Answers and one last decoration.

If you read yesterday's post and the question I left had you up all night in anticipation, I won't keep you in suspense any longer. (If you're just tuning in, check out yesterday's post first.).
Well, my husband did the train set decoration. I did the crackers in the Dutch oven. 
How did you do? Did you guess correctly?
Well, my last snippet of life here at Christmastime shows another Christmas decoration. I got this one in Florida at one of those Christmas stores that are open all year round. But it is not quite what it seems. 

Yes, it's a tiny book tree decoration, but it's not the Holy Bible. It's only the New Testament. It's really all there, written in the smallest font I have ever seen, which is remarkable since I bought it in 1989, when computers didn't do much of this stuff. With a magnifying glass, you can actually read it.
It's important to me because within it is the true meaning of Christmas, one that has been lost to some. We celebrate the birth of a Child who would grow up to die so we can go to God with cleansed souls. He was born in such a lowly, filthy barn to an unmarried mother, that no one could claim to have been born more basal than He, yet He did extraordinary things for us. That's what we're celebrating. His gift to us. That's why we give gifts, in recognition of that.
Give gifts of love and time and of course, fun, this Christmas. Like the birth of any baby, it truly is a joyous time.
Merry Christmas!

Take a guess at who did which one!

The last few years, my husband had done much of the decorating, and I appreciate it. This year, he made a special decoration whilst I did the same. Can you guess who did which?

Now, there is this nice one. We bought this circus train set 20 years ago, (on sale after Christmas) and it lights up and plays music and the kids loved it. The candle on the left was a Christmas gift from the parents of a student in the class where I volunteer, and the church on the right holds a votive candle as well. I bought it at a candle party the year after I bought the train set. It's lovely when it's lit up.

The other decoration is simpler. It's a Dutch oven pot, the kind you cover with hot coals and bury in the ground. This Christmas it's filled with festive crackers. They'd lost favour for a few years, but are back. I remember them from my childhood. Do you?

So, who did which decoration? The answer tomorrow.
 

A few of my favourite decorations

I am not the fashionable tree decorator with in vogue decorations that are tailored to her house. I am not fashionable at all. But rather, I have decorations that mean something to me. I still have homemade decorations and silly ones that were given to me, and even ones that don't match!
I thought I would share a few of my favourite ones with you.
Where we lived years ago, there was a large grocery store down the road and one year, they featured a Pillsbury pastry giveaway. If you bought so many Pillsbury roll packets, you would receive a Beanie Baby like toy. I thought they were cute, and bought enough Pillsbury rolls so I could get all three versions.

 This one, 

and this one,

and lastly, this one.
At various Christmases, they've hung from my tree, or curtains, like this year, or even been tucked away to make their reappearance special. One year, I lost one, but it miraculously appeared the next year. Like most of my Christmases, they are fun, have no ancient significance, (unless you equate them to man's enduring love of bread products,) but they do cheer us up. 
Tomorrow, I will share with you two new decorations. One of my husband's making and one of my own.
 

Is the meat pink?

Okay, I haven't posted in a while, for which I am sorry. But this one should be a nice little bit of insight into my life.
Did you notice the title? I stole this line from a friend named Michael, and I honestly hadn't thought the way he was thinking. Take a look at this photo of the inside of my freezer.

My husband felt we needed the largest turkey we could find. So, we went to Jurassic Park Groceries, and- Okay, the store wasn't called that, but he found this enormous turkey and had to have it. So I thought I would snap a photo of it in the freezer, thinking it would show how big it was.
Well, that didn't work out. It actually looks kind of piddly next to that can of lobster meat, which some of you may not know is in reality, fairly large. That's not tuna can size, you know.
But the funny part was that my friend, Michael, asked, "Is the meat pink?", and it took me a minute to figure out what he meant. 
No, no! This is NOT a frozen flamingo ready to be cooked!  Look closer! Turkey? Dindon? (which is French for turkey) Get it? It's just a big turkey.
And my husband wants to cook it before Christmas. Yup. We're going out this year to two separate family dinners and he wants his turkey beforehand. 
So begins the Christmas fun. I have some other snippets of 'getting ready for the holidays', so tune in tomorrow!

Shhh!! The Librarian is here!

My book is being featured Thursday at The Fussy Librarian, a new website that offers personalized ebook recommendations. 

You choose from 32 genres and indicate preferences about content and then the computers do their thing and voila! What you get is pretty cool -- check it out! www.TheFussyLibrarian.com

Montlake, Amazon's new publishing house, has a new book

Donna Fasano – Reclaim My Heart 

12 November 

 Now with Montlake Romance - Release Day TODAY 12 November, 2013

On becoming a Montlake Author:

Let me tell you about my wonderful publishing experience! I have to back up a little bit… to this past spring. I self-published a romance titled Reclaim My Heart. The book received great reviews immediately, and it sold well from the beginning. Very well. In fact, during the first week of August I was enjoying a mug of coffee while perusing the USA Today Bestseller's List (my usual Thursday morning routine), and I nearly choked when I saw that Reclaim My Heart was sitting at #123 on the list. A couple of days later I was contacted by an editor from Montlake. She told me she'd read one of my books months before and had been keeping an eye on me. She said she'd read Reclaim My Heart and loved it. Now, what author doesn't love to hear that? She made an offer I couldn't refuse.

The Montlake editor and the design team loved the cover that was on the indie version of the book; however, Amazon had trouble licensing the rights to the image. So we searched for weeks before finding the picture that's on the current cover. I love it! And I hope my readers do, too.

I'm happy to be writing romance novels for Montlake. I feel wanted and appreciated, and it can't get much better than that in the publishing industry!

~Donna

Title:  Reclaim My Heart

Author: Donna Fasano

Publisher: Montlake Romance

Pages: 282

Formats: Paperback, eBook, AudioCD

ISBN: 978-1477817988

Purchase Now: ebook; Paperback

Audio CD

About The Book :

Sixteen years ago, Tyne Whitlock cut all ties to her past and left town under the shameful shadow of a teenage pregnancy. Now her fifteen-year-old son is in trouble with the law, and she is desperate for help. But reaching out to high-powered attorney Lucas Silver Hawk will tear open the heart-wrenching past in ways Tyne never imagined.

Forced to return to the Delaware Indian community where Lucas was raised, Tyne and Lucas are tempted by the heated passion that consumed them as teens. Tyne rediscovers all the reasons she found this man irresistible, but there are scandalous secrets waiting to be revealed, disgraceful choices made in the past that cannot be denied. Love is a powerful force that could heal them both—if the truth doesn't rip them apart.

Excerpt

From Chapter Two

"Please, Lucas."

He couldn't dismiss the tone of those two small words, nor could he ignore the magnitude of emotion clouding her expression. He had no choice but to relent.

"Sit down," he murmured. He closed the door of his office and then returned to perch himself on the corner of his desk. He steeled himself before asking, "What's on your mind?"

She seemed to shrink a little as a thousand thoughts ran though her head. Seconds passed, and still she didn't speak.

Lucas witnessed the phenomenon almost on a daily basis. The people who wound up in his office often felt as if they were carrying the world on their shoulders. He knew her anxiety would eventually discharge, and from the looks of it, he wouldn't have to wait long.

Finally, she pressed her hand to her chest. "I can't breathe."

"Relax. Do you want some water?"

She shook her head, a lock of her long, platinum hair falling over her forearm. "No. I need to get this out. I promised you I'd hurry."

He couldn't keep his brows from arching a fraction. She hadn't kept her promises in the past. Why would he expect her to now?

Tyne ran her tongue along her full bottom lip, hesitated another moment, then blurted, "I need a lawyer."

Lucas closed his eyes and stifled a sigh. He could have guessed as much, of course. He'd worked hard to get himself into the privileged position of being able to pick and choose his clients. The last person he wanted to represent was Tyne Whitlock.

"A good lawyer, Lucas."

Common sense told him Tyne wasn't attempting to flatter him. She was speaking purely out of desperation.

"Look, Tyne—" Something made him stop. He sighed, and then he stood, taking his time rounding his desk and sitting down. The leather-upholstered arms of the chair were cool and smooth under his fingertips.

"I know some of the best attorneys in the city." He plucked a pen from the cup on his desktop. "And many of them owe me a favor or two." He reached into his inside jacket pocket, pulled out one of the business cards he always kept handy, and turned it over, poised to write. "Let me give you some names and numbers—"

"I don't want just any attorney." Her chin lifted. "I want you. Why else would I have come here?"

His gaze lowered to the small white card in his hand. With much deliberation, he set down the pen and the card, and then he looked her directly in the eyes.

Every muscle in her body appeared board-stiff.

"Listen to me—" he kept his tone calm "—when people find themselves in trouble with the law, or victimized, or wrongfully sued, or unjustly accused, they tend to get lost in a strange, I don't know, franticness. A recklessness that they almost always regret. Believe me when I tell you that no situation is hopeless, and circumstances are rarely as desperate as they might be perceived. Whatever trouble you're in, don't let panic and fear haze your thinking."

"You don't understand."

"I think I do," he rushed to assure her. "I see it every day. Honest, hardworking people finding themselves in dire straits. And this unfamiliar territory throws them. They grasp at help from the first source that comes to mind."

"But—"

"Just like that old adage warning that only a fool acts as his own lawyer, it's also foolish to choose an attorney in haste. You and I have a past, Tyne, and even though all of that took place years and years ago, the fact remains that we have a history. I don't believe I would be the best person to represent you in a court of law. You need someone who'll be totally unbiased. Let me give you some names. I'll make some calls for you myself—"

"Stop!" She lifted her hands and scooted to the edge of the seat. "You don't understand. And I can't make you understand if you won't shut up for a minute."

His eyebrows arched and the frustration in her statement had him leaning back a bit.

She frowned. "I'm sorry. Really, I am. I had to stew all day yesterday." She fisted her hands in her lap. "I didn't expect to reach anyone on a Sunday, but do you know that your firm doesn't offer an emergency number on the answering machine?" She exhaled with force. "I'm a nervous wreck just being here. Seeing you. But all that aside, I shouldn't have snapped at you. Please accept my apology."

He didn't react, didn't move. He just waited for her to continue.

"The thing is… what you need to know…"

Once again, she grew terribly cautious, and Lucas found that extremely curious. What the hell was it she found so hard to tell him? What kind of trouble was she in?

She blanched, but then her spine straightened. "I'm not the one who needs a lawyer. I want to hire you, yes. But I'm not the one needing representation. It's my son who's in trouble." A nerve at the corner of her eye ticked, but her gaze never veered from his as she added, "Our son, Lucas."

About Donna Fasano

Donna Fasano is a three time winner of the HOLT Medallion, a CataRomance Reviewers Choice Award winner for Best Single Title, a Desert Rose Golden Quill Award finalist, and  a Golden Heart finalist. Her books have sold over 3.6 million copies worldwide and have been published in nearly two dozen languages. Her books have made the Kindle Top 100 Paid List numerous times, climbing as high as #17.

What others are saying about Donna’s books:

“…complex, funny, and realistic…” ~Wilmington News Journal

“Excellent!” ~Bookreview.com

“Could not help myself from reading excerpts to my husband and friends. This book is well written, the characters are real, everyday folks. It is very easy to identify with them. Donna Fasano is a talented author.” ~Elizabeth M. Caldwell on Amazon

“…a fast paced riotous look at family life today. Donna Fasano is right on target!”

~Donna Zapf, SingleTitles.com

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