How Elves Celebrate Christmas
December 25th, 2014
The Elves from the realm that Lily traveled to are just now experiencing
Christmas for the first time. Typically they celebrate Yule or the Dark Days,
as do their Fairy and Dwarven cousins. The Elves are a very generous people who
enjoy a reason to celebrate with family and friends, so it didn’t take much for
the holiday to catch on when the new princess introduced it.
So how did it go? Prince Maerryn took a group of castle
guards to find a tree large enough for the great hall. Tallyn stayed behind to
keep an eye on Lily, who has a tendency to overdo things. Their Christmas
started with a large breakfast, then everyone in the castle exchanged gifts
around the tree in the main hall. In a grand gesture King Naelym provided gifts
of appreciation to his entire castle staff.
Meanwhile, at the North Pole the Dwarven Kringle family,
which has overseen Christmas and the entire Holiday season for countless generations,
is enjoying a 48-hour party.
Markus, who is the reigning Santa Claus, leaves to
deliver presents when the first time zone in the Human realm hits 9PM Christmas
Eve. He will then travel across all time zones delivering presents into the wee
hours of Christmas morning before returning home. The celebration begins when
Markus leaves and ends at 9AM on December 26th.
Much of the North Pole staff are volunteer and come to help
out from October to the New Year. For the staff that is paid and full-time, the
first of 2 yearly vacations begin. This one runs from Christmas Eve to the
first Monday after New Year’s. The other is 2 weeks long at the beginning of
July.
This year Justin Kringle, the COO of the North Pole, has
extra to celebrate what with his new fiancé. The entire Pole is in an uproar
preparing for an amazing engagement party to take place on New Year’s Eve. (You
can read more about this December 31st on Isabelle’s blog
elvenlife.com!) Joy Kringle is Facebook plotting on how to get an entire Werewolf
clan to the North Pole for New Year’s.
To all our visitors today and all my readers, I hope you
enjoy my newest books and I hope you have a very Happy Christmas!
Practical Uses for Princes with Pointed Ears
Otherworld Realms
Book 1
Isabelle Saint-Michael
Genre: Paranormal Romance/ Fantasy Romance
Publisher: Otherworld Romance, LLC
Date of Publication: November 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-9908665-0-3
Paperback 978-0-9908665-1-0
ASIN:
Number of pages: 380
Word Count: 95,000
Cover Artist: CL Smith
Book Description:
Lillian Chambers was just an ordinary high school teacher, until she fell through a Fairy Circle. When she came to on the other side, she was surprised to find herself in the company of an Elven prince she thought only existed in her dreams. Now she’s slaying monsters and rescuing Prince Tallyn, instead of playing the part of the damsel in distress.
Tallyn had been the protector of his kingdom for over one hundred years. He knows that the world is filled with danger around every corner, but these days he’s finding himself babysitting the annoyingly fearless Lady Lillian.
When their worlds collide sparks fly, humorous situations ensue and the only thing for sure is that neither will ever be the same. Practical Uses for Princes with Pointed Ears takes readers on an adventure into a modern fairytale where we explore what it really means to fall for Prince Not-so-Charming.
Available at Amazon
Excerpt
Practical Uses for Princes with Pointed Ears
My dreams were
more vivid than usual. It was like I was standing there with my favorite
imaginary hunk. He and several others were packing up horses. There was a great
deal of laughter and teasing among the men. They poked at each other until
finally he had to step in and tell them to calm down. Even as he reprimanded
them his smile shone brightly. I had never seen him smile with such a youthful
presence.
Moments later
another man appeared, just as handsome as my dream guy. “Tallyn!” he called,
and my heart skipped a beat as I watched the man of my dreams turn to wave.
“Tallyn,” I
could feel myself whispering. He turned and looked in my direction, as if he
had heard me. His face fell a little when he couldn’t see me standing there.
“What’s wrong?”
the taller man asked him.
I watched as
Tallyn shrugged. “I was just thinking about how I was going to have to see your
face every morning for the next few days and it quashed all the fun out of our
camping trip.”
The taller man
laughed, only to turn when someone called, "Maerryn!" which I guessed
was his name.
I could feel the
cool breeze on my skin, causing the hair on my arms to stand up. I watched with
interest as the men finished packing up and began to ride away. I followed them
through the forest I had seen a hundred times in my dreams. After a few hours
they crossed the river in a shallow area then headed up a steep cliff, guiding
their horses one at a time along the narrow ledge.
By midday the
group reached the top of the cliff and stopped for lunch. The food smelled
amazing cooked over the open fire. I felt my stomach rumble. When it did,
Tallyn placed a hand on his stomach and looked around with confusion.
He was beautiful
to look at, even with uncertainty creasing his brow. His green eyes deepened in
color and his breath stilled. It was like he was looking right at me but
couldn’t see me. With a shake of his head, he rejoined the conversation around
him.
They packed up
and left, heading across a path at the top of the cliff that led into another
forest. The group seemed more hesitant when they entered the new area. They
rode close together for hours, and when darkness finally threatened, they found
flat ground and made camp. The horses were tied up, dinner was caught and
prepared, and then the wine came out.
Boys will be
boys, I thought to myself as they laughed, sang and passed around the bottles.
Behind me I heard
the crack of twigs underfoot. Suddenly, I sensed someone else was there. I
turned, looking in the direction of the sound, and I saw shadows moving through
the woods towards the encampment. Panic filled me and I tried to scream, but I
was just a watcher without a voice.
Holiday Spirit for Hire
Otherworld Realms
Book Two
Isabelle Saint-Michael
Genre: Holiday/ Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Otherworld Romance, LLC
Date of Publication: November 14th, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-9908665-2-7
Paperback 978-0-9908665-3-4
Number of pages:164
Word Count:41,000
Cover Artist: CL Smith
Book Description:
When life handed half-werewolf Grace MacGregor a pink slip four weeks before Christmas, she was determined to get back to work as soon as possible. She just didn’t expect it to be the very next day – or at the North Pole. She now has four weeks to make other people’s holiday wishes come true, but will she be able to grant her own while she is at it?
Justin Kringle is the nephew of Santa Claus and his job is to keep operations of the Pole on point. When Grace is dropped bed and all into his work shop, he can’t decide if it’s love or hate at first sight. First impression: she’s a total mess. Can he keep her on track and remember to not mix business and pleasure?
Available at Amazon
Excerpt
Holiday Spirit for Hire
I settled into
bed with my favorite boyfriend, my laptop. Before long I had updated my resume,
applied for a half dozen jobs, checked flights home, and Facebooked with all of
my friends to see if anyone had any leads. I was about to shut down when the
pop from my email caught my attention.
I closed the other tabs and stared at my
inbox. It was from the OAC. The Otherworld Alignment Council was a group of
magical beings, things that go bump in the night, and people that made sure
that there were universal laws and regulations used across all the realms. They made sure there was a common language,
rules about magic, and laws that kept peace between the different races. Why they were emailing me I didn’t know.
To: Grace MacGregor
From: OAC
Subject:
The North Pole Needs You
Dear Ms. MacGregor,
It has been brought to the attention of
the OAC that you are no longer employed during this busy time of the year. Every Holiday season we rely on the help we
get from the Otherworld community to make the season bright. Your talents could be used now through the
end of the year helping deliver joyful winter holidays across all the realms.
Please see the attached application.
Applicants will be considered for a paid position. Please send a resume, two letters of
recommendation and magical aptitude test scores to the email listed below. If chosen we will need you to report
immediately for work.
Thank you and Happy Holidays,
Otherworld Alignment Council
I looked at the email again and
shrugged. “Why not?” I asked myself. I attached my resume, two recommendation
letters and a quick note explaining my father was a Scottish Werewolf Clansman
and that I was half human. I figured my
lack of magical abilities would keep me out of the fray. My father told me to always answer the OAC
right when they contacted you because they made the IRS look patient.
With a giggle to myself I closed the
windows on my laptop and shut it down.
Snuggling deep into my pillows I closed my eyes, giggling about what use
I could possibly be to the Great Holiday Front up North. Strangely enough I fell asleep with thoughts
of sugar plums dancing in my head
I awoke the next morning to the sounds of
clinking, clicking and power tools. I
opened my eyes involuntarily when a particularly loud noise sounded right over
my head. It was then I noticed my bedroom
was swarming with Gnomes and they seemed too busy to care I was sleeping.
“Excuse me!” I yelled. “Why are you in my bedroom?”
A few of them stopped, exchanged looks
with shrugs, and returned to work. I
wasn’t answered until a man with a heavy red braid down his back appeared.
“You are in their workshop, and it’s about
time you got up.” I climbed out of bed
angrily, prepared to demand that they leave.
“Nice pajamas,” he said with a grin as he looked me over. “If you follow me we will get you assigned
duties, uniforms and the rest of your paperwork filled out.”
I looked around what should have been my
room. I was on a toy factory floor. Only it looked like FAO Schwarz met Ikea. Bright colors with industrial-grade shelves
mixed with the old world charm of hand-carved wooden trim. All around me Gnomes were hustling to
complete toys. I looked in the direction
the redheaded man had gone and chased after him, abandoning my bed to the
factory.
About the Author:
Isabelle Saint-Michael is a cupcake enthusiast, shoe addict, and globetrotter. She is known for her sense of adventure and geeky hobbies. She is frequently seen haunting coffee shops and pubs into the wee hours of the morning. No matter where she goes, shenanigans and mirth are never far behind.
The blog that started it all- www.Elvenlife.com
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1 comment:
I loved the excerpt. Makes me scared/sad - good job :).
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