2013 Articles

Dec 2013 14

Christmas With Westies

2013 Articles, Pets, Sheryl Wall

by Sheryl Wall

As a child, can you recall how excited you would get when the Christmas tree and stockings went up for the holidays? Or how eager you were to open the gifts under the tree? Kids are not the only ones who enjoy the holiday festivities. Our pets too can get involved in the excitement; I know mine do. As long as we make the effort to keep the holidays safe for our pets, it can be a fun time for everyone. I always have to be sure that anything hazardous to my dogs are kept out of their reach and not allow them to be munching off of the humans food. I find that if I give them their own fun activities it makes them less eager to get into what is not theirs.

Dec 2013 14

Murder, She Barked Mystery By Krista Davis: Review/Guest Post/Giveaway

2013 Articles, Cynthia Chow, Mysteryrat's Maze

by Cynthia Chow
& Krista Davis

Had Holly Miller not just recently resigned from her Washington D.C. job due to disagreements with her employers’ lack of ethics, the call to help her grandmother may not have had her immediately abandoning her boyfriend in the midst of his business trip. However, when her Oma’s best friend, Rose, tells Holly that she is needed, Holly doesn’t hesitate to return home to her hometown of Wagtail, Virginia, borrowing Ben Hathaway’s car, even if that means leaving him in the grasp of his former–and very wealthy–ex-girlfriend.

Dec 2013 14

The Box: A Mystery Short Story

2013 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze, Terrific Tales

by Terry Shames

Mira looked terrible in black. It made her complexion appear washed out and depleted, which was appropriate, under the circumstances.
She glanced at the diamond watch Bob had bestowed on her two years ago for their thirtieth wedding anniversary. 9:20. Sharon would be picking her up in twenty minutes. Maybe she should wear her old watch. Unclipping the elegant diamond one, she laid it in her jewelry case and rummaged around in the drawer until she found her old Timex. Of course, the battery had run down a long time back, but there was no reason anyone should notice.

Dec 2013 14

The Christmas Temptation: A Christmas Short Story

2013 Articles, Terrific Tales

by Gail Farrelly

In her 64 years of life, my aunt, Gertrude Shannon, has never met a hot fudge sundae she liked or a stalk of celery she didn't. She’s a health nut who always brags about eating right. Her menu is packed full of items that are non-fat and non-fun. She constantly lectures anyone and everyone about having good eating habits and guarding against obesity. It doesn’t matter if people want to hear the lecture or not. She insists on providing it. What a bore.

Dec 2013 14

How I Met My Dinner: Advent Calendars

2013 Articles, Alicia Lieu, How I Met My Dinner

by Alicia Lieu

Regardless of how commercial Christmas gets, I will always love Christmas. Even though I can do without the retail craziness that the holiday season has become, I have always loved spreading Christmas cheer. The religious significance remains important to me today but I have always enjoyed the activities that go along with it: decorating the Christmas tree, getting presents, giving presents, wrapping presents. I would always watch A Charlie Brown Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, and It's a Wonderful Life. I also consumed more baked goods around Christmas time than any other time of year.

Dec 2013 14

Holidaze: Surviving The Holidays With Bipolar Disorder

2013 Articles, Mental Health, Muffy Walker

by Muffy Walker

For some, the holidays are a time for gathering with family and friends, gift giving, festive parties, shopping sprees, cookie exchanges, caroling and more. For others, the holidays are a lonely time, evidenced perhaps by the lack of all the joy experienced by others. For most though, the holidays are a time, good or bad, which can be filled with stress.

Dec 2013 14

The Sound and the Furry By Spencer Quinn

2013 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze, Sandra Murphy

by Sandra Murphy

This is the sixth episode of the Chet and Bernie mystery series, featuring the Little Detective Agency; “Little” is Bernie’s last name in case you’re wondering. Chet is the Canine Detective and the tales are told from his point of view, not always an easy task but Quinn does it better than anyone else.

Dec 2013 14

Dark Currents: Agent of Hel By Jacqueline Carey

2013 Articles, Fantasy & Fangs, Sharon Tucker

by Sharon Tucker

Pemkowet, Michigan may boast a modest population of 3000 residents (excluding tourists during the season), but this scenic resort town is also home to a diverse society living under the radar. Readers may already be familiar with Jacqueline Carey’s lush, disturbing Kushiel books, but in Dark Currents: Agent of Hel, Carey has left Terre d’ Ange and turns to our own twenty-first century.

Dec 2013 14

Daylighters: The Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine

2013 Articles, Fantasy & Fangs, Terrance V. Mc Arthur

by Terrance Mc Arthur

Morganville, Texas, has been a vampire town for generations. Humans have lived in fear and oppression…until now.
In Rachel Caine’s Daylighters, Claire Danvers and her friends (human and vamp), return to Texas from fighting an anti-vampire organization, only to find that the Daylighters have taken over Morganville. Humans walk the streets without fear, houses have fresh coats of paint, and new homes are being built. It’s wonderful, but there is the abandoned shopping mall on the edge of town that has armed guards on the outside…and is filled with vampires wearing explosive shock-collars. That’s not so wonderful.

Dec 2013 14

A Santa Cruz Kind of Christmas

2013 Articles, Christina Morgan Cree, Travel

by Christina Morgan Cree

Santa Cruz offers many wonderful ways to get in the holiday spirit this year. We may not have snow, but how many places can boast a Nutcracker ballet performed by trees? Victorian carriage rides, Holiday light trains, and Nutcracker ballets are just a few of the many fun activities going on this season.