When I think of my all-time favorite Christmas stories, it is so difficult to just choose one. As a child (and still as an adult), I loved ‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. When I was in 2nd grade, we all had a portion to memorize and then presented it in full in a Christmas concert. I think I still have it memorized in its entirety! I also loved HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS and still enjoy it very much.  As an adult, my favorite Christmas books have probably been THE PAPER BAG CHRISTMAS by Kevin Alan Milne and THE CHRISTMAS SHOES by Donna Van Liere. When I look at all of these stories, I think the reason I love them all so much is the focus on heart in each of them.  Heart is what speaks to me as a reader and is what I always strive to give my readers in my own writing.

At this time, I don’t have a holiday book per se (though am in the process of roughing out some ideas I have for one), but my book, BEDTIME KISSES, is one that will always speak to my heart. 

If interested, readers can check it out at any of the following:

4RV Publishing:
http://www.4rvpublishingcatalog.com/karin-larson.php
 
Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Bedtime-Kisses-Karin-Larson/dp/1940310156/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Bedtime+Kisses%2C+Karin+Larson&qid=1574453033&sr=8-1
 
Barnes & Noble:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bedtime-kisses-karin-larson/1119282595?ean=9781940310152
 
My website for autographed copies:
www.karinlarson.com

Ghosts of Christmases Past…

“Old Marley was as dead as a doornail.”

Love that last line in the first paragraph of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. “Dead as a doornail” really sticks out in my mind. Boy, Dickens sure had a way with words! And believe it or not, Charles Dickens wrote the classic Christmas tale as a novella—something I never knew. I decided to read A Christmas Carol for the first time about five years ago. I knew the story like the back of my hand, and most movies based on the book were true to form. But there’s nothing like reading the actual script written by an author’s hand. Though the language was a little archaic, it still didn’t take away from the magic of the story, and it still had that nostalgic feeling I got from watching Ebenezer Scrooge’s amazing transformation on the little screen as a young girl at Christmastime.

Through Scrooge’s ghostly visitations, we got a glimpse of the man behind the mask. Who he was, and what circumstances and choices created his reality. We often don’t see what we’ve created until, like Scrooge, we’re faced with a crisis or fear. When I sat down to write Lost and Found, the first book in Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls, I wanted to create a new series that would make readers feel like they were immersed in a small, northern tourist town that brought back a sense of the ‘good old days’ for them—just as A Christmas Carol does for me. I also wanted to give this teen psychic mystery series a reminiscent feeling coupled with a sense of adventure and…wait for it…the supernatural. Welcome to Fairy Falls. Expected the unexpected.  

I find that many holiday stories have a way of making us reassess our own lives, of reliving the joyful and the challenging times, so that we hopefully wake up and make better choices like Scrooge did. This is what I’ve learned from my Ghosts of Christmases past. And this is why I write books that take you away to another time, and hopefully to a better place.

God bless us, every one!

If you’re curious about Lost and Found, here’s the tagline and blurb:

Fairy Falls was bores-ville from the get-go. Then the animals started talking... 
The Fairy Falls Animal Shelter is in trouble. Money trouble. It’s up to an old calico cat named Whiskey—a shelter cat who has mastered the skill of observation—to find a new human pack leader so that their home will be saved. With the help of Nobel, the leader of the shelter dogs, the animals set out to use the ancient skill of telepathy to contact any human who bothers to listen to them. Unfortunately for fifteen-year-old Meagan Walsh, she hears them, loud and clear.

Forced to live with her Aunt Izzy in the safe and quiet town of Fairy Falls, Meagan is caught stealing and is sentenced to do community hours at the animal shelter where her aunt works. Realizing Meagan can hear her, Whiskey realizes that Meagan just might have the pack leader qualities necessary to save the animals. Avoiding Whiskey and the rest of shelter animals becomes impossible for Meagan, so she finally gives in and promises to help them. Meagan, along with her newfound friends, Reid Robertson and Natalie Knight, discover that someone in Fairy Falls is not only out to destroy the shelter, but the animals as well. Can Meagan convince her aunt and co-workers that the animals are in danger? If she fails, then all the animals’ voices will be silenced forever.

The Last Timekeepers Time Travel Adventure Series:

The Last Timekeepers and the Dark Secret, Book #2 Buy Links:
MIRROR WORLD PUBLISHING ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀
The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis, Book #1 Buy Links:
MIRROR WORLD PUBLISHING ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀
Legend of the Timekeepers, prequel Buy Links:
MIRROR WORLD PUBLISHING ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀
 
Mysterious Tales from Fairy Falls Teen Psychic Mystery Series:

Lost and Found, Book One Buy Links:
MIRROR WORLD PUBLISHING ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀
Blackflies and Blueberries, Book Two Buy Links:
MIRROR WORLD PUBLISHING ׀ AMAZON ׀ BARNES & NOBLE ׀

Sharon Ledwith is the author of the middle-grade/young adult time travel adventure series, THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS, and the teen psychic mystery series, MYSTERIOUS TALES FROM FAIRY FALLS. When not writing, researching, or revising, she enjoys reading, exercising, anything arcane, and an occasional dram of scotch. Sharon lives a serene, yet busy life in a southern tourist region of Ontario, Canada, with her hubby, one spoiled yellow Labrador and a moody calico cat.

Learn more about Sharon Ledwith on her WEBSITE and BLOG. Look up her AMAZON AUTHOR page for a list of current books. Stay connected on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, PINTEREST, LINKEDIN, INSTAGRAM, and GOODREADS.

BONUS: Download the free PDF short story The Terrible, Mighty Crystal HERE

TOMORROW (Wednesday December 11th), you’ll find me and “Merry Myrrh, the Christmas Bat” at Indigo Yonge and Eglinton (Toronto) with a whole slew of other CANSCAIP authors signing books at a special display in the Children’s Book area (upstairs)!

This special event starts at 4pm and I should be there for about an hour signing. Leftover copies will remain for the holiday season. I hope to see you there!

Check back for more info on my next “Merry Myrrh” event at Church in the City on the Esplanade...

We talk about Merry Myrrh, the Christmas Bat and some good ol' fashioned writer-related stuff.

Check it out HERE!

And let me just leave my Merry Myrrh trailer right here...

I received a couple of lovely reviews of Merry Myrrh, the Christmas Bat recently and wanted to share them during this most magical time of year.

First we have a review done for Reader View Kids by Lydia Dehning (age 6), with a note from her mom:

“Merry Myrrh The Christmas Bat” by Regan W.H. Macaulay is the story about a baby bat who has an interest in Christmas after hearing about its excitement from his parents. Myrrh’s parents are named Mr. and Mrs. Raft, and they are barn bats. Before Myrrh was born, every year they would wake up during the winter to look in the window of a house and see all of the Christmas decorations. The bats see the Nativity first by the window, with the Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. Then they see the Christmas tree with pretty ornaments and tinsel around it. Next, they see the candles on the mantel over the fire with the stockings and toy sleigh with reindeer. After seeing all of this, the bats go back to the barn and sleep the rest of the winter. Then Myrrh was born, and he was named that because they loved Christmas so much.

The bats talked about Christmas a lot, but they wouldn’t let Myrrh go with them. Myrrh got his friend Sensa Squirrel to wake him up early so he could go on his own, without his parents knowing. When he looked in the window, he saw all of the pretty Christmas decorations, and he saw that the window wasn’t closed all the way. He snuck into the house and got into things and that made the people inside wake up and find him. They were nice and took him back outside to the barn where his parents were waiting for him. His parents forgave Myrrh for sneaking out and they all went back to sleep. I really liked this book because I like reading Christmas books. This was a fun story that I think is a good one to read around Christmas time, or any time of the year.

A Note from Mom: “Merry Myrrh, The Christmas Bat” by Regan W.H. Macaulay was a cute story about the feelings that Christmas can give us. I liked how the author made it a point to talk about both sides of Christmas, the Christian and the secular sides; too often it seems like Christmas is made to be just a secular holiday, when there are quite a few people that celebrate the Christian aspect of the holiday as much, if not more. At the end, the story shows a loving and forgiving set of parents and paints a lovely picture of Christmastime for kids of all ages.