xakara

Holiday Greetings Kittens,

Regardless of what you celebrate, the holiday season is all about the gifts. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Fortunately, not every gift is about a price tag, sometimes it's just the simple things that make you smile and keep you smiling that matter.

Sometimes it's a gift you give yourself, sometimes it's an off-hand comment by another that leads to discovery, and sometimes it's the thing that makes another passionate enough that you just have to see what the buzz is all about; either way, they're gifts that don't come with bows but that you're happy to have all the same.

So as we come to that traditional self-reflection for the New Year, rather than focusing on what was under the tree two days ago, I bring you 13 Gifts I Gathered Throughout The Year (sans boxes or bows).

Enjoy

13 Gifts I Discovered This Year

1. Samhain Publishing ~ Bless my little pagan heart, I would have looked into them on the name alone. :) Having found someplace with integrity, imagination and innovation in the area of small press publishing was a great gift. It was an open call for a summer themed novella that caused me to submit to them. It was last minute and I wasn't at all sure it would be what they wanted, but I knew I needed to do it just to know I could. I'd finished the longer novel and needed to rest my mind by exploring the world in a new way with new characters. Doing the novella launched ideas for no less than five more paranormal romances to expand the Shifter World created in my urban fantasy BLOODSPRITE. Whoo-Hoo! Insanity with a purpose.

2. Thursday Thirteen ~ This isn't just mushy sentimentality. Many of the things that show up later on the list were discovered through TT, either from reading the lists each week or talking in side conversations with those brave enough to email me. *Grin* So Thursday Thirteen is among my favorite discoveries of the year.

3. House ~ I'd seen previews and heard talk about the show but had never sat to watch an episode. By about my fourth or fifth Thursday Thirteen I'd run into it referenced as a favorite show half a dozen times or more. I saw an intriguing preview and decided to dive in at that point and went for it. I'm so happy that I did. It's a great show that grew on me quickly.

4. Rent ~ I avoided this musical time and again because of how depressing I knew it to be. But I'd also heard how great it was and I kept going back and forth on whether or not to see it. A side conversation with an avid fan finally convinced me to take the plunge. It was great. It was depressing. But it was great, and it was uplifting at the end to make the depression worth it.

5. Amazon Valley Chocolate ~ This is part of the Haagen-Daaz Reserve line of ice cream. What can I say but OMGS, worth gaining wait for! Best chocolate ice cream evah!

6. Pomegranate Chip ~ Since we're talking about the Haagen-Daaz Reserve line, this pomegranate ice cream and dark chocolate chunk goodness could not go unmentioned. Where Amazon Valley is so good you want to eat directly from the pint, Pomegranate Chip is the kind you want to savor in a dish. It's an experience requiring proper attention to be sure.

7. Cheese Danish ~ Thought I'd group the food together for your convenience :). It took some convincing for me to try this because I'm a rather visual person. Food wrappers, like book covers, can keep me from picking something up for years, and that was the case with this treat. I knew it was made with cream cheese and that my love of cheese cake should translate over well, but I couldn't get past the picture of a wheel of cheedar on the front of the package. I just couldn't do it. But in having a conversation on quirks (ooh, another TT idea), I was finally urged by my trust in a friend to go for it. Mmmm....terribly good. Almost worth the calories kind of good which is always dangerous. But it opened my options and that's a gift you can't ever get enough of. Next thing to try, key lime pie. (Hi, M)

8. Fairy Fiction ~ Now I don't know what you thought when you first read that, but I'd be interested to find out. In the meantime I'll explain what I mean. I grew up on High Fantasy and had a very distinct veiw of anything to do with Elves and Fey and Fairy Creatures. Getting into the modernization of them took longer for me than embracing the rest of urban fantasy. I'm very happy I was won over and that there are so many options out there to discover. For those of you waiting to be won over I suggest you look into Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison, or Unshapely Things by Mark Del Franco (hurry, Unquiet Dreams comes out next month). Or...

9. YA Fiction ~ Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr, changed my thoughts on Young Adult ficition for all time. My book buy budget was none-too-thrilled, but the rest of me was utterly delighted. I suggest you run off and buy a copy immediately so that you can truly understand why I got sucked into a whole new section of the bookstore.

10. Tanya Huff ~ She gets separate billing because she not only wrote one of my favorite vampire characters, but she wrote him in a way that made me feel my own choices of how to treat sexuality in my work was valid. I can't say enough about her so just go out and pick up the first of the Blood Books and her other works.

11. Omron Pedometer ~ I didn't just discover pedometers this year, but they are the gift that keeps on giving and I love them as the end-all/ be-all in beginning and continuing fitness. I'm listing it because I'm in mourning over having lost mine a short while ago and still needing to replace it. Just a few more days and my hip will fell normal again with its companion back.

12. Kickboxing Workouts ~ This is something of a rediscover. I loved the slew of kickboxing workouts from Taebo onward and actually owned some back in the day. Unfortunately I loved it enough that I memorized what I had and didn't have the budget to replace them when the time came. I turned to other things I had instead and let it fall to the way side. I got to borrow someone's new kickboxing dvds and now I have my own kickboxing dvds coming and I can't wait to try them out. I'm excited all over again. There's just something about kicking and punching when you're stressed that can't be rivaled.

13. LiveJournal ~ Technically my account began more than a year ago, but I didn't begin to use it until February of this year so it counts as a great, grand, gift that couldn't be replaced. The folks I've met here and the communities I've learned from are priceless. I love you guys and I'm so blessed I found you!

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