GOOD, BAD, INDIFFERENT

Christmas is coming! Today I want your favorite memories and/or your thoughts on: Is Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy harmful to children? Weigh in. I'll comment later.

THE ORIGINS OF MISTLETOE, DO YOU KNOW?

Did you know mistletoe has around since ancient times? Romans thought these parasitic evergreens promised new life and would decorate their homes and temples with it. Europeans thought it a healing plant good for many ills including infertility, nervous disorders and toothache. The Scandanavians believed it to hold evil powers at first until some point in history when it became a symbol of peace and good will.

Long considered sacred because it grew between heaven and earth, just where does mistletoe grow? High in boughs of such trees as poplars, hawthorns, maples and occasionally oak. Here in the Ozarks it is common to mistake a mistletoe bough for a birds nest. Unfortunately, one doesn't find mistletoe in the stores much anymore. I suspect it is difficult to harvest and it's been proven the berries are poisonous.

But where did kissing under the mistletoe begin? It is thought to be of British origin. Yes, those staid Brits who enjoyed greeting one another with a kiss adopted kissing under the mistletoe in the eighteenth century. Several beliefs were associated with it, one being that each time a boy kissed a girl under the mistletoe, he must pluck one of the berries. When no berries remained, kissing was over. Another claim was to refuse a kiss under the mistletoe meant one could not marry in the next twelve months. Many other beliefs rose up through the centuries, but it became quite customary for a couple to kiss under the mistletoe. Perfect for a romance.

Candace Kane carries on an online acquaintance with "hottie" Travis Montgomery only to find when he invites her to Colorado for Christmas they've both "fudged" their personal info. What to do? Surprises abound and each must come to terms with reality. When a fitness instructor starts flirting with Travis, Candy's attentions turn to gorgeous Donnan McLachlan. Soon, she's confused which man she wants. Can she love two men? Who wins? Read Marry Me Under the Mistletoe available through Amazon.com.

Author C J Clark writes from the Ozark foothills and a complete bio is available on her website: www.cjclark.webs.com

This month only (December) C J will give away a signed copy of Marry Me Under the Mistletoe to one lucky winner. All you have to do is leave a comment.

MOVING--TEMPORARILY?

Just a note to let you know I'm moving the blog over to my webpage: www.cjclark.webs.com
Temporary because I'm not sure I like how the pages are set up over there. I could end up coming back here, but for now, look for me at www.cjclark.webs.com Thanks for following!

STARTING OVER

I've been writing since high school days. One day my mother found a large stash of my writings and promptly confronted me. (Maybe with her eighth grade education she was not educated enough to find value in them or maybe she was shocked by what I was writing) She threw it all in the trash and burned it! At that point did I really want to be a writer? I quit for several years. But writing is like potato chips. You can't stop with one.

Senior high arrived. I aced Composition getting laudatory remarks on my papers. Then a slight turn into Journalism where I also received plenty of encouragement. The muse had me again. I wrote and wrote saving every piece. A few years later I took a creative writing class at community college, again saving everything. Then,my interests took a bypass and the writings laid around and laid around until one day I said "out you go".

It wasn't three weeks later a friend of mine was in a writing class and by telling me of her assignments, etc. I was excited again, only to mourn that I had dumped all my scribblings. That taught me: NEVER AGAIN. Now I have stuff that goes back ten-twelve years. I have at least a dozen notebooks in which I've jotted down words, situations, story ideas, dialogues, etc. Now as Ire-read it, I think, how simple, I can do better than that. And that, my friend, is GROWTH. Visible growth.

Quit? I've had my husband tell me more than once--why do you bother? I look at all the paper and notebooks I've accumulated. More than once I've thought toss this out, it's too old, or whatever. But, I've learned my lesson. I save it. I go through it and pick out a phrase here, a word there, and use it in something new. I'll never quit again. I'll never toss it all. Writing is born in me. It's my method of communicating to others. It's my job--to please, entertain, frighten, etc.

How about you? Have you started only to stop? Do you save everything you write? Tell me about your experiences.

IT'S HERE!

Are online relationships honest? Candace Kane is self-conscious about her appearance so she tells a little white lie about her looks. But little does she know that hottie Travis Montgomery has his own secret. But when Travis invites Candace to Cedar Pass Village Ski Resort and Lodge the surprise is on both of them. Can they overcome their pre-conceived ideas about one another? Will a relationship bloom? Enter sexy, fitness instructor Priscilla Hargrove and her faux friend Donnan Lachlan and watch the fireworks fly!

A fun read, you'll be laughing, crying, and rooting for true love to win out. Available through www.createspace.com and www.amazon.com.

ROMANCE IS IN THE AIR

Here I am at the Ozark Romance Authors conference last month listening to Leigh Michaels.

The big news is CHRISTMAS IN COLORADO should be out in the next two/three months! Perfect for that romantic Christmas vacation reading.

My chapbook PASTICHE is available through me for $5.00 (bargain). Isn't that rose in the snow beautiful? (courtesy of a friend of mine) So if you like poetry, contact me for a copy.

And look at these beautiful baskets of goodies raffled off at the conference. They were chock full of books, office supplies, critique packages . . . Congrats to all the lucky winners!

HERE COMES DA JUDGE

Judge. Does that word give you the heebie-jebbies? Maybe if you have to appear in court for a DUI or something worse, but how does the word judge make you feel when you submit a manuscript to a contest?

First and foremost you must realize a judge is not out to get you.(especially if you receive low scores). They read works blind--no names attached. Most judges have a criteria they are looking for. Not their own agenda, but one that is meant to improve your writing.

PLUS, your writing helps judges.

I've just finished preliminary judging for a romance contest. This is the second time I've done this. Good experience or bad? Good. By reading other writers' works, I can see what works, what doesn't. I see weak heroines/heros, strong heroines/heros. I see interesting plots with lots of twists. I can see how a great hook pulls me into the story. I can see when secondary characters are pulling too much weight or even adding confusion to the story. Bottom line, being a judge helps me improve my writing.

Have you been a judge? Good experience? Bad? What have you learned from it? If you haven't been a judge, what have you learned from a judge's comments?