Happy Holidays

Me & the BFF goofing off.

Happy holidays, everyone. I hope your holiday season is full of happiness, love, and extreme joy. Please, love the people around you. You never know when they won't be there.

This is the first Christmas without my mom and I've already been reflecting deeply on her passing. I miss her every day, but it's times like this I miss her even more. I saw a craft the other day on Pinterest and for a single split second I wondered if Mom still had Dad's wood burning kit. It only took a moment to realize what I'd done, but for that single flitting moment I'd forgotten she was gone. It isn't the first time either. One day I saw something and thought, I need to call Mom & tell her about that. Boy, that would have been one interesting roaming charge!

I've been through this so much in the past years that I know it gets easier. These moments will pass and I'll be left with happy memories. The pain will get easier, but I think it may take longer when it's your mom.

Last Saturday, I hosted a Friend-mas party with my BFF, her hubby & kids, my sister & her hubby, plus my hubby & our three, and two of their friends. My small house was filled to the brim, and it was soooo much fun.

We made a lasagna meal with salad and garlic bread, as well as three different desserts, but the main attraction was our big punch bowl full of ADULT PUNCH! Oh, my goodness it was sooooo good. My sister and I downed an entire bowl between us just while cooking before everyone arrived. It's a wonder the lasagna tasted as good as it did. LOL.


My sister & me. LOL!

Then I was "tipsy" texting my BFF telling her she was missing out and to hurry up and get over ASAP. LOL! We made two more bowls once the BFF arrived and the three of us downed those two together (the men were all DDs).

BFF playing with her Snapchat.

Overall, we had a great party. We laughed a lot and just enjoyed spending time together. My mom would have loved it. And in just a few days I'll have a peaceful Christmas Eve and Day with just the hubby and our girls. We'll open gifts, eat too much, and laugh together. It will be a nice ending to a difficult year.

Happy Holidays to you all! I hope you find happiness in the days that follow. I am grateful for each and every one of you reading this.

New & Updated Website

Have you had a chance to stop by the new and improved ChristieSilvers.com? It took a lot of work, a new web host, new newsletter host, and several hours of headaches to get it looking just the way I wanted. It's now cleaner and more streamlined than the previous website. I like the colors, transitions, and how uniform everything turned out.

If you haven't checked it out, stop by.

Also, just a head's up for my longtime newsletter subscribers...

If you were previously subscribed you do NOT have to subscribe again. I imported my subscriber list from the old host to the new host. Only new subscribers need to sign up at the new website. My loyal readers are already good to go. Thank you!

For you newbies out there, if you like freebies it's probably a good time to subscribe to my newsletter. Subscribers receive news first, before the blog, and even before Facebook. *GASP!* Newsletter subscribers are also entered to win Amazon gift cards every time a newsletter is sent out. You never know when your name will be picked!

So stop by ChristieSilvers.com and scroll down to where it says, "Subscribe." You'll be glad you did.

Showing Your Favorite Author(s) Some Love

It's that time of year again... Time to shop 'til you drop! LOL. Well, you know what I mean. There will be lots of gift-giving over the next few weeks and some of the big gifts will be new tablets, iPads, Kindles, Nooks, and many more electronics that can be used to read books. Soon those eReaders will need to be filled with many, many new reads, so why not show your favorite authors some love this holiday season?

It's really easy to give your favorite author a little holiday joy. A simple review is a big one. Reviews help us gain new readers. They help us sell more books, pull in potential fans, and even give us a better standing in the book selling marketplaces. There are even deals and discounts newsletters that require a certain amount of reviews before we can list our books with them.

So please, during this holiday season, take a moment to leave a few words on a book you enjoyed. It can be as simple or as detailed as you like. Even a short, "I liked it," is enough to make a beloved author happy.

Happy Holidays!