Ally Shields is a fellow Etopia Press author, whose newest cover is a testament to her fabulous work–and Etopia Press’ cover artists. Don’t you just love book covers? Please welcome author Ally Shields.
The stockings are hung. The cookies and milk are on the table next to the tree, and I’m hiding in my office, trying to keep very quiet. I heard Santa had already been in Europe and has entered the United States. He should be here soon, so I’m going to talk very low so he won’t hear me. Shhh. I don’t want to scare him away!
You know, I saw Santa once. Well, almost.
I was five years old, and I couldn’t wait for Christmas! I only wanted one thing – a puppy. I’d talked about little else for weeks, and told Santa every time I saw him. He just kept telling me “He’d try.” I remember being a little worried that he wouldn’t just say ‘yes,” but I was sure he’d bring me a puppy.
After all, he was Santa, wasn’t he?
I couldn’t sleep when I went to bed Christmas Eve. I tossed and turned, and then I heard something. I slipped out of bed and went to the stairs. Someone was in the dining room, where the fireplace was. I crept half-way down and was getting ready to peek around the corner when I heard footsteps coming toward me. Terrified I’d be caught peeking, I scurried up the stairs and jumped into bed.
So, I just missed seeing him by seconds! I suppose you wonder if I got the puppy.
When Christmas morning arrived, I was up by 5:30. I raced down the stairs with my parents sleepily following behind. Santa had indeed been there, because the cookies and milk were gone, and presents were piled under the tree!
But no puppy.
What can I say? I was five, and I cried. Mom and Dad explained how hard it would be to carry puppies on a sleigh. They gave me a Christmas cookie for breakfast, I sniffed a time or two, and was soon distracted by ribbons and bows and a new baby doll.
We always emptied our stockings last, and when I looked in mine, I found a dog collar. And a photograph of several curly-haired black cocker spaniel puppies. Grinning, my parents said that Santa hadn’t forgotten at all, that a puppy was waiting for me to choose him! Since the kennel was open for the occasion, the puppy was home in time to share my Christmas dinner! Colonel Jim, as I named him, was an everyday fixture in my life until the year I went away to college. I still miss him, but I’ve got all the memories, including our very first Christmas!
Have you had any Santa sightings or near misses? I’d love to hear about them.
What’s taking Santa so long? Wait! Do I hear something? Maybe the far-off jingle of sleigh bells?
I think I still have time to tell you about my books before Santa arrives. I’m all grown up now, and I write the Guardian Witch urban fantasy series published by Etopia Press. Awakening the Fire (Guardian Witch Book One) was published in digital in September but just released in paperback. (BTW, book two, Fire Within, is coming in January!)
Twenty-three-year-old Ari Calin has sworn to keep the peace in Olde Town, and most of the time the Otherworlders cooperate. The vampires, werewolves and other magical creatures go about their business, living side by side with humans, until the foreign wolves arrive and a virtual reality drug hits the streets. When violence erupts, Ari needs more than her witch fire, weapons and potions to stop the madness.
Joining forces with a human police officer, Lt. Ryan Foster, and a way-too-sexy vampire, Andreas De Luca, Ari hunts the enemy””from the vampire strip clubs to the caverns under the city. Every step draws her and her companions deeper into an old feud and closer to the brink of a supernatural war.
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I know I hear something now! I’m off to see if I can catch a peek this year! Merry Christmas to all! Ho! Ho! Ho!
Oh yes! I am giving away one digital copy of Awakening the Fire to a random commenter
(mobi, epub or pdf.)
Best of luck!
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