Christmas Spider -- Dawn Marie Hamilton

Here is a little Christmas story I hope will make you smile…

When I was young, my mother gave me an ornament each Christmas for my hope chest. Remember those? When I moved out of the family home and into an apartment, she made this ornament for my first Christmas tree. Along with the delicate spider ornament came a story:

Once upon a time, far to the north, snowflakes drifted past frosted windows. Inside, a good mother busily cleaned the house, for 'twas Christmas eve. On the morrow, Christmas day, the most wonderful day of the year, the little Christ child would come to bless the house. When she finished, not a speck of dust remained. Even the spiders had fled their cozy corner on the ceiling to hide in the attic.

Beautiful ornaments adorned the Christmas tree. The children gathered round, clasped hands and sang blessed songs. While the family enjoyed the evening festivities, the spiders became frantic, for they couldn't see the tree, nor be present for the Christ child's visit. The oldest and wisest among them suggested they wait until the family slept then sneak below stairs.

At midnight, the house darkened and fell silent. The spiders crept from their hiding place, crept down the stairs, crept to the tree. Delighted with its beauty, they scurried all over the tree, up and down, over and under braches, viewing all the precious decorations.

The spiders loved the Christmas tree. For the remainder of the night, they danced amongst the branches, leaving the needles covered with webs. When the Christ child arrived in the morning to bless the house, he was amazed yet disturbed. He loved the little spiders, for they were God's creatures, but the mother worked hard to make everything perfect and would be disheartened when she saw what the spiders had done.

With love in his heart and a smile on his lips, the Christ child touched the spider webs. The webs sparkled and shined, turning a shimmering silver, like tinsel.

Thus a legend was born: A spider among the Christmas tree decorations brings good fortune.

~~()~~

Do you have a favorite Christmas ornament? A favorite Christmas tale?

~~()~~

Here is another Christmas tale dear to my heart...



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Can a determined brownie craft a perfect match in time for Christmas?

Just in Time for a Highland Christmas--a Scottish historical time travel romance with Highlanders, scheming faeries, a mischievous brownie, magic, adventure, and romance set in 16th century Scotland and the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

When the Chief of Clan MacLachlan travels to the stronghold of his feuding neighbors to fetch his betrothed, she is gone. A year later, she is still missing. Making life more vexing, a band of reivers are stealing clan cattle, leaving behind destruction. Archibald MacLachlan determines to capture them and administer harsh punishment.

Though once in love with the man, Isobell Lamont refuses to wed her clan's enemy. After running away, she joins the band of reivers set on revenge.

Can Archibald forgive the raven-haired beauty? Will a journey through time bring them together for a Highland Christmas?

~~()~~

Merry Christmas!

~Dawn Marie

Just in Time for a Highland Christmas by Dawn Marie Hamilton ----- Available for Pre-order

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Just in Time for a Highland Christmas

A Highland Gardens Novella - Book # 2.5
Release - November 20, 2014

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Can a determined brownie craft a perfect match in time for Christmas?

When the Chief of Clan MacLachlan travels to the stronghold of his feuding neighbors to fetch his betrothed, she is gone. A year later, she is still missing. Making life more vexing, a band of reivers are stealing clan cattle, leaving behind destruction. Archibald MacLachlan determines to capture them and administer harsh punishment.

Though once in love with the man, Isobell Lamont refuses to wed her clan's enemy. After running away, she joins the band of reivers set on revenge.

Can Archibald forgive the raven-haired beauty? Will a journey through time bring them together for a Highland Christmas?

~Dawn Marie

Blogs - A Learning Experience

By Paisley Kirkpatrick

To blog or not to blog, is that the question? We have so many sites to choose from and so little time. Where do we start? Should be have our own blog, or post on other authors' blogs? Now days our time is limited and we want to spend our promotion time in the best places. One fact I've learned is readers like to get to know the authors of the books they love to read. Blogging is a good way to let them know who you are.

I write historicals and the series is set in a town I live near. I have a great, great grandfather who kept a journal while traveling across the plains in 1849. It is kept under glass at the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley. I was able to use my great, great grandfather's birds-eye view of the wagon train life in my recent release titled Paradise Pines Series: Marriage Bargain. He had a great way of giving us a picture of what the day-by-day life on the wagon train was like.

My great, great grandmother is supposedly the first woman to have articles in magazines. These are of great assistance to me when I write my stories. They are also a point of interest when I speak about my writing and where I get my ideas.

Another good point at writing stories from the area where you live is photographs. Readers enjoy seeing the places you base your stories on as it gives them a visual when they read your story.

This hotel was my inspiration for Chaumers Hotel in Night Angel. The hotel manager was kind enough to let me photo both the outside and inside.

These 'gifts' from my ancestors give me a lot of different ideas to share about in blogs. They also give me a chance to tell about my family and our customs. The uniqueness of my life might be interesting to a reader who enjoys my stories. It also gives the stories authenticity and is proof I've done research and write stories about subjects that I have some knowledge about.