Holiday Gifts and Greetings

This time of year is busy for most. Right now, we're about halfway through our Hanukkah celebration, and then I'll be "relaxing" while almost everyone else is still frantically taking care of decorating, shopping, cooking, standing in line at the Post Office, and trying to keep spending within limits. Holiday cheer to everyone.

I got an early 'gift' – the cover for my May, 2011 release of Where Danger Hides. Next step will be receiving the ARCs—Advance Reader Copies—which is the last chance to catch any typos before the final version goes to print. I'll be putting the Hubster to work, since he's used to scientific and technical writing, and isn't familiar with the story, so he's less likely to see what's 'supposed' to be there instead of what actually is there. Despite the many passes through the manuscript prior to the ARCs, mistakes happen. For When Danger Calls, the first time Horace Blackthorne appeared on the page he was Horace Blackstone!

And speaking of gifts – I got my new NOOKcolor. Last month, Pam Nowak blogged about digital books and researching e-readers. I promised to provide my impressions of my NOOKcolor, and I've been doing that on my own blog, so you can pop over and search that for what I'm learning. I will say, so far, it's been quite satisfactory. No single reader will work for everyone, so I'm trying to show the features of this one so you can make your own decisions. (Type NOOKcolor in the search box; that should bring the posts up)

And a gift for you – a recipe for sugar cookies that's appropriate for any holiday you celebrate. It's all in the decoration.

Sugar Cookies:
2 ½ c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 c. sugar
½ c. shortening
¼ c. butter or margarine (softened)
2 eggs
1 t. lemon extract

Mix together flour, baking powder & salt. In a large bowl, mix sugar, shortening, butter, eggs and lemon until creamy. Stir in flour mixture until well blended. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, or until dough can be handled easily. Hint: roll out dough in small batches, keeping the rest in the fridge.

Roll ¼ inch thick. Cut into desired shapes. Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes. (You don't want them to brown). Cool on racks. Decorate as desired.

And if you're looking to give books as gifts, as a holiday special, I've got copies of When Danger Calls at the Amazon store for only $6.50 (scroll to find seller T.L. Odell--other sellers play 'price wars' and undercut my prices by a penny or two, but I will autograph and personalize mine to your specs). If you have an e-reader, you can find it at The Kindle Store or Smashwords (where it's formatted for most readers)