Five Short Stories For the Holidays

The romance of the coming holidays tugs at everyone's heart. The magic of Christmas is in the memories we hold dear and those precious treasures that remind us of the past. Join us as our Timeless Keepsakes take us on five remarkable journeys that heal old wounds, remind us of days gone by, play matchmaker, sweep us back in time and prove that love can conquer all.

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Introduction ~ Sharon Sala

Mistletoe and Magick ~ Ruth A. Casie

She would give her last breath for him. He would give up everything to guard her well and love her more.

Christmas Spirits ~ Lita Harris

A widow's everlasting love is renewed by the memories of the holiday season.

Granting Her Wish ~ Emma Kaye

She doesn't belong in his time and he doesn't belong back home. Could they belong to each other?

Letter from St. Nick ~ Nicole S. Patrick

She’s trying to save her home and he’s never had one until now. Can an unexpected gift lead their hearts to the same place?

Secret Santa ~ Julie Rowe

A nurse grieving the death of her twin brother receives an unusual gift at the staff Secret Santa party: the bullet that killed him along with a message of hope and love.

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There's Magic in a Kiss

Close your eyes and imagine the perfect kiss. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Got the picture set in your mind? Good. Believe it or not a kiss requires 34 facial muscles and 112 postural muscles. The facial muscles are a given but postural? I’m serious. 112 muscles that relate to your posture are also involved. Of all these 11 muscles the most important is the orbicularis oris muscle, which is used to pucker your very sensitive lips. It’s your kissing muscle. We’re not talking about French kissing where your tongue, also a muscle, is the primary player. I’ll save that for another blog.

Kissing has many health benefits. Affection in general has stress-reducing effects. Kissing in particular reduces stress which increases relationship satisfaction and lowers cholesterol. And it doesn’t stop there. Kissing can also encourage the release epinephrine and norepinephrine (adrenaline and noradrenaline) into the blood which will cause an adrenaline rush and increased cardiovascular activity. That’s why when you kiss that certain someone your heart races off. See, it’s magic.

There are also a lot of different types of kisses: 

• Romantic Kisses are an important expression of love and erotic emotions. This kiss is not only about lips touching lips. This kiss requires some intimacy.
• Affectionate Kisses express feelings closeness without the erotic element and symbolize loyalty, gratitude, compassion, sympathy, intense joy, and profound sorrow. 
• Ritual Kisses are formal, symbolic or indicate devotion, and respect. We see this type of kiss in the wedding ceremony when the bride and groom kiss. We also see this type of kiss when national leaders meet. 
• Kiss of Peace demonstrates deep spiritual devotion. It was used in the early Catholic Church and also in secular festivities. In the Middle Ages the kiss of peace sealed the agreement with enemies. Even knights kissed each other before they went into combat-a way of forgiving each other all their wrongs.   
• Kiss of Respect was reverent and has an ancient origin. This kiss represents a mark of fealty, humility and reverence. The kiss on the forehead considered a ‘kiss of homage’ showed utmost respect. 
• Kiss of Friendship is used in America and Europe as a greeting between friends. Once only between women, today it is not uncommon to see a man kiss in greeting.

Ancient cultures threw kisses to the sun and to the moon, as well as to the images of the gods. Persians were the first to kiss the hand. Here are some different kinds of kisses from various cultures. 

• In Ancient Rome and some modern Pagan beliefs, worshipers, when passing the statue or image of a god or goddess, will kiss their hand and wave it towards the deity. 
• The holy kiss or kiss of peace is a traditional part of most Christian liturgies, though often replaced with an embrace or handshake today in Western cultures. 
• In the gospels of Matthew and Mark, not Luke or John, Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss. This is the basis of the term "the kiss of Judas". 
• Catholics will kiss rosary beads as a part of prayer, or kiss their hand after making the sign of the cross. It is also common to kiss the wounds on a crucifix, or any other image of Christ's Passion. 
• Pope John Paul II would kiss the ground on arrival in a new country. 
• Visitors to the Pope traditionally kiss his foot. 
• Catholics traditionally kiss the ring of a cardinal or bishop.
• Catholics traditionally kiss the hand of a priest. 
• Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christians often kiss the icons around the church on entering; they will also kiss the cross and/or the priest's hand in certain other customs in the Church, such as confession or receiving a blessing. 
• Hindus sometimes kiss the floor of a temple.
• Local lore in Ireland suggests that kissing the Blarney Stone will bring the gift of the gab.
• Jews will kiss the Western wall of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, and other religious articles during prayer such as the Torah, usually by touching their hand, prayer shawl, or prayer book to the Torah and then kissing it. Jewish law prohibits kissing members of the opposite sex, except for spouses and certain close relatives. 
• Muslims may kiss the Black Stone during Hajj-their pilgrimage to Mecca. 

This is all very nice but dare you tell me what type of kiss you really like best?

A Sacred Site

I entered a contest after I wrote Knight of Runes not with hopes of winning, which would have been awesome, but rather for feedback. More than anything, I wanted feedback.

I did very well in the contest actually. Well, according to two of the three judges anyway. The swing in the third set of scores was, well that is a blog for another day. Suffice it to say, I placed well but didn't win. But I did get the feedback. Awesome!

My story is a time travel. Our heroine says the right words, carries the correct talisman, and is standing in the right spot, a constellation of events that transports her back in time 400 years. I set the magic place at Stonehenge.  I know it's been used before by some great authors and  I did take some ‘poetic’ license. The great stones now stand protected behind a fence. Visitors can't walk up and around them.  One judge noted that she lived near some great stones that were older than Stonehenge and didn't gave any barriers. The stones stand proudly amidst the village of Avebury, Wiltshire County in southern England.

 Avebury is impressive. While erosion and vandalism, to say nothing of religious persecution, has reduced the henge, it is breathtaking. Like other henges, construction at Avebury started with deforesting the area somewhere about 3700 B.C. Archaeologists estimate the actually setting of the stones began about 3000 B.C. when the central Cove, the early part of the Sanctuary, was built. Construction moved outward and lasted for several centuries. The circle covers almost 29 acres with a circumference of almost 1 mile. Concentric circles of stones defined the borders of the circle. These circles are much larger than the more famous Stonehenge. As a matter of fact, Stonehenge would fit into the outer stone circle at Avebury around 130 times.

 A large portion of village resides inside the Avebury circle.

The Cove is the area of the henge where Rebeka, my heroine, is drawn into the time portal.  Like the rest of the henge, it’s been a long held belief that the stones represent male and female characteristics. A male scientist must have done this designation as male stones are long and thin while the female is short and square. The two surviving primary stones at the Cove are perfect examples.  I thought the Cove the perfect place for Rebeka’s adventure to begin.

For Better or For Worse.

My family is celebrating a wedding this weekend. No, it isn’t mine. I’ve been happily married for some time. However, I must admit that when I accompanied the bride-to-be to David’s Bridal, I almost tried on the Kate Middleton wedding gown replica. Despite my enthusiasm for royalty, Reader, I resisted.

In honor of this momentous family occasion, I present you with some fun historic wedding trivia.

Let’s begin at the beginning.

The word wedding, according to Women in the Middle Ages by Frances and Joseph Gies, originated from the Old English word wed, which meant pledge and referred to the ring and money a groom gave to his bride at the church door.

How do I love thee? Let me beat it into you.

One notable historic proposal is William the Conqueror’s proposal to Matilda of Flanders. He approached her father, Baldwin V about the marriage and Baldwin readily agreed. When someone finally told Matilda about it, she said “No.” Not a man to let little things like being a bastard or “no” stop him, William rode to Flanders. He intercepted Matilda on the way to church, pulled her from her horse and, according to some sources, beat her. Amazingly, after this oh so romantic proposal, she agreed to marry him. Bruises heal, but a diamond is forever.

Speaking of diamonds.

The Krupp Diamond, weighing in at a whopping 33.19 carats, was purchased by Richard Burton for Elizabeth Taylor in 1968. It was her favorite ring and the most valuable one in her collection. For a mere $2 – 3 million you can own it too when Christie’s auctions it off in December.

If anyone has just cause why these two people should not be married…

After the invention of the telegraph, distance became no barrier to marriage and the first “on-line” weddings were performed.  In 1876, William Storey was a telegraph operator stationed at the remote Camp Grant in Arizona where there were no ministers. His bride, Clara Choate lived in San Diego where there were plenty of ministers to perform the wedding service.  Unfortunately, William could not get a leave of absence to travel to America’s Finest City. His solution? Bring the bride to Camp Grant and have a minister in San Diego marry them over the telegraph. The plan worked, with the minister reading the vows which were transmitted by telegraph to the bride and groom who wired back their responses. The wedding was legal and the technologically advanced couple lived happily ever after.

Remembering the big day or Photoshop the Bonaparte way.

Napoleon’s mother, Maria Letizia refused to attend the coronation of Napoleon and Josephine due to her dislike of the future empress. As a result, when Jacques-Louis David created his massive painting to commemorate the day, he simply added the old gal in. Although not strictly a wedding, a marriage did take place in the early hours of the coronation day. Napoleon and Josephine had originally been married in a civil ceremony that was not recognized by the Catholic Church, thus preventing her from being crowned alongside Napoleon. To sidestep this problem, a second religious ceremony was performed in the wee hours of the coronation day. My guess is, Napoleon’s mother didn’t attend that ceremony either.

And don’t forget, if at first you don’t succeed…

One can’t discuss historic weddings without mentioning Henry VIII. The eternal optimist, he married six times but only two of his wives were lucky enough to outlive him. His last wife, Catherine Parr mourned her chubby hubby for only a few months before marrying Thomas Seymour, the man she’d been forced to give up for the King. Thomas was her fourth husband.  Here’s to never giving up on love!

If at first you don’t succeed…do some more research.

Anyone who writes historical romances knows how much research can go into developing and creating a story. Since I am a voracious nonfiction history reader, this is one of my favorite parts of the process, but it can be tough. History in broad strokes is easy to discover. It’s the small details of daily life that can be elusive.  Sometimes I can find the details, other times I have to take some artistic license based on my knowledge of the period. And then there are times when, despite my research, my careful fact checking, I still manage to get it wrong

I was recently editing my manuscript for Mask of the Gladiator, my ancient Rome novella, and double checking my facts when I discovered I had made not one, but many mistakes.  I would read a sentence and something about it didn’t seem right. Off to the internet or a research book I would go, only to find out it was incorrect. Then I’d ask myself, “How did I miss this during the umpteenth times I’ve read this story?” or “I know I looked this up before. How did I get it so wrong?”

Since catching mistakes and making changes is part of the editing process, I can’t be too hard on myself. Also, after listening to a recent interview with Pulitzer Prize winning author and historian David McCullough, I know I’m not alone. When asked about his research methods, he admitted that he continues researching right through the copyediting process. I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard this. If a noted historian of his stature can keep researching until the last minute, then so can I. After all, in the end it doesn’t matter when you get it right, as long as you do.