A Wintery True Story of Mine in Short Reads

If you want a heartwarming little tale for Christmas, I have one for you.  It took place near Flagstaff, Arizona, and be warned:  snow is involved.  

Read it here:

"To the Young Couple Building a Snowman on the Aspen Loop" on Short Reads

More Czech Christmas Traditions

Czechs seem to value traditional skills, and put them on display at as sorts of festivals, including Christmas markets.  

Here are a few I've been privileged to watch this season:

Weaving:

Woodcarving:

Whatever they're doing here (planing something, but I couldn't figure out what):

Carding wool:

Spinning:

Baking devil bread in traditional ovens:

Metalworking:

Using sheepdogs:

I love this country!

Just some Christmas Devils

This is one of my favorite Christmastime traditions in the Czech Republic. 

On St. Nicolas' name day (Dec 6), devils wander the streets scaring kids with brooms, cowbells, scary costumes and masks.  But if the kids are brave and can manage to sing a song or recite a poem to one of the accompanying angels, they get gingerbread.  All watched over, of course, by a kindly St. Nick.  

Here's me with one of the devils:

More devils,with a different style costume from a different village:

With St. Nicolas and an angel:

And this really scary one:

My story, "Foolish Promises" appears in Behind the Revolving Door Volume II.

The subtitle is An Anthology of Choices, and my main character certainly has an interesting one to make in "Foolish Promises," a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin.

Check it out here:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/behind-the-revolving-door-an-anthology-of-choices-volume-ii-ann-stolinsky/1148810351?ean=9781951967086

or here:

https://www.amazon.com/Behind-Revolving-Door-Anthology-Choices-ebook/dp/B0G4HSGHJ7