2024 Epilogue

A year full of twists with a happy ending.

Determined to not end the year with another issue, I locked myself away at home. One warm afternoon, I ventured into the backyard, slipped on rocks, and bruised my ribs.

The lesson I learned is there’s no way to hide, so I’m heading like a steamboat into the new year with reckless abandon heedful prudence.

I love this month. It’s a Festival of Lights all over the world! Lights in the darkness are magical. As a kid, I would lie under the Christmas tree and look at the lights and the twinkle of ornaments all season long. I still look at lights all season, but now with a cup of hot cocoa and from the couch. 😁

Breakthrough

The sequel to Bloodstone is underway. I knew the general direction, and that I wanted a monster of some sort. But I’ve been struggling with what that creature should be, which I need so I can determine what it can and can’t do.

Here’s an exclusive for you! I’m going to loosely base it on the Manananggal, a Filipino creature that has fangs and wings and can separate its body.

The Manananggals have an interesting backstory. Melanie H. Manuel, a Filipina American poet, wrote that Filipinos first practiced animism, all inanimate and animate objects have a soul. The shamans were primarily women—healers, mystics, and leaders. Along came the Spanish, which found this absurd. As they colonized and converted everyone to Catholicism, they demonized these women.

Have you heard of the Manananggals?

50% Off Book Sale

You have probably heard that Smashwords is having an end of the year sale on ebooks. Many authors put their books on sale from now to January 1st. I’m one of those authors!

You can pick up my urban fantasy novel, chapter book, or writer’s guides at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/H._R.Sinclair

And my cookbooks are at
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/HollySinclair9353

sampling of my books

If you are also taking part in the sale, please leave a link to your books on Smashwords in the comments.

Creepmas 2024

I’m also participating in the Instagram art challenge #Creepmas, December 15th-21st. The prompts are: holiday pie, gingerbread, wrapping paper, wassail, Christmas snail, coal, and dark night.

Wrapping paper was the trickiest to figure out what to draw. Dark night was my favorite. I used two different drawing styles to shake things up!

Here’s today’s prompt.

Be sure to click the prompt hashtags to see all the participants. It should be awesome! You can see mine on my Instagram account.

Happy Holidays Everyone! See you next year!