History teaches that a 7th century monk
from Crediton, Devonshire, went to Germany to spread the Word of God. Legend has it that he used a Fir Tree’s
triangular shape to describe the Holy Trinity of God the Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. The converted Thuringian people
began to revere the Fir tree as God's Tree.
It is said that in the early 16th century,
Martin Luther was to have decorated a small Christmas Tree with candles, to
show his children how the stars twinkled through the dark night.
The worship of trees goes as far back as
the practicing pagans of Europe. It survived
their conversion to Christianity. And,
it is said that in the Scandinavian customs of decorating the house and barn
with evergreens at the New Year, the boughs were used to scare away the devil.
So, as you see, the Christmas Tree has a
long history of light, and faith, customs and beliefs. Its traditions are varied and cross many histories
of people. At the center of these
customs is collectively gathering amongst those we care for in love, and
friendship; coming together in the lights and joy of Christmas.
As you gather with family and friends this
holiday and share in the magic of this blessed season, and as you decorate your
Christmas Tree with treasured decorations, think on all of the memories that
made up that box of ornaments. That lit
up tree decked with tinsel or garland.
And remember that monk and all those who have gone before us who passed
on this treasured tradition of light and love.
Best Selling Author of Ramshackle Castle ~
Bent Poetry & Other Altered Verse and Just Another Paranormal Christmas; K.A.
M’Lady lives a few stone throws from corn fields, chaos and congestion; all
lying on the outskirts of the many burbs of Chicago. Her work has been described as scary,
descriptive, beautiful, dark, frightening, prosaic, addictive, sexy and
believable. You can visit the worlds she
creates on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ARe or at her publisher, Mojocastle
Press. Or, look her up on the web at: www.kamlady.net
Today I’ll be giving away one (1) copy each
of my best-selling ebooks; Just Another Paranormal Christmas – Anthology by
several of the multi-talented authors from the paranormal group Just Another
Paranormal Monday. As well as my
best-selling poetry ebook; Ramshackle Castle ~ Bent Poetry & Other Altered
Verse. To win answer either of the following questions in
the Comment Section:
1.
What is your favorite Christmas Tree
decorating memory?
2.
What do you top your tree with
– Angel or Star and why?
My favorite tree memory: When I was a little girl our neighbors had
this huge white tree and they would always decorate it with blue and white
lights, silver, and blue balls and tons of sparkling blue and silver garland. It always reminds me of some sort of
sparkling, magical, elfin tree, dusted with snow and sparkling with
diamonds. To this day, I love white
Christmas Trees.
And our tree is always topped with an Angel
– to watch over and protect us.
Ramshackle Castle - Bent Poetry & Other Altered Verse
K.A. M’Lady’s works take on a range of emotion, from comical,
morose, sad, and dramatic. I loved reading the twisted, melancholy, and
oft times humorous, words of K.A. M’Lady. What an adventure! She has
taken an interesting approach to the collection, and it is very much worth the
read. There is such a broad range of poems and writings in Ramshackle
Castle that you are sure to find something that will bring a tear to your eye
or a laugh to your day. I can’t wait to read more from K.A. M’Lady.
~Reviewed by Author Elizabeth Finn~
Ramshackle Castle - Bent Poetry & Other Altered Verse
Humor, Paranormal, Poetry
Ramshackle Castle
K. A. M'Lady
Rated: The Curtain Wall
Length: Sigil
Price: $1.99
ISBN: 1-60180-RCC
Come, walk the night road through your memory of childhood fairy
tales, limericks, ghostly apparitions and the lingering breath of classic
poetry gone awry. At the Castle, magick and mayhem are a lyrical delight
spun with fairy dust. It may at times be dark, dusty and a bit bent but
every word is a glamorous enchantment.
Tread Lightly
The road less traveled. Whoever told me to take that damn
road was an idiot! Yellow woods indeed. Maybe from the field full
of fairies -- no doubt. Crazy bitches with wings! ....
Dead Birds & The Ghosts of Psycho Ex-Girlfriends
One would think that a mind numbing midnight drunk would still the
incessant tapping; hammering its way inside my lonely chamber. I groaned,
“Be gone, I’m napping.” Only this and the tome I chucked at said wavering
chamber door. Only this and nothing more.
.....
What becomes of falling snow
the dwarves never understood the longing
and after months in a hovel cleaning
what should have been diamonds
but remained only dust; coal black
and caking on the threshold of a place
now known as home, even doc couldn’t
cure the insatiable need for belonging,
and love, ah that sweet poison,
piercing my heart from a childhood
haunted by shadows and lonely dreams,
I still long for a woodland filled with hope
where the wind, subtly cresting in the night,
sometimes whispers -- maybe,
someday,
maybe…
The ugly side of trolls
the night wrangles on amidst long intervals
of heavy pacing and endless moments
of deep introspection, for there is much to consider
beneath the dim light of plank-board
and the dark cool stench of wet, root filled earth --
for even bridge trolls get bored
....
Reflections of Hamlet
I met Hamlet in my reflection and knew the solitude of his
rambling, his agony reflected in my eyes.
....
The sorrows of an ugly step-sister
you, Cinderella with your flaxen waves
and sparkling eyes, know not what it is
to be cast in the shadows -- the second born,
a grey goose of waddling travels mucking about
in a truly murky lake, suffering
an unsavory flair as a true second class citizen
....
K.A. M’Lady Copyright 2010
All Rights Reserved
Just Another Paranormal Christmas
An All Romance eBooks anthology
Best Seller!
Available Now
at Mojocastle Press
This Christmas the
castle will make you believe again....
Just Another
ParaNormal Christmas
by
Just Another
Paranormal Monday Authors:
Kayden McLeod, Candace Sams, Heather Kuehl
K.A. M'Lady, Brigit Aine, & Susan Gabriel
All Proceeds to benefit The Armed
ForcesChildren's Education Fund
Once
Upon a Dragon - K.A. M’Lady
Jeremy Owens and his older siblings want to believe in magic, but hope and
belief are difficult things to hold onto even when you’re a child. After the
loss of their parents, three young children find themselves fostered off on an
Aunt who’s never known the love of a child. This Christmas, will the Owens
children find out what it means to believe again?
Anything is possible with a little magic.
Excerpt:
“Are you okay, Aunt Lenni?” Jeremy’s sweet
little voice floated up at her like the breath of innocence that she’d recently
come to enjoy and she briefly wondered how anyone could not want to hear its
little bit of heaven on a daily basis.
“I’m fine, Jeremy. Just a bit of the pre-holiday
blues,” she told him.
“You want to hold my dragon’s egg?” he asked
her. “It’s magic, you know.”
“No, Jeremy. It’s okay.”
“Really,” he told her, his voice filled with
excitement. “It will make you feel better.” Then he thrust the round, sparkling
rock into Lennai’s lap. “It makes me feel better. That’s cuz all of the magic
that’s built up inside of it.”
Lennai couldn’t help but smile. So, she took the
rock and held it in the palm of her hands. But as the rock began to warm a bit
of wonder seemed to grow with it. The feeling of warmth spread as it tingled
through her fingers. Then the warmth spread up her arms, all the way to her
heart. Lennai blinked in wonder at the now glowing rock she was holding.
“See,” Jeremy whispered. “It’s magic.” Then he
took his dragon’s egg and wandered off.
Lennai sat in the chair at the kitchen table
where she’d begun her pondering. Her mouth hung open and her eyes, she was
certain, were wide with shock. The warm, fuzzy feeling she’d had when she was
holding the egg still crept through her heart; she was warm all over.
“Well, I’ll be,” she whispered.
“You’ll be what?” asked Sam, who’d traipsed into
the kitchen wearing one of Lennai’s old sweaters.
Lennai blinked, looked down at her sparkling
fingers and blinked again. Her hands shone with a glimmer of dust, sparkling in
the morning light.
“I’ll be,” she stammered again.
“You’ll be what?” Sam asked, looking at her Aunt
with a frown.
Lennai glanced up from her shiny fingers at her
young niece and babbled, “I’ll be right back.” Then she tore out the kitchen
door, down the stairs and across the snow-dusted lawn. She had one direction
set in mind—Pen’s. Good thing he lived right next door.
“Pen,” she yelled, pounding on his front door.
“Pen, answer this door right now. I know you’re home. Your truck’s in the
drive. Pen, you answer this door.”
“Good grief, woman. What’s got you all fired up
this morning that you’re storming my castle door?” Pen asked when he yanked the
door open a minute later, wiping his hands with a work rag.
“You,” she insinuated, her voice filled with
fire as she shoved her way past him, stopping only when she ended in his
kitchen. “You and that dang egg. Do you know that if you hold one it gets warm
all over? That it glows?”
Pen looked at her like she was the one with a
few rocks loose.
“Look,” she said thrusting her dust-covered
hands at him. “Jeremy gave me his egg to hold this morning because I was
feeling a bit down and when I held it, it got all warm and glowed and now I’m
all covered in its dust.”
Pen took her hands in his and ran his fingers
over their dusty surface. “Maybe it is magic,” he whispered, sarcasm dripping
with every word.
About Just Another Paranormal Christmas:
A Christmas to Remember - Brigit Aine
Now that they are married, Lance and Kira thought
life would settle down. Unforntunately for them, as Christmas approaches, so do
their enemies.
Reflections of a Lily in Winter - Susan
Gabriel
Even a tough cookie can crumble under difficult
circumstances. Fourteen year old Lily is drowning in domestic drama and facing
the worst Christmas in her life until a distant relative in a faraway place
throws her a lifeline.
One Christmas spent at Candlewood Manor will
open her eyes to a world beyond her imagining and open her heart to the reason
behind the season.
The Unexpected Guests - Heather Kuehl
Werewolf Sarah Vargas returns to South Carolina
to attend a Christmas party thrown by Damian, born vampire and Lord of
Charleston. She quickly discovers that The Council - an elite group of vampires
- are attending. They are bringing with them two members of the Du'Rah, the
vampire's elders. The Du'Rah are pretending to attend Damian's party so that
they can initiate him into their ranks, however they have a more sinister plan.
Will Sarah be able to save Damian from the true death and still celebrate the
holiday season?
A Cornwall Christmas - Kayden McLeod
Even vampires celebrate the holidays. Marcus and
Kelly wake up Christmas morning with their own extraordinary presents for the
other, one of them blowing up the kitchen. In an effort to appear more human,
the Cornwalls plan an extravagant dinner, with all the trimmings and more.
Differences are put aside; the Council and Covens come together to show that
this time of year is only for good tidings.
Once Upon a Dragon - K.A. M’Lady
Jeremy Owens and his older siblings want to
believe in magic, but hope and belief are difficult things to hold onto even
when you’re a child. After the loss of their parents, three young children find
themselves fostered off on an Aunt who’s never known the love of a child. This
Christmas, will the Owens children find out what it means to believe again?
Anything is possible with a little magic.
A Future Holiday - Candace Sams
In a future society, two lonely fighters return
from war. Rorn T’Kar is the commander of an Earth ship which has been battling
in space for eight long years. He once loved Lyra Dench, but she apparently
found his presence tedious. Lyra couldn’t tell Rorn she’d joined the Infiltration
Corps, which unfortunately had an eighty-percent mortality rate. She was
ordered to keep her actions secret and knew Rorn would try to keep her from
fighting to save Earth.
When Armistice finally comes and coincidentally
corresponds with the holidays, the magic of the season takes over. Rorn and
Lyra meet again, at the end of the war, and find what they thought they’d
lost…all by the light of a Yule tree.
