Finest Holidy Cocktail: Joy

On December 15, eight panicked phone calls and two text messages told me my father had suffered a stroke and was in the hospital. Without surgery, he wouldn't survive, yet the surgeon had to wait 48 hours past the stroke before operating, or Dad would die on the operating table. Then, the day before surgery was scheduled, Dad suffered a much bigger stroke. One that brought the entire ward staff at a sprint.

At 9PM that night, they said, 'emergency surgery.' Dad's vascular surgeon raced to the hospital and shouted down that notion. We had to wait another 48 hours for the most recent stroke lesion to heal a bit. Finally, late Friday night, 12/21, Dad had his life-saving surgery.

When Mom and I went to see him in recovery, afterwards, it was very clear from his reaction that he had not expected to wake up from this one. Not ever.

On Christmas Day, ten days after the first stroke, my father walked (because the hospital couldn't find a wheelchair) out of the hospital under his own power and went home with no appreciable deficit from either stroke event.

So here's the recipe for joy:

1 part relief
2 parts gratitude
1 store bought frozen lasagna put in the oven at the parents' house because all their food went bad over the 10 day roller coaster
1 part getting to say 'I love you'

It's been a strange and miraculous season for us. No matter whether you drink alcohol, or prefer tea (call Miro Tea in Seattle and order up a few ounces of Phoenix Dan Cong), I hope your celebrations have been filled with light and love and second (or third) chances.

Holiday toast

Folks, 2018 has been quite a time.  A crazy, disheartening year in many ways, but I've made the best of it. 

So, we made it!  Raise a glass.

(For me, said glass will have a whiskey sour.  I go very simple: three parts whiskey, two parts lemon juice, one part simple syrup.  There are plenty of variations, but I don't mess with that when I make it at home.)

So keep doing good work, hold your head up, and keep your powder dry.

Ye olde holiday boozy chat

Happy happy, everybody! My family contains many Catholic people plus some Jewish, Baptist, pagan, and agnostic folk as well, so winter holidays are a mishmash of we-all-like-each-other-ness, which makes for a heckuva celebration. It does not require adult beverages, but they aren't discouraged either.

Sadly, it hasn't been cold enough here in Austin for my favorite winter cocktail -- hot cocoa, Bailey's, and mini marshmallows -- but we have made do despite. Last year we didn't cocktail but instead drank a ... well, rather a lot of this South American red wine with llamas on the label, but I couldn't find that stuff this year. (Sadness.) We tried this as an alternative:

...which turned out not to be a complete abomination. I mean, if you accept the fact that you're drinking berry juice that's just a touch bitter, it's really okay.

My preferred cocktailish drink is always whiskey sour made with Makers Mark (I'm a cheap date) or Deep Eddy Ruby Red Vodka with something fizzy like Topo Chico. When accomplished bartenders or trusted friends are in charge, I love me a good Old Fashioned.

But you know what the best holiday mix is? A cozy fire, a good board game, some people who respect each other and can behave like adults despite any differences they may have, and time set aside just for each other. Snuggled, not stirred, and served warm with a side of giggles.

Perfect.

Merry, Merry Christmas!

Dear Readers,

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

I'm supposed to post about a favorite holiday cocktail.

I don't drink.

I LOVE hot chocolate!

Happy holidays, folks!

Merry Book Joy!

I'm supposed to post about a favorite holiday cocktail - okay, I was supposed to do it yesterday - but I'm sharing this fantastic giveaway instead. And drinking the holiday cocktails!

Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday, whatever and however you celebrate!

My Bookish Anticipations for 2019

I tend to be a week by week person, discovering books in real time, since I do a New Releases post on my personal blog every Wednesday BUT having said that, I do have a few favorite authors with new releases scheduled in 2019 that I can look ahead to and happily anticipate:

Wolf Rain (Psy-Changeling Trinity Book 3) by Nalini Singh. I adore her world of the Psy, the Changelings and the humans. I’ll also be looking forward to the next book in her Guildhunter series because – and this is really rare for me – I have yet to read the latest novel, which came out in October 2018. I’m aware that the book has what is to me an unsatisfactory ending, a cliffhanger, and I abhor those with a wild passion, even when written by my favorite author. (I can handle Happy for Now endings though.) Usually a cliffhanger is enough to cause me to never read another book by that author but in this case, because it’s Nalini, I’m waiting and will read book 11 only when book 12 is available. I trust her to do right by the characters. I just don’t want to wait a year to have the resolution. I’d rather wait a year to read the previous book and then gobble up book 12. Shrug.

Warrior of the World (Chronicles of Dasnaria Book 3) by Jeffe Kennedy, which arrives January 8^th – yay! I’ll also be excited to read the next Uncharted Realms book the second it hits my kindle. LOVE that world and any and all stories set therein.

Wild Country (World of the Others) by Anne Bishop. I’ve been hooked on the world of the Others since reading the first novel, so I’m happy the author decided to continue telling us stories set there even after finishing the original series. I wasn’t ready to leave!

Storm Cursed (A Mercy Thompson Novel Book 11) by Patricia Briggs. I never get enough Mercy Thompson stories. Or Alpha and Omega stories, set in the same world. I understand she might release a novel about the blind witch and her wolf in 2019 as well, who have appeared as supporting characters a few times so I have my fingers crossed for that.

I look forward to new books from Ilona Andrews as they are a must click immediately buy for me and I’m sure they have several 2019 titles coming…

Moving away from fantasy, Mary Balogh is my favorite Regency romance author and I hope she has a 2019 release. I enjoy spending time in her well-drawn stories, waltzing and sipping tea…

Ever since I was a little kid, I always put “And surprises…” at the end of my Christmas list, so that’s how I’ll wrap up this post – I’m looking forward to all kinds of good surprises in the form of new books by other favorite authors and new-to-me authors in 2019! My resolution: keep reading (finally found a resolution I won’t break LOL.)

Books to look for in 2019

How is this year already almost over? I still have plenty of goals to fulfill over the next... eleven days?  So I need to keep my nose on that grindstone. 

But not before sharing a few books that I'm looking forward to in 2019!

TITANSHADE: I've been excited for this debut from one of the newest in DAW's stable, Dan Stout, for some time.  1970s-esque secondary world fantasy buddy cop story with disco and 8-tracks?  YES PLEASE.  

JADE WAR: I thoroughly enjoyed Fonda Lee's first Green Bone Saga novel, Jade City, and I'm very excited to see what she does next with this one.

THE SOL MAJESTIC: Just the other day Ferrett Steinmetz tweeted about this book about a gourmet restaurant at a remote space station and THAT IS ALL I NEED TO HEAR.  Let's have at it.

THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR:  I've been aching for a good rival-factions-from-alternate-futures time war story, and I DO NOT HAVE TIME TO WRITE IT.  So thank goodness that Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone have.  WANT.

That's just a handful of things on my radar.  (Of course, A Parliament of Bodies and Shield of the People are as well.)  Hopefully I will be getting them in my hands and getting a chance to read them.  Looking forward to it.

What 2019 books are on your radar?