. Soundtrack from The Muppets Christmas Carol - Music and lyrics by Paul Williams - So clever and sweet and just all things muppety good.

2. Soundtrack from Nightmare Before Christmas by Danny Elfman - Anytime you put Danny Elfman on a project it's going to be awesome. Pair him with Tim Burton and it's a classic.

1. We Wish You a Merry Christmas by The Ray Coniff Singers - all right I went back a long way for this one. Back to my childhood. This was one of the few Christmas albums we had (yes, on vinyl - cause we really had nothing else back then) growing up. To me, this is Christmas. The arrangements are amazing. There is something very dire in recording on such songs as Ring Christmas Bells, O Holy Night and We Three Kings.

* bonus*

Anything by Sinatra. We have several of his Christmas CDs. Anything with his rendition of Jingle Bells is happening. I swear he was the first man to "scratch" on a record. When you hear the song, you'll understand why I say that. Also, The Christmas Waltz is one of my most favorite songs for the holiday season.

So may your season be filled with love, laughter and most of all music.

'Til next week!

-Kate

Dec-or-ation Time-- Come on!!

All right, so I borrowed the music from Cool & the Gang and changed the words. 'Tis the season and all that jazz.

This is going to be a pretty short-short posting today since I have several I want to get done on my other blogs before I clean the kitchen and we go out to find our tree. Yes, folks this year the hubster and I decided to get a live tree - or well, chop our own down. (I know, sounds horrible doesn't it?) Now, I'm thinking about it, I'm not sure I really like the idea. I love trees and don't like the thought of hurting them. (all right, sad moment now.)

So, it's always been a tradition in my house to put up the tree on the 11th. Two weeks out from Christmas it a good time. Not too early, not too late. We generally keep it up until New Years, so three weeks total is enough. I know when I first moved to NJ and did a lot of home care, I noticed people leaving their trees up until mid-Jan or so. I was like..."Really, people...what are you going to do, take off the Christmas decorations and hang hearts on it for Valentine's Day? Lazy asses." -- Then I was told that up here there is a large Greek Orthodox population and they leave their decorations up until the Greek New Year. (I think it was the New Year anyhow, but don't quote me on that.) - Then the Seventh Day Adventists leave theirs up until Three Kings Day. (Not sure the date of that either.) Living in the small town I did in Florida, I wasn't really exposed to much more than Southern Baptists and the occasional Catholic. So, what did I know from Greek Orthodox? Then it made sense to me. Oh, all right so all these lights on the houses and stuff isn't because they just decided to extend the season well past its best by date, they haven't finished their celebrating yet. Got it.

So, we lost a lot of our outdoor decorations in the Great Flood of 2011. Those will have to be replaced in order to deck the outside of the house, but luckily the inside is set, all we have to do is drag the decorations down from the crawl space in the loft and sort through them. Now, here is where I insert a bit of a story from last year...

Dave went up into the crawl space to get our decorations. We had this huge St. Nicholas - very old world looking. Gorgeous deep red coat and fur trim (not real fur) and looked very Victorian. It was made out of a resin and molded. Anyhoo, the face had been eaten off by mice, so he had to get thrown away. I was pretty upset because I loved that version of Santa. So, Dave goes to unpack the Nativity scene and noticed the mice had been into the wise men. Yes, folks the mice had eaten the wise men. Not a smart move on their parts. I'm at work and talking to him on the phone as he's going through piece by piece and he says..."If the baby Jesus is eaten, it's war." - I got to laughing so hard I thought I'd rupture a gut.

Moral of the story - apparently wise men are fair game, but the gloves come off if you mess with the baby Jesus.

Wishing you and yours a joyous and blessed holiday season,

-Kate

Christmas Grocery Shopping with Rebecca Rose

Hi Wendy! Thank you for having me here.

Who doesn’t like the holidays? Most people will say, “I love the holidays!” Then in the next breath complain about the lines while shopping, the money you have to spend. What bothers me the most? Not what you’d think. While I have three children 7, 11, and 16, the hardest part is the grocery store. Aaagggg!

Now, I’m not one to complain, but does everyone develop bio-polar disorder, or what?

I try to keep thinking positive. And, while it very hard when you get hit with a grocery cart and are told to, “Move” from some stranger, I remind myself to count to ten. Fore, they might have a very good reason for being nasty. Here’s a little story about how just the other day, I had to rein myself in to not ruin someone’s day. (Including mine)

I was going to the grocery store with the three kids. Now, if I was a sane woman, I would have left them home. But, nooooo. So we’re getting out of the car when the 7 yr old, Jack, slams the door into the car next to us! Now no one out there can tell me they haven’t thought of inspecting the car and deciding its okay and not to leave a note. I was hoping for this scenario. What I got was a dent and paint scratch. So, I reached into my purse, pulled out a business card, because that’s all I had, and wrote a note with my name and number. Little did I know a man was watching me from his vehicle. When we turned to go, he gave us a thumbs-up. Awesome, that brightened me up a little about the problem.

The grocery shopping started as usual. I sent the older two on ‘missions’ to find things, while Jack and I went to the deli. This is where he proceeded to topple the carriage when I ordered our meat. The older two ones came back, I sent them out again, grabbed my sandwich meat and turned to find Jack gone. Panic hit me until I noticed he was under the carriage. Upon exiting his hiding place, I caught the carriage before it did a full-on dump, AGAIN. Now people are watching me and me vibrating son who can’t seem to sit or stand. I tried talking to Jack about Santa, Christmas parties, anything to distract him from getting in trouble. But it was as if some alien had taken over my son and left me with a jittering, chattering, nutcase! When my additional sandwich meat was ready, I kept him next to me but then found him on the floor.

“What happened?” I couldn’t help but laugh. He’d tripped on his own feet.

So Jack went into the back of the carriage and my 11 yr old, Leah, was in charge of helping me watch him. As we walked away a man said, “Mine was the same way around this time of year.” Very comforting words and what I needed to hear so I didn’t run from the store pulling my hair out. It was a ‘bi-polar’ moment.

After getting home we decorated the tree and Jack broke a few ornaments. And, while my head was splitting in two from holding my temper and trying not to ruin the excitement he has toward Christmas, I had to wonder…Who the heck is this kid?

HAPPY HOLIDAYS. May they be as sane as possible!

Rebecca Rose

Blurb: Sometimes Redemption Is The Only Salvation Needed To Forgive Yourself.

In his first ever selfless act Donald Write takes a bullet for a man
he just met, Daniel Allen. Now he's changed his name and moved across
the country to live with Daniel’s family whose welcoming home
reception wasn't very warm.

Jacqueline is Daniel’s daughter. This soft spoken, well dressed lady
soon teaches Donald that looks can be deceiving and her heart can be
his if he’s willing to open up and except her gift of love.
Donald hadn't counted on the intense and immediate attraction to
Jacqueline. She’s the boss’s daughter and off limits; that is until he
finds himself with an irresistible primal need to be with her. She
shows him love in a way he's never felt before and gives him the
strength to become the better man he's always wanted to be. But how
can Donald touch and care for someone so pure of heart when their
future can be destroyed by his past? A future built on redemption and
second chances.

WARNING: This novel contains M/F romance, action, and explicit sex.

To buy her books: http://www.lyricalpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=authors&authors_id=103&zenid=dpgmkge3q608tnhhb0avsg0kh1

Echoes in Stone pre-order at TWRP.com

It makes a great holiday gift, though I have to say at 376 pages, it's a little big for a stocking stuffer, so it had better go under the tree.

I know I say this about all my books, but I really loved writing this one. Noah, the hero, is sooo sexy, yummy and good. He's kindhearted but far from a pushover. Lilly, the heroine, has some baggage in her past, but it willing to try again...with Noah. (Well, of course she is...it's a romance.) But it's also a ghost story. Ohhh,scary, scary.

Here's a blurb:

Echoes of tragedy fill the walls of Campbell’s Folly.

Contractor Noah Chase heard mournful cries inside the castle when he was a boy. Now he’s returned to Sussex-On-Delaware to restore the castle and set the spirits free. To succeed, he must face his past, gain the town's cooperation, and come to terms with the emotions the sexy photographer he hires inspires inside his heart.

Lilly Briton has ghosts of her own. After a bitter divorce and estrangement from her family, the last thing she wants is to return to Sussex-On-Delaware. Hired as a photographer to chronicle the castle's restoration, she unwillingly finds herself falling for Noah.

Together they attempt to uncover the mystery surrounding Campbell's Folly and its curse. Yet before they can help the spirits of star-crossed lovers, they must deal with the past and the presence of an evil entity set on destroying them all.

****

Teaser:

What was there about Noah Chase that made her feel as if she’d just stepped to the edge of a deep ravine? There was no way of telling what lay in wait at the bottom until she took the plunge.

The castle walls seemed to close in around her.

The eerie sensation from the day before wound around her legs, traveling up her body like cold disembodied hands. “Lilly?”

She tried to take a step back, but her feet remained planted to the floor. Noah moved closer and held onto her as she started to fall over.

Panic attacks had never taken on such odd symptoms. Or was it panic? Surely she only imagined things. Noah didn’t appear disturbed at all.

“Does it seem cold to you?”

He searched her face for a moment then moved his hand in the space between them.The tips of his fingers brushed her stomach. Heat exploded in her belly on contact, chasing away the lingering cold.

“No. It’s very warm.” Color filled his cheeks and he stepped back. “I need to get back to work.”

****



Releases in ebook Dec. 16th. Available now in print.

Enjoy!!

-Kat

African SF Romantic Adventure anyone?

“Rich with astonishing sights and sounds, primal fears and advanced technology, the simplicity of love and faith and the ugly faces of envy, greed and mistrust - this book is a magical tale that will have you hanging on right to the end.” – Amazon Review by DJP

Now Available

A Senseless Act of Beauty

John Rosenman

Crossroads Press

 

Buy link: Amazon, Crossroads Press

 

 

Blurb:

Aaron Okonkwo, a Nigerian scientist, travels with a crew in the 24th century to evaluate Viridis, which proves to be a beautiful and fabulous world.  There, Aaron discovers a strange, alien species and amazing machines and technology left in a vast underground complex by a mysterious race called the Creators.
Aaron soon falls under the irresistible, seductive spell of Nightsong, a green alien female with ominous and bewitching powers.  However, an even greater danger rises.  He will be forced to fight for the planet’s survival against a ruthless invasion of many ships to conquer and enslave the planet – just as Africa itself was once enslaved.  Aaron knows it’s A Senseless Act of Beauty to try to reclaim his ancient warrior heritage and fight back against such overwhelming odds, but he knows he must try.

 

Excerpt:

 

Peering through the shining leaves of a sarberry bush, Aaron Okonkwo watched the naked alien girl dive into the pond. Her green body lithe, and breasts full and firm in the sun. He wet his lips, feeling his blood course as her delicate, sinuous form glided through the water faster than any human could swim. She moved smoothly, with barely a ripple, her webbed hands flowing with graceful precision. Watching the water caress her long, slender limbs, he felt his body respond.
Aaron rubbed a muscular arm and took out his recorder. He tried to focus on dictating some field notes concerning the sixty species of moss he had so far catalogued, but soon found himself watching the girl again. This, of course, was not right. Their survey team had come to Viridis for a month to evaluate the planet for possible colonization and commercial exploitation. Indigenous, sentient life forms were officially off-limits to Confederation—’Fed—personnel because of the danger of cultural and biological contamination. Since they had landed two weeks ago and first met the gentle, humanoid creatures, he had constantly reminded himself of this fact.
Still, he desired her.
He knew it was more than just the exquisite molding of her form or her quick, light animal movements no human female could match. The clear, liquid trill of her laughter, seemingly so innocent, had ensnared his senses too. Then there was the strange way she would suddenly freeze and stand motionless. At such times, he felt as if she had not only caught his scent, but was listening to his heartbeat.

 

Check out John’s website: Http://johnrosenman.com

The Mountain City Bronzes by Madeleine McLaughlin

“If you like dark fiction, you will surely enjoy Madeleine’s The Mountain City Bronzes.”

Now Available

The Mountain City Bronzes

Madeleine McLaughlin

Museitup Publishing

 

How far will a community go to protect its children when they start to disappear?

 

When Kevin learns of his mountain town’s evil past, he must struggle to understand his father’s part in it and how it affects himself.