Bronwyn Green

Merlin Club: Lamia or The One Where Leon Fucks Up Again

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December 19, 2014

Thanks to Tamsin Frost for this week’s title – because she’s awesome.

This is also the one where I want to repeatedly throat punch Lamia just to make her stop talking with that awful, breathy, little girl voice. I know, I know. I’m sounding really violent right now, but I have a horrible headache, and I think I’m coming down with something. *drinks all the Gypsy Cold Care tea in the world*

Anyway, I hate this episode. I hate it like mad. It’s one of my least favorite ones. Possibly my least favorite. Whatever. It’s awful.

Basically, there’s this outlying village in Camelot, and all the men are being struck down by this strange illness. Some old friends of Gwen’s live in the village and ride to Camelot for help. Gaius can’t go because there’s some sort of vague sweating sickness going around, and he’s got to stay there to take care of that. But the way the lines are delivered, it honestly just sounds like Gaius doesn’t want to go and it’s a convenient excuse.

So he suggests sending Merlin and after some questioning of Merlin’s skills, Arthur agrees and sends Gwen, Leon, Elian Percival and Gwaine with them as an escort. They get to the village, Merlin is unable to heal the stricken with magic and then suspects that it must be magic that made them sick in the first place.

They go head back to Camelot to tell Arthur and get Gaius or something, and they find this young woman tied up in the woods with a bunch of dead, or at least mostly dead, marauders. The young woman has clearly been through an ordeal. Everyone wants to take care of her, but when Merlin tries to tend to her, she flips shit.

Using her breathy, little girl lost voice, Lamia (for that is her name) beguiles the knights and leads them farther into the woods, away from Camelot. Gwen and Merlin figure out something is wrong, but no one will listen to them. They all have their heads up Lamia’s ass.

Meanwhile, Arthur, Gaius, Agravaine and some other knights head to the stricken village. They discover that Merlin and everyone have left for Camelot and Gaius diagnoses the sick as having been attacked by a Lamia. They go off in search of Gwen and Merlin and co. and discover that their tracks are leading them away from Camelot. Arthur comes across the spot where the others found Lamia and discover one of dead guys is only mostly dead. He gives them the scoop on Lamia and Arthur and crew continue on searching for Merlin and Gwen while Agravaine whines and wants to go home. I guess he’s bored or something.

In the middle of the night, while Elian is keeping watch, Lamia kisses him and renders him mostly dead by stealing his energy, I guess. Gwen flips shit when they find him and Lamia convinces the remaining knights to take Elian to this creepy abandoned castle, because you can always find the best healers at creepy, abandoned castles.

Merlin and Gwen know she’s full of shit and try to convince the knights but Leon completely loses it and rips Merlin a new one yelling about how Merlin never liked Lamia anyway or something, and drags Elian through the forest to the creepy, abandoned castle. Merlin and Gwen follow along anyway, because what choice do they have if they want to save Elian?

Once in the castle, Lamia darts away and hides and starts eliminating the other knights separating them and then kissing them and stealing their souls. Or energy. Or will to live. Every time she spoke, she stole my will to live. She eventually turns into her monster form and fights Merlin, telling him his magic is useless. But then Gwen, who’s completely bad ass in this episode, picks up a sword, runs in and attacks the monster. The creature knocks them down and Arthur kills it from behind.

Once it’s dead, everyone recovers and Arthur is super impressed (and clearly sexually excited) by Gwen’s badassery and waxes poetic about it. Merlin gets no credit for anything – like usual.

Fin.

Okay…the questions!

1.) If I’d written this episode… I would have gotten a different damn actress to play Lamia. Or at least given her better vocal direction.

2.) The thing I loved/hated most about this episode. Hated: Mostly the whole episode, really. Not sure I can narrow it down more than that. Loved: There’s not a lot I like about this episode other that Merlin’s frequent “real sick of your shit” faces. See example below:

3.) Something you never noticed about this episode before. How there was tons and tons of hanging ivy growing from the ceiling inside the creepy, abandoned castle even though it was super dark because the roof appeared to be intact. Hey, set designer…plants need light to grow.

4.) Favorite costume. Gwen’s cape jacket cloak thing – which I will be developing a sewing pattern for. Because I need it. And, it looks pretty easy.

5.) Here is some proof of some random head canon I’ve created. Nothing this week.

6.) What Merthur moment did Jess have the naughtiest thoughts about? I’m not sure it’s really a Merthur moment, but we all know that Jess rewrites virtually every bit of Merlin/Arthur interaction in her head, so I’m going with when Arthur told Gaius Merlin couldn’t find his own backside. (In Jess’ version, Arthur volunteers to help him.)

7.) What made Jen lose her shit – in a good or bad way? Agravaine’s general whiny-ness and his disappearing armor.

Here’s Jess‘ take on the episode, and here’s Jen’s

All I Want for Christmas…is not Mariah Carey

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December 17, 2014

No really. She bugs the ever loving hell out of me. Mariah Carey. Not this little girl. This kid is awesome. And reminds me of Jenny Trout’s daughter.

Okay – so my Christmas gift list isn’t terribly extensive or expensive …well, okay, one thing is, but this is what’s on my list besides gifts for humanity that involve things like world peace, foods free of GMOs and toxins, an environment free of pollution, equality, food, water and medical care for all..

Okay…my list.

1.) Health and happiness for my friends and family.

2.) A wonderful new job with awesome health insurance for my husband.

3.) A clean house.

4.) A clean refrigerator.

5.) A kitten. (Just a small one.)

6.) A pile of finished manuscripts.

7.) A new laptop. Mine is trying to die.

What’s on your list? Share! And click the names below to find out what my fellow bloggers would like to find under their trees.

Merlin Club: The Secret Sharer or The One Where Morgana is Incapable of Figuring Shit Out Even When It’s Obviously Being Spelled Out

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December 12, 2014

This episode opens with Greasy Agravaine finding and unconscious Morgana in the woods. He tenderly (and also creepily) carries her back to her hovel and nurses her back to health. As she’s recuperating, she comes up with the brilliant plan of having Gaius kidnapped so he can be tortured to reveal who and where Emrys is so she can defeat him.

Merlin wakes Arthur up for a full day of kingly duties by pretty much climbing into bed with him while being pathologically perky. Arthur, understandably, is annoyed. And even more annoyed when he finds out one of the day’s duties involves a garland judging contest.

Morgana, feeling much better now, goes to some exotic looking city to find The Catha. Basically a priest of the Old Religion who specializes in torture. She convinces him to kidnap Gaius and torture him for info about Emrys.

GA goes back to Camelot and puts a bug in Arthur’s ear about the traitor, and again, hints strongly how it must be Gaius, and Arthur doesn’t want to believe it, but agrees to have him questioned. And GA pompously does the questioning while Arthur paces around looking tortured but says nothing.

Later that night, while GA keeps Merlin busy with a meaningless gift for Arthur, The Catha and a henchman sneak into Camelot, kidnap Gaius and his horse and make it look as though Gaius has run off – a traitor to the kingdom. GA has Gaius’ rooms searched, and of course after destroying all the crockery, the find the evidence GA planted. Arthur is upset and hurt, but believing the super obvious lies GA has woven, he opts not to give chase.

Morgana shows up at the cave where Gaius is being held and does her prerequisite taunting of Gaius and informs him that it’s to be torture and then leaves. (Why do the bad guys always fucking leave while their plots are being carried out instead of seeing them through to completion. If you’re a TV villain, you should know shit isn’t going to work out for you if you wander away to rat your hair or whatever it is Morgana does in her down time. Stay there and see it through.)

Merlin, knowing something isn’t right, defends Gaius, but Arthur refuses to listen, so Merlin investigates on his own. In GA’s chamber, he finds weird mug on GA’s boots and after taking a sample, is forced to hide when GA returns. And the audience is forced to watch GA take off his tunic. I’m here to tell you that no one wants to see this man naked. No one.

Merlin goes back to Gaius chambers where he starts cleaning up the mess the guards made while they were searching for planted evidence and Gwaine happens by all sassy and hot and I think maybe a little drunk. Merlin protests Gaius’ innocence to Gwaine and shows him the weird mud, which course Gwaine recognizes as iron ore and happily, it’s only found in one spot in all of Camelot. So they take off to search for Gaius.

GA, figuring out that Merlin suspects, rides off to warn Morgana while Merlin and Gwaine find the cave and search for Gaius. Once inside, they separate.

Gaius, exhausted from hours or perhaps days of torture, finally tells The Catha the truth about Emrys – his true identity and how he’s going to make everything better for all of Albion including magic users.

Just then, Morgana finds Merlin and starts magically throwing him around and threatening him with a hovering dagger, and The Catha shows up. He tells her he knows the truth about Emrys – that he knows exactly who and where Emrys is (all while staring intently and pointedly at Merlin) but Morgana remains oblivious, though tantrumy.

The Catha knocks her ass out and vows his loyalty to Merlin while Gwain frees Gaius from the stone altar deal he was on and forces GA to admit that Gaius had been kidnapped and wasn’t the traitor. They all return to Camelot and Gaius insists that Arthur must never know GA was behind his kidnapping. Arthur apologizes to Gaius. End scene with my rage.

Okay…the questions!

1.) If I’d written this episode… I wouldn’t have had The Catha be such an idiot about the identity of Emrys. Sure. Stare intently at the guy you’re vowing to protect while the person who wants him dead is standing right there. Listening to your every word. And if I had done that, I would have had Morgana figure it the fuck out. I hate that they’ve written her to be stupid.

2.) The thing I loved/hated most about this episode. Hated: So. Many. Things. Morgana and The Catha being willfully stupid about Emrys. Gaius insisting that Arthur must never know that GA was behind Gaius’ kidnapping and torture because Arthur has a fondness for his uncle. For fucking seriously!?!?!!? What’s that fondness gonna do for him when he ends up dead because his beloved uncle is plotting against him to put Morgana on the throne? OMG, I can’t even tell you how this enrages me. And this is after he gaslighted Morgana for years and fucked her all up. Yeah, Gaius, how did *that* work out for you? Loved: I loved Merlin waking Arthur up and listing off all the bullshit Arthur had to do that day and him being such a gleeful dick about it. Oh! And Gwaine and Merlin’s awesome friendship that we don’t see nearly enough of and Gwaine’s willingness to trust and help Merlin. Love. It.

3.) Something you never noticed about this episode before. How Arthur never said anything at all while GA was questioning Gaius.

4.) Favorite costume. Arthur’s bedding.

5.) Here is some proof of some random head canon I’ve created. I didn’t create it, but GA seems to have a really unhealthy fascination with Morgana.

6.) What Merthur moment did Jess have the naughtiest thoughts about? Merlin jumping into Arthur’s bed to wake him up. We all know that in Jess’ head, it didn’t stop there.

7.) What made Jen lose her shit – in a good or bad way? When she started watching and commenting on the wrong episode.

Here’s Jess‘ take on the episode, and here’s Jen’s.

Five Biggest Writing Distractions

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December 10, 2014

Yep…that’s me. I wander through life if a distracted daze, but most of the time, I still manage to get stuff done. But, it would be a lot easier without my top five distractions.

1.) The internet. Hands down, this is my biggest distraction – Tumblr, Facebook, Pinterest, blogs, Twitter, email, Ravelry, Netflix, Etsy…oh yeah. I’m a train wreck when it comes to the internet. And I often have to try to convince myself to disable it so I can work. I back you can imagine how that works. o.O

2.) Stress. Stress is a huge damn distraction for me. It’s almost impossible to focus on getting words out when there are stressful life situations going on.

3.) My family. Usually, I can get writing done in the mornings – no prob. However, my husband has recently had some changes in his work schedule that mean I am literally never. alone. in. my. house. I love my family. More than I have the words to express, but I crave solitude. I work better if I can be alone for several hours a day. This has not happened in the last month and I’m losing my damn mind. Yes, because of the schedule shift, he’s sleeping part of that time that I’m awake, but it’s not the same. At all. I’m hoping that there’s a shiny new job on the horizon.

4.) Other projects. It’s no secret that I like to get my craft on. I really like to get it on around Christmas time. It’s hard to force myself to write when there’s all this lovely yarn and fabric to be had.

5.) ADD. Looking at this list, I’m sure it’ll come as a surprise to NO ONE that I have Attention Deficit Disorder. I am on some lovely meds that certainly help me focus. But I’ll admit, it’s not a hundred percent.

So, these are my five biggest distractions. Do you have anything that distracts you from getting your stuff done? If so, what is it? Click the names below to see the other bloggers distractions.

Happy Blissemas!

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December 9, 2014

The lovely Victoria Blisse invited me to take part in her annual Blissemas celebration, so obviously, I jumped on that. We’re all sharing holiday stuff, excerpts from our books and we’re giving away a Kindle Paperwhite – stuffed with smut, of course! So be sure to comment on this post to enter!

I just recently did a post on favorite holiday traditions filled with craftiness, but one thing I forgot to share is one of my favorite holiday recipes. So, I’ll share that with all the Blissemas, peeps!

My Grandma emigrated to the States from Wales after WWII. She met and married my Grandpa who was an American soldier stationed in Cardiff. One of the things she brought with her (besides the best knitting skills I’ve ever seen) was the recipe for Welsh Cakes. She’d make them for all the major holidays, but there were always a ton of them at Christmas. Now, I make them for my my family.

These are delicious little griddle cakes that our whole family adores. Despite the looks of all the sugar sprinkled on top, (my kids helped with these) they’re not too sweet, but they are delicious. I usually make some with currants and some without.

Welsh Cakes Recipe

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 ½ teaspoon allspice (ground)

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup sugar

½ cup butter (room temperature)

1 egg

½ cup milk

¼ cup currants (optional)

Sift flour, baking powder, allspice, salt and sugar together in a bowl. Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry blender or two knives. Stir the egg and milk together in a separate bowl. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix well. Blend in the currants. Gather the dough into a ball and roll it out onto a floured board until it’s ¼ inch thick. Cut two inch rounds out of the dough and cook on a very hot griddle or frying pan until lightly browned. Flip. Sprinkle with sugar while warm.

Note: Griddle must be hot enough for water to dance on the surface before cooking the cakes.

And now for something that is yummy, but with zero calories, I have an excerpt from my latest release, Finding You. It’s a paranormal NA novella that’s available now for just 99 cents! I’m so in love with this cover.

Blurb:

A year after Tabby Nolan’s sister vanished from the Lake Michigan shore with her boyfriend, Liam, Tabby visits the spot where the two were last seen–and finds herself pulled into the crumbling world of Avalon.

Since his disappearance, Liam has been trapped in the mythical land, with no link to the world he knew. Now, their shared memories of Tabby’s missing sister are all they can cling to as Avalon dies around them.

But Tabby doesn’t want to be a replacement for her sister, and her growing attachment to Liam feels like a betrayal. As Avalon fades around them, Liam and Tabby must rely on each other–or be lost with the ancient kingdom forever.

Excerpt:

My chest ached at the pain in her eyes, and I felt like an asshole for kissing her in the first place. I’d put her in this position of feeling as if she was betraying Samara. Making her choose between me and the ghost of her sister. “Tabby…”

“Just kiss me. Please.” Her voice broke a little on that last word, and I couldn’t leave her hanging like that. Even though I was the cause of her anguish, I also wanted to heal it. Hoping I wasn’t going to make things worse, I leaned forward and kissed her again. Harder this time.

I wanted to chase away all the ghosts that haunted us. She lifted her hands to my neck, sliding her fingers through my hair at my nape, sending shivers of awareness crawling down my spine. She pulled me closer, and my body bumped against her legs which were still drawn up. She slowly parted them, and I inched nearer.

She traced the seam of my lips, coaxing me to open for her—not that it took much—and kissed me hungrily. There was a kind of desperation in her; it shimmered beneath her skin and called to the same in me. More than anything, I wanted to press her to the ground and feel her softness beneath me. I wanted to surround myself in her. Sink into her and never surface again. I knew I should hold back, and Christ, I tried. But she pulled me more strongly than anyone else ever had. Even Samara. The stab of guilt I expected was oddly absent.

I knew I could blame my response to Tabby on being alone for the last three years, and she would probably claim that’s what it was if she knew what I was thinking. But it wasn’t that. It was just her.

I slid my hand along her arm and over her shoulder, her skin silky beneath my fingertips as I stroked my thumb down the side of her neck. She trembled at my touch. Her hands settled on my shoulders, and she tugged me toward her as she lay back on the grass. Though I tried to tell myself not to, my body was in no mood to listen. Without making a conscious decision, I followed her down.

I bit back a groan at the sensation of her body cradling mine, her breasts pressed against my chest. Lifting my head, I stared down into her face. Her lips were slightly kiss-swollen and her eyes almost sleepy looking as she looked up at me. She’d never looked more beautiful.

She raised her hand and gently brushed my hair out of my eyes, her fleeting touch soft. Stretching toward me, she kissed along the side of my neck to skim her lips along my jaw, and I wished I’d bothered to shave this morning. The thought disappeared as she scraped her teeth across the sensitive spot where my neck curved into my shoulder. This time, I couldn’t hold the groan back if I tried. It slipped out, sounding ragged even to my own ears.

By commenting on this post you get 1 entry into the Blissemas grand prize for a Kindle Paperwhite stuffed with smut. For a list of rules and other Blissemas blogs please check http://blissemas.co.uk .

Merlin Club: A Servant of Two Masters or The One Where Merlin is Positively Bitchy

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December 5, 2014

Okay, so Arthur, Merlin and the knights are riding out in some dangerous part of the forest…like you do, when they’re set upon by mercenaries. Merlin gets injured and Arthur saves him, getting separated from the other knights in the process. They have a heart to heart in the woods and spend the night alone together in the forest. (Yes…let’s all go to that place together. )

Anyhoo, the next morning, they’re set upon by bad guys again and Merlin saves Arthur by separating him from the mercenaries a(and Merlin) with a magical rock fall. Arthur is stricken and the mercenaries bring Merlin to Morgana. She’s disgusted by their (particularly Agravaine’s) ineptitude, but she makes the best of it and chains Merlin up in her hovel to torture him.

Arthur finds his way back to the knights and they return to Camelot? (!?!?) Arthur sends men out to look for Merlin (to no avail) and after a day or two or fretting (and dealing with his new and very able manservant, George) he heads out himself to look for Merlin.

After Morgana’s been just awful to Merlin for a while, she cuts off one of the writhing heads of a Fomorrah (basically a miniature hydra whose head also grows back) and inserts it at the base of Merlin’s neck and enchants it to force Merlin to kill Arthur.

Arthur is overjoyed to find Merlin alive, and they all head back to Camelot. Morgana activates the spell and Merlin almost immediately begins to try to kill Arthur. He poisons Arthur’s meal but arrives to Arthur’s room to discover that Gwen has already served Arthur. He gets super bitchy and pissy with Gwen, but everyone is willing to put his odd behavior down to having been the mercenaries’ prisoner for several days. Merlin tosses the poisoned but uneaten food in the pig pen thus killing a couple pigs and giving Medieval CSI team, Gaius and Gwen, their first clue.

Meanwhile, Arthur has deduced that the only way the mercenaries could have found them in order to ambush them in the first place, is if Agravaine was a traitor. He goes and confronts Agravaine and everything seems to be going swimmingly, until Douchebag protests his innocence and implicates Gaius.

Then Merlin goes to the armory and runs into Leon where they discuss the best weapon to kill someone with. Leon recommends a super high powered cross bow and Merlin says he’s going to kill Arthur with it. Leon (completely out of character, I might add) laughs it off and asks if Arthur’s getting on Merlin’s nerves. He relays that convo to the MCSI team who race off to find Arthur to try to prevent his murder.

Meanwhile, Merlin is setting up the crossbow in Arthur’s wardrobe so it’ll shoot him when he opens the door to get dressed for…some event that I can’t remember. Arthur wanders around thinking out loud/talking to Merlin and doesn’t open the wardrobe and MCSI team lead, Gwen, knocks Merlin out with a pewter pitcher. They bring him back to Gaius’ chambers where Gaius uses some kind of poultice to but the Fomorrah into herbal hibernation. Then he cuts it out.

They think everything is awesome, but the next morning, Merlin wakes up planning to kill Arthur again. Gaius is clued into this because he sees the Formarrah writhing under Merlin’s skin. While Arthur is undressing, Merlin is putting some kind of terrible acidy poison in his bath. He stirs it with a sword, and the sword shrivels up. MCSI team G & G bust in and knock Merlin out and hide him just as Arthur steps out naked from behind the screen. And sees Gwen. And grabs a pillow to cover up his junk.

They have an awkward conversation about the bath not being safe to use and Merlin having gone to check on something. There’s some staring and stilted conversation until Arthur finally disappears behind the screen and Gwen and Gaius take Merlin back to Gaius’ room and use the herbal hibernation thing on the Formorrah then wake up Merlin and give him the lowdown.

Gaius has figured out that even if they remove this one, another head will grow back. The only way to rid Merlin of the enchantment is to kill the mother creature. So Merlin suits…er…spells up as Dragoon and heads out to Morgana’s hovel to kill Mama Formorrah. There’s a little dust-up in the woods when he runs into the knights and magically tosses them around a bit on his way to Morgana’s.

He creeps inside (it is Merlin, after all) and find the jar o’Formorrah and Morgana catches him. At first, she’s terrified be cause Emrys is her doom and all. But she gets brave and they end up fighting and knocking each other around in the forest. Merlin is eventually successful, knocks out Morgana and destroys Mama Formorrah, freeing himself from Morgana’s influence.

Merlin returns to Camelot to find that George has taken his place because he’d vanished for two days, and Arthur is pissed, because once again, Gaius told him Merlin was at the tavern. Gaius is kind of an asshole. Arthur decides that as punishment, Merlin must under training by George who is the dullest person in all of Camelot. And Agravaine finds a wounded Morgana in the forest and carries her back to her hovel.

Okay…the questions!

1.) If I’d written this episode… I would have had Arthur and the knights search more for Merlin before returning to Camelot or at least had a better reason for why they just seemed to shrug and go home. I also would have had Merlin do something other than a rockfall. Does no one ever notice these conveniently timed rockfalls!? This is England. It’s not like they’re prone to earthquakes.

2.) The thing I loved/hated most about this episode. Hated: Douchey Agravaine. Out of character Leon. In all the other episodes, he tattles constantly on everyone – to protect Camelot, you know. But here, Merlin straight up says he’s gonna kill Arthur, and Leon is all, “oh, you kidder.” Loved: How delightfully bitchy possessed Merlin was. Seriously, it was fabulous. I also loved the naked Arthur scene – and not just because Bradley James’ entire costume was a pillow. I love the whole awkward conversation. Oh…and chained up Merlin. In my head, that went a whole nother way.

3.) Something you never noticed about this episode before.How out of character Leon behaved.

4.) Favorite costume. The red pillow.

5.) Here is some proof of some random head canon I’ve created. I didn’t create it, but Merthur is clearly a thing that is happening. For proof, see the rescue and the heart to heart in the woods and how happy Arthur was to see Merlin again.

6.) What Merthur moment did Jess have the naughtiest thoughts about? It had to be Arthur risking himself to save Merlin and then spending a romantic night alone in the forest together.

7.) What made Jen lose her shit – in a good or bad way? How magic is only good for throwing people around this season.

Here’s Jess‘ take on the episode, and here’s Jen’s.

A Few of My Favorite Things: Holiday Traditions

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December 3, 2014

I love the holidays – Christmas in particular. I’ll admit, I’m not big on going to church or anything as I’m not particularly religious, but I am a fan of Christmas carols. I’ll sing them in the car or sometimes in the house. And I love spending time with my family. And my friends. I love making and giving gifts. I even like baking cookies.

Tim Minchin sums up my feelings well in this song…

Some of my favorite traditions (in no particular order) are:

1.) Visiting my fam – especially my extended family with all my cousins and aunts and uncles. If we’re all there, it’s about 70 people under one roof. Of course, that was at last count – several babies have been born since then. It’s loud and hilarious and chaotic and I love it. I usually need a nap afterward, though. 🙂 We usually do four holiday gatherings, plus getting together with friends and the writers group. It’s…busy.

2.) Baking cookies. Every year, my sister and mom come over and we bake cookies with the kids while watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Die Hard. Those are our holiday baking movies.

3.) Making gifts. It’s usually knitting, sewing, pottery or cross stitch. I freaking love making things for people. 🙂

4.) A relatively new tradition is the creep my kid out with Weeping Angel tradition. A couple years ago I made Killian a weeping angel and wrapped it up and gave it to him as a “big deal” present. Last year, I made another one, and we decorated the tree like always – with the star. Then Corwin and I replaced the star a few days later with the Weeping Angel tree topper I’d made in secret and scared Killian again. Not sure what I’m gonna do this year…

5.) Cats in the trees. It’s not Christmas without Willow and Morrighan climbing the tree.

6.) Putting up the tree and other decorations. These are some of my favorites.

This Christmas castle is the last thing my Grandma made me before she died, and it’s beyond special to me.

These are the stockings I’ve cross stitched for our family and they get hung in the archway between the living room and the dining room. Each one is different. I started making the stockings because when we got married, my husband told me he’d never had a stocking as a kid. So I fixed that, and it grew from there. His was the first one I made. My skills have evolved some since then. 🙂

So that’s about it for favorite traditions. What are some of yours? Click the names below to find out the other bloggers favorites!

Want a free holiday story?

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November 29, 2014

I’m offering my friends to lovers, short holiday story for free! You can download it at my newly revamped website or at Smashwords. And check out this gorgeous cover the incomparable Kris Norris made me. She also did my website which is so prettiful.

UNEXPECTED GIFTS

Feeling sorry for herself, Cassie Williams plays sick to skip out of her family’s Christmas Eve gathering. She loves her family, but on the heels of a divorce and her ex’s new engagement, an evening of togetherness is the last thing she wants.

Long-time friend, Sam MacLane has been in love with Cassie for years, and he isn’t about to let her have her pity party. There’s a blizzard on the way, and Sam shows up on her doorstep—bearing gifts…

So Freaking Thankful!

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November 26, 2014

There’s that adage that you see all over Pinterest – or, at least, you do if you spend as much time there as I’m known to do, that says:

It’s not happy people who are thankful. It’s thankful people who are happy.

I think there’s definitely some truth to that. I know that I’m happier and more content when I’m focusing on the good things in my life rather than the crap ones. However, that’s not always an easy thing to remember in the midst of a shit storm.

And in a lot of ways, there’s been a whole lotta shit this year. However, there have been amazing things, too. So I’m going to take a few minutes to talk about a few of the things I’m thankful for that have emerged this year that have far overshadowed the crap.

1.) My kids. If you’ve been here for any length of time, you know I’m crazy about my kids. They’re amazing individuals, and I’d think that even if they weren’t mine. I’m thankful that we can laugh and cry together, that they feel safe enough to tell me anything, that they’re bravely following their dreams even when it’s difficult, and frankly, scary, and that they’re kind and giving people.

2.) My husband. he drives me batshit crazy some days, but I’m more in love with this man than I’ve ever been. He’s a loving father, he works his ass off for us, he tries to make me laugh every single day, and he’s always willing to work shit out and own his crap.

3.) My family. I won the family lotto with my mom, sibs, SILs and BIL, nieces, nephews and cousins – dad and stepmom and aunts and uncles, too. Yeah, we drive each other nuts sometimes, but we’re always able to talk stuff out. I love that open communication is a thing in my family. I know it’s not in a lot of families.

4.) My friends. I literally have the most amazing friends on the planet, and I know how damn lucky I am. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without any of them. I don’t think a more supportive, loving, hilarious group of people exists. And I’m thankful that they let me hang out with them – IRL and OL.

5.) Readers – whether you’re reading my books or someone else’s you’re making it possible for writers to follow their dreams and I love you guys for that.

6.) The courage to take chances. It’s no secret that I can be a timid chickenshit about a lot of things, but this year, I’ve made a lot of changes. Some were hard and hurt a lot – though I’m better off for them. Some were scary, but so worthwhile.

7.) The little things that make life better, like: cats, therapy, crafting, Netflix, the internet, stories, laughter, music, sleep, clean sheets, tea, writing retreats, a cozy home, food in the cupboard, coffee, scented candles, ebooks, Ren faires, concerts, Lake Superior, changing seasons, chocolate covered strawberries, truffles, salt and vinegar chips, nail polish, lip balm, fingerless mitts, rocks, Skinny Pop, Costco, social media, Amazon Prime and a million other things I’m forgetting.

8.) I wrote this post a few days ago, and I realized this morning that I needed to add to it. I’m also thankful for the people in my life that have taught me some unpleasant but important lessons. Sometimes, for me, anyway, it’s necessary to learn things the hard way. These particular lessons were a long time coming, and I’m glad that I finally learned them. Without those particular people as teachers, I probably wouldn’t have.

What are you thankful for? Tell me in the comments! And click on the names below to find out what the other bloggers are thankful for, too.

Merlin Club: His Father’s Son or The One Where Arthur Allows Himself to be Swayed by Nefarious People. Again.

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November 21, 2014

This episode starts with something we’ve never seen before and never will again. Merlin. In armor. Not just any armor, but the armor of a knight of Camelot.

Is it because Arthur got a clue and realized it’s dangerous for Merlin to be in sketchy situations without the benefit that every other dude who travels with Arthur gets?

Nope.

It’s because Merlin in bait in a trap to lure a gang of what appear to be mercenaries into a gorge where Arthur and the rest of the knights can ambush them.

So, there’s a big old fight scene and they capture a guy and Greasy Agravain points out that it’s not just any prisoner. It’s King Caerleon. Everyone is pissy because another king has strayed too far inside Camelot’s borders and Greasy Agravain intimates that it’s because no one respects Arthur and doesn’t think he’s the half the ruler Uther was. He tells Arthur his only choice is to get Caerleon to agree to a treaty or kill him. Merlin tries to talk Arthur out of it, but Arthur has bought into Agravaine’s bullshit and ends up executing Caerleon when the other man will not yield.

Back at Camelot, Greasy Agravaine continues his manipulative behavior and basically tells Arthur that he’ll never be respected as king if he marries a servant. And Arthur is swayed by yet another of Agravaine’s nasty little manipulations.

Caerleon’s body is taken back to his queen, Annis, (who’s a fabulous badass) and she declares war on Camelot. Which is exactly what Agravaine anticipated would happen. Camelot prepares to go to war and Arthur goes to see Gwen. To break up with her! Because she’s a servant! Gwen is, understandably, crushed. And honestly way nicer than I would have been.

Morgana slinks into Annis’ camp and basically promises that she can help Annis defeat Arthur and they align themselves together even though Annis is too smart to entirely trust Morgana. But Morgana plays on her sympathies telling her that Arthur killing Annis’ husband was not unlike her father, Goloris’ death at the hands of Uther. So an uncomfortable alliance is made.

Arthur’s knights all vow to lay down their lives for him and he finally realizes that it was wrong to kill Caerleon because now all of his friends’ lives are at risk. Arthur sneaks off in the dead of night and goes unarmed into Annis camp looking for her. Merlin, of course, creeps after him.

Arthur tells her he realizes he was wrong to kill her husband and offers the trail of single combat – Camelot’s best warrior against Annis’. If Camelot wins, Annis leaves the land in peace. If Annis’ warrior wins, she gets half of Camelot. As she’s thinking about it, one of her guards comes in with Merlin and Annis is about to have him killed but Arthur asks her to spare Merlin’s life…because he’s an idiot.Annis finally agrees to let Merlin live and to settle the matter with single combat.

Meanwhile, Greasy Agravaine has swiped Arthur’s sword and delivered it to Morgana to enchant – which she does while he watches with near orgasmic bliss.

The next morning, Arthur goes out to meet Annis’ champion who’s a giant. A very, very angry giant. The fight is pretty well matched, despite the angry giant’s size and rage – until Morgana activates the enchantment and Arthur’s sword suddenly becomes too heavy to lift, and the giant gets the advantage.

All is almost lost, but Merlin intervenes with a little magic of his own and Arthur is able to get the upper hand again. Instead of killing the giant, he displays mercy and Annis yields and makes peace with Arthur. Everyone goes home satisfied except Morgana who slinks back into Annis’ tent and promises there will be another time to take out Arthur. Annis tells Morgana that she’ll have to do it without Annis’ aid, and the Morgana is more like Uther than she thinks. BAM!

And Arthur makes up with Gwen, who forgives him FAR too easily.

Just a little note before we get to the questions: Next week, there won’t be any Merlin Club as we’ll all be frantically getting ready for Thanksgiving.

Okay…the questions!

1.) If I’d written this episode… I would have had Arthur working much harder to get Gwen to forgive him.

2.) The thing I loved/hated most about this episode. Hated: How easily led Arthur is. I know he’s new to the role of king, but come on, dude. Think for your damn self. Loved: Queen Annis. She was a balanced and fair ruler, strong and capable of admitting her mistakes, and the she clearly had the respect of her people. She’s one of my favorite Merlin characters.

3.) Something you never noticed about this episode before. There are a crap ton of tents, but everyone is sleeping outside.

4.) Favorite costume. Annis. She had a couple costume changes, but I couldn’t get great shots of any of them.

5.) Here is some proof of some random head canon I’ve created. I didn’t create it, but Merthur is clearly a thing that is happening.

6.) What Merthur moment did Jess have the naughtiest thoughts about? Merlin lovingly calling Arthur Cabbage-Head, and Arthur admitting that Merlin had been right.

7.) What made Jen lose her shit – in a good or bad way? Her confusion over whether the dog barking was at her house or on Merlin.

Here’s Jess‘ take on the episode, and here’s Jen’s.