Merry Yule to all!

Today we celebrate Yule, which is also called Solstice. Tonight is the longest night of the year, and it is traditional that the sun be greeted at dawn, and then at dusk a Yule log is burned to keep the spirit of fire and light (in other words, the sun) alive so that it may be reborn with the next dawn, and then grow anew and lengthen our days from there. Ancient peoples saw this as honoring the god (represented by the sun) being born of the goddess (represented by the earth). I had a lovely time today lighting my candle in the morning, and then treating the wild birds and squirrels with cranberries, peanut butter sandwiches(a huge hit with the squirrels), fruit muffins, and various other goodies I left in the lovely old redbud in my back yard. This evening I will burn my Yule log and watch for the sun's return.

Here's wishing you all a merry Yule and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

PC

Fun in London!

Kristin and I spent a lovely (but wet and cold) week in London meeting with our wonderful UK publishing team at Little, Brown (Atom). MARKED, BETRAYED, and CHOSEN will be released there Jan., Feb., and March, so we went over for some early promo. Except for the food poisoning I got from our hotel restaurant the night before we left (don't even ask...it was so awful), we had a wonderful time.

Check out some of the Brit kids at a bookstore outside London - Kristin and I read chapter 1 of MARKED to them and answered lots of questions. We heart them!


Naturally, Kristin and I had to do some dorkish tourist stuff. (Actually, we heart some dorkish tourist stuff!)

Here's our lovely Beefeater guide at the Tower of London. This guy was mega-cool.


Of course we saw the changing of the guard (in the rain). Oh, check out Kristin getting way too close to this large odd bird that was in the park outside Buckingham Palace.



Us being morons:


Oooh, we saw Le Cage Aux Falles (the play the Birdcage was based on) in this theater. It was fabulous. I may have had too much champagne. Good thing Kristin was there to help me stumble back to the hotel.


Speaking of our hotel - we stayed across the street from Trafalgar Square. Here's a wretched picture of me at the Square.


All in all we had a great time! Stay tuned for a full report from my trip to Italy later this month! And a Happy Holiday and Merry Yule to all of you!

XXXOOO
PC