News from Squire's Isle

A very merry Christmas to everyone who has been following along with these entries since December 2. I finished the official “12 Days” yesterday, but this is a special Christmas entry to introduce you to some women you’re going to get to know very, very soon. They feature in the upcoming novels Gemini and World on Fire, both of which are due in early 2009. Be on the lookout here on my blog, and on my website, for more information. Enjoy, and happy holidays!

December 25 – April and Molly Page

 

The song my twin sister, April, and I always loved was the one, naturally, our parents hated the most. Nuttin’ for Christmas is kind of the anti-Christmas song. A little brat sings about how awful he’s been throughout the year, and ends up helping a burglar rob his house. As much as Mom and Dad rolled their eyes whenever we played it, they always put it on during Christmas parties and asked us to lip synch. I was the little brat (naturally) and April played the robber. She stayed out of the room until she was cued, then she would strut in, tug on her belt, snort and sneer, and the guests would applaud and laugh.

 

Ten years old, she was already cross-dressing and I was pretending to be a little boy. Mom and Dad should have realized.

 

Anyway, that would have to be my favorite Christmas song. If April was here, she would probably tell you the same. I hope all of you out there have been nothing but good, and I’m sure that your Christmas Eve guest will be jollier than the burglar from the song.

 

– Molly Page appears in the forthcoming novel Gemini, which will be available very soon! Keep your eyes on this blog for further updates!

 

December 25 – Alexandra Crawford

 

If anyone at the firehouse sees this, I’m dead. But it’s all about honesty, right? It’s not officially a Christmas song, but about ten years ago, a country band called Alabama came out with a song called Angels Among Us. It’s a very sweet, beautiful song about the people in our lives who bless us and make life a little better just by being there. This is going to sound very corny, but every time I hear the song, I think of how I met Rachel. I know, I know, I can hear you rolling your eyes. But it’s true. The way she just kind of stepped out of the corner of my eye and, from that day on, she’s been the centerpiece of my life.

 

So, sure, laugh if you want. But whenever that song comes on, I think about Rachel and how important she is to me. If that makes me a sap, then so be it. I’m happy to be sappy when it comes to Rachel. And I cannot believe I just said that. Merry Christmas, everyone. I’m going to go hide out in the corner and pray no one I know reads this!

 

– Alex Crawford features in the forthcoming novel World on Fire, coming out early 2009! Watch this blog for further information!

 

December 25 – Rachel Tom

 

One of my earliest Christmas memories is sitting on the floor of my grandparent’s house in Alaska, everything white outside the windows. My back was to the Christmas tree, but I could see the lights twinkling on the glass. My grandmother, who I called Kuki, gave me a handmade drum that year. I couldn’t stop running my pudgy little hands over the stretched moose skin. At some point, my grandfather put on a record of The Little Drummer Boy and told me to beat the drum. I just pounded the thing, bam bam bam, and it was probably the most joyous moment of my life to that point.

 

Every year when I hear that song, I’m reminded of that joy. I lost that drum years ago, and Kuki passed away before I was ten, but Christmastime always sends me back to that little cabin in the middle of nowhere, with the postcard evergreens and the swirling snow outside.

 

I hope everyone else has a memory like that to make them smile, and someone they love to keep them warm on the coldest nights of the year. Merry Christmas and, as Kuki would have said, mnogaya leta (God grant many years)!

 

– Dr. Rachel Tom appears in the novel On the Air and also features in the forthcoming novel World on Fire, coming out early 2009! Watch this blog for further information!