Erica O'Rourke

The Winner(s)!

Happy holidays, everyone! Whatever you're celebrating, I hope you're with loved ones, eating something delicious, and watching the Christmas Special! This is a quick-and-dirty post, because I am visiting family and still have to prepare the the turkey for tomorrow's dinner. We have winners! For the bracelet giveaway, the winner is: Kim H! For the Grand Prize Giveaway, the winner is: Mrs. S! (For your comment on Phoebe North's post) I will be notifying both of you via email, but just in case it goes astray, please email me your snail mail address (erica AT ericaorourke DOT com). Congratulations to both of you! And thanks, everyone, for your participation! It was fabulous to see so many Whovians speaking so passionately about the show.

In Which I Master The Ukelele

And by "master," of course, I mean "learn three notes on a cheap kid's ukelele that untunes itself every time I play a note."

But! It's all in good fun! The awesomesauce Saundra Mitchell, author of THE VESPERTINE and THE (soon-to-be-released) SPRINGSWEET asked if I sould like to be part of the YA Winter Wonderland Mashup of DOOM.

Naturally, I said yes. And offered to play the ukelele we were giving Big Marshmallow for Christmas. Which meant I had to learn how to play the ukelele. In secret. Three notes, and it took me days. DAYS.

Then I sent it off to Saundra and she worked her magic. Then her computer ate the video and she worked her magic AGAIN. And...here you go! Watch all the way to the end, okay?

 

 

 Link not working? Try here:

Long Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blxabUY29Q0
HD Long URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blxabUY29Q0&hd=1

Happy Holidays from YA to you!

WIP Friday: Eleven

No, not this one. (If you're looking for the 13 Days of Doctor Who Bloghop schedule, click here.)

This one:

 

My oldest girl is eleven. Eleven! This is what she looks like most days:

The running joke is that she is my mini-me. We look alike, we talk alike, we love the same sorts of books. But happily, she is her own person as well: a far better artist and musician than me, much more diligent about homework than I EVER was, and generally delightful. I know that people say the teen years are tough (the number of people who offer me condolences on the prospect of fourteen straight years of at least one teenaged girl in the house is legion) but I have to say, watching her come into her own and become this interesting, funny, intelligent, hardworking, mischevious person gets better each day.

Happy birthday, sweetheart.

PS: Every year on my daughter's birthday, I read this essay by the incomparable Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (AKA The Yarn Harlot). This section in particular resonates with me:

North America wants children (especially little girls) to be polite. Obedient. Pliable. Kids who fight back and say no and think for themselves are hard to raise and not thought well of at all. We all talk about how "good" an obedient child is, and it struck me at some point while I was raising you, that I couldn't have a child who did as they were told really well, and then suddenly expect you to turn into an adult who was assertive, independent and free thinking. I realized you couldn't tell a kid "do what I tell you" and then turn around when they became a grown-up and suddenly say "think for yourself".

The entire essay is wonderful -- whether you're raising a daughter or a son, it is such a wise and loving long view of parenting. She's the kind of mum I aspire to be.

The 13 Days of Doctor Who: Wibbly Wobbly Schedule

(Banner by Studio D.)

To make it easier for you to keep track of the bloghop as it hurtles through space and time, the schedule below will tell you who's hosting each day.

Monday, December 12
Erica O'Rourke: The Moment I Fell In Love With The Doctor

Tuesday, December 13
Eliza Evans: Vincent and The Doctor: Or, How I Became a Fangirl Without Even Trying

Wednesday, December 14
Allie Pleiter: Delightful Detour: Knitting and Doctor Who

Thursday, December 15
Sarah Enni: The Doctor: In Love and Obsession

Friday, December 16
Erika Stroup: Nothing In Who is Ever What It Seems

Saturday, December 17
Phoebe North: The Doctor as an Anti-Hero
 
Sunday, December 18
Clara Kensie: WHO Does It Better: The Doctor vs. Other Famous Doctors
 
Monday, December 19
Kim Samsin: The Alien Within Us

Tuesday, December 20
Tangled Up In Words: The First Time I Met The Doctor

Wednesday, December 21
Ryann Murphy: Knob-Twiddling and Wobbulators: Music In Doctor Who

Thursday, December 22
Lisa Bigelow: Must Love Doctor Who

Friday, December 23
Pamala Knight: Neil Gaiman and the Allegory of the TARDIS
 
Saturday, December 24
Becky, at Libri Dilectio
 
Sunday, December 25
Erica O'Rourke: Grand Prize Drawing!

 

As a reminder, many of the participating blogs will be running individual contests -- follow the directions on each site to enter.

For the grand prize, The Complete Sixth Series on DVD, please leave a comment (on the tour stops, not here!) with your name and email address. You may enter once at every stop on the blog tour for a total of thirteen chances. The Grand Prize giveaway is limited to the US and Canada, due to regional restrictions on the DVD. Individual contest will close at the discretion of the author, but the Grand Prize contest will accept entries on any site until midnight CST on December 24th. We will post the winner on December 25th, and notify the winner via email.

 Good luck! If you have questions, I'm happy to answer them in the comments below, but commenting on this post will NOT count as an entry in the drawing.

The Moment I Fell In Love: 13 Days of Doctor Who

(Banner by Studio D)

Welcome to The 13 Days of Doctor Who Bloghop! A collection of authors, reviewers, librarians, and fans have banded together to count down to the Doctor's annual Christmas Special. This year's special is titled "The Doctor, The Widow, and The Wardrobe." 

(Let us all take a moment to reflect on the fact that I will be TRAVELING on Christmas and therefore will MISS the Christmas Special. If you think I'm not going to watch this trailer over and over until I get home, you are clearly not a regular visitor here.)

Nevertheless, we wanted a way to pass the time until the Doctor's return. Over the next thirteen days, we'll be posting entries around the Interwebs on all sorts of topics DW-related, and we'd love you to come along.

To that end, we're also hosting a giveaway! Many of the individual entrants will hold contents on their sites, but we've also got a grand prize: The Complete Sixth Series DVD. (The one with the Silence and River Song and THE NEIL GAIMAN EPISODE.) There are more details and instructions at the end of this post, as well as information about a second giveaway specific to today's entry.

So...let me tell you about the moment I fell in love with The Doctor.

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People often ask me which Doctor is "my" Doctor. While I am certainly fond of David Tennant, the current incarnation, played by Matt Smith, is probably my favorite. The Eleventh Doctor might look human (conversely, we might look Time Lord) but he is not human. He's an alien, replete with strange taste buds and two hearts and the ability to regenerate. Something about Matt Smith gives us a hint of that, even in his most prosaic moments. Like the TARDIS itself, he manages to seem both ancient and brand-new at the same time. And Series Five, to me, is utterly magical.

 

(You might disagree, and that's okay. I'm not saying he has to be YOUR favorite Doctor, after all.)

 

But of the three Doctors we've seen since 2005, Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor seems to get the shortest shrift. I've yet to meet someone who considers him their favorite. At times, the writers didn't seem to understand how to write for Eccleston, and many of his episodes seem to be about the writers deciding what they wanted to do with the character, instead of writing to the strengths of the actor. But I happen to LOVE Eccleston's Doctor. He's cranky and haunted and impatient, rigid and rough-hewn. He's carries the weight of those 900 years every single day, even in his lightest moments. He's not MY Doctor, but he's the one I fell in love with.

A confession: I was not super-impressed with the first few episodes of Series One. I managed to catch "Rose" and then "Aliens of London"/"World War Three" and frankly...meh. The living mannequins? Carnivorous trash cans? The flatulent Slitheen? The breathtakingly craptastic special effects? This was the long-running pinnacle of British television? I did not get it, and so I didn't bother to watch every episode.

 

And then, up one night folding laundry, I caught "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances."

Everything changed.

 

A brief plot summary: The Doctor and his companion, Rose Tyler, land in London during the Blitz, looking for an object they've been chasing through space. Soon enough, the Doctor and Rose are separated. The Doctor runs into a boy in a gas mask whose presence terrifies a group of vagrant children and is tied to a series of bizarre phone calls; Rose encounters a roguish Time Agent named Jack Harkness. Eventually, Rose, Jack, and the Doctor reconvene, along with Nancy, leader of the vagrant children. The object they've been searching for is slowly transforming the entire town into zombies with gas-masks for faces. Seriously. No, seriously. There are all manner of hijinks and moments of sheer terror, but in the end (spoiler alert) the Doctor triumphs, the zombies are returned to normal, families are reunited, and the Doctor and Rose dance sweetly in the TARDIS while Jack Harkness looks on.

It's this fantastic combination of elements: history and time travel, sly humor, creepy small children, the Doctor trying desperately to unravel a puzzle, and the entire story hinging on truth and love and forgiveness, as it so often does. But there's something different about this episode: so often on DW, the victory takes a terrible toll. People die, either by someone else's hand or as a noble sacrifice. The Doctor recognizes this fact, but you can see how it wears on him. It makes him set his jaw, bow his head, and shoulder through yet another tragedy. It's like his life is one long string of losses: the Time Lords, his companions, innocent people, entire species. When he succeeds in saving people, he knows that it's the exception, not the rule, and those victories are few and far between. There is always collateral damage.

Eccleston conveys this melancholy perfectly. Even when he's giddy with delight, there's a sadness lurking underneath the daft grin, waiting to resume its rightful place once the moment has passed.

But in "The Doctor Dances," it's different. When the Doctor's risky, crazy, all-in plan works...you see this look on his face: absolute wonder. Complete astonishment. Christmas morning. Celebration and joy, completely unfettered. Nobody died. The broken family is reunited. The bomb is transported to outer space. England is going to win the war, very soon. Smile splitting his face, manic with delight, he cries, "Everybody lives, Rose. Just this once...everybody lives!"

I tear up every time I think of it.

Because it's great, that everybody lives. But what you see isn't just his relief that he managed to save himself, his companions, Nancy and Jamie, London, and the rest of the planet. He's been saving the planet forever, after all. It's old hat. This time, it's not even that they won. It's that nobody had to lose. For a man as familiar with loss as the Doctor is, it's a staggeringly beautiful thing. In that instant, Eccleston's face shows not just his joy, but the memory of every single time he's lost someone. Every time his best was not enough. It makes this victory even more bittersweet -- and like a true time traveler, it's not just the memory of other battles, but the realization that he will endure more losses in the future.

But just this once...everybody lived. How could I not fall in love?

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Ready for Day Two? Tuesday's post will be at www.elizaevans.com. I'll also post a schedule on this site listing every stop on the tour, so if you get lost, check back here to see where you should go.

Now, on to the giveaways! Want to win your own copy of the newly released Complete Sixth Series?

To enter the grand prize giveaway, please leave a comment with your name and email address. You may enter once at every stop on the blog tour, for a total of thirteen chances. The Grand Prize giveaway is limited to the US and Canada, due to regional restrictions on the DVD. Individual contests will close at the discretion of the author, but the Grand Prize contest will accept entries on any site until midnight CST on December 24th. We will post the winner on December 25th, and notify the winner via email.

 

 

 

 

I'm also running an individual giveaway at the same time: A bracelet from my one of my favorite Etsy shops: Foxwise. It features a quote from the end of Series 5. "We're all stories in the end. Just make it a good one."

All you need to do is leave a comment on today's entry -- although, if you watch the show and have a favorite doctor, I'd love to hear it. I'll announce the winner on for the individual contest on December 25th as well.

 

Note: Leaving one comment here enters you in both the bracelet contest AND the Grand Prize giveaway. There's no need to comment twice, and we won't count duplicates.

Good luck, and enjoy the rest of the blog hop!

 

Gifts for the Doctor Who Fan, or, Someone Please Send This To My Husband.

Perhaps you are not a fan of Doctor Who ( I don't know how this could be, but apparently it happens sometimes. I'm so sorry.) but you love someone who is. Perhaps you want to impress a certain someone with your thoughtfulness and insight. Perhaps you're just strapped for ideas. Whatever the case, here's a collection of gifts that would please any Doctor Who fan. Some might require a little more research or time, but all would make the Whovian in your life very happy.

 

Here is what you need to know about Doctor Who: He is an alien who travels through space and time in a blue box called the TARDIS. He saves the human race. A lot. The TARDIS makes a noise. Your loved one adores that noise, and this is a way for them to have it whenever they want. This cookie jar can make that happen.

 

 

 

 It's a Moment of Great Import when the Doctor gives his companion a key to the Tardis. You can't give a TARDIS key, but you CAN give a Doctor Who keychain, on the chance that someday, they'll have a key worthy of such an honor.

 

 

 

 

There's no end of Doctor Who-themed clothing on the internet, but here are some of my favorites. Skreened.com allows you to choose what type of shirt you'd like your image printed on. I wear this sweatshirt as often as possible to help find other fans in the wild. Pro tip: Order up -- I bought the sweatshirt in a double XL, and it has definitely shrunk in the wash.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 If you're going to give this Tshirt, make sure you find out (stealthily, of course) which Doctor is the recipient's favorite. Trust me. This matters more than you can possibly imagine. There are eleven different versions of this shirt, each with a different Doctor's name highlighted.

Don't mess up. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fezzes are cool. You don't need to know why. Just know that if your loved one is currently enjoying the show, they will love this hat.

 

 

 

 

Old-school Whovians love this scarf. Hell, new-school Whovians love this scarf. If you want to knit them something, this lovely woman has a bunch of free patterns to download. If your loved one is a knitter, take the pattern to a local yarn shop and throw yourself on their mercy. They will help you, and you'll look like a genius.

If you're not up for such things, you can also buy one of these scarves off of Etsy.com. They're not cheap, but they ARE fairly priced. That's a lot of knitting.

 

 

 

 

Fans of River Song would love this journal: TARDIS blue, and a place to record their own adventures. There's a lot of different versions on Etsy, so click around until you findo ne that meets your budget/timeline/taste.

 

 

 

 

Doctor Who can sometimes be a little intense for kids, despite being considered a children's show in Britain. The Sarah Jane Adventures is a more gentle introduction to the DW universe and great fun to watch. Plus, it's a chance to see the late, beloved Lis Sladen one more time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Etsy.com and Skreened.com have a wide variety of Doctor Who-themed products. If the ones here aren't to your liking, just plug in "Doctor Who" into the search box on each site, and ready your credit card. You won't be sorry.

Finally, here's a gift that won't cost you a thing and will make your Whovian very happy:

(Banner by Studio D)

Tomorrow begins The 13 Days of Doctor Who Bloghop. For thirteen days straight, authors, reviewers, and fans of the show will be posting entries about Doctor Who on their sites. Some of them will have giveaways, but comments on ANY of the thirteen posts will enter you into a grand prize drawing for THIS beauty:

I'll be hosting the first day of the contest, so check back here for more details, and send your loved one here: because if there's one thing DW fans love, it's connecting with other fans. And it won't cost you a cent.

 

WIP Friday: Restoration of Order (plus a preview)

A few minutes ago, I double-checked the acknowedgments and dedication of BOUND and sent them off to my editor. I have probably forgotten someone and spelled my husband's name wrong, and I'll still do copy edits and page proofs, but those are tiny tweaks, not major writing. For all intents and purposes, I have finished the trilogy.

I'm sure that, later, I will have deep thoughts. But right now, I'm going to clean my kitchen.(Note: I always SAY I'm going to clean the kitchen after I finish a book, but I rarely do. Maybe I'll tweet a picture later, just to prove I did it.) I'm going to read Lee Nichols' SURRENDER, because I love the series and have been anxiously awaiting the chance to find out what happens to Emma. I'm going to watch my kids decorate the tree and maybe -- MAYBE -- I will send out holiday cards.

But I promised you some giveaways, didn't I? The first one will start next week: a celebration of Doctor Who. There will be more details here over the weekend, but for now, all you need to know is that there will be a plethora of giveaways -- both DW-themed and otherwise -- culminating in a giant grand prize that I am tempted to steal.

SO. Check back here on Sunday for more information about the Doctor Who bloghop, and have a wonderful weekend.

I'm going to clean the kitchen now. No, really. I mean it.

Winner! And a hint of what's to come.

You people really enjoy scavenger hunts, don't you? I was blown away by the amazing response -- thank you! (True fact: I get an email every time someone comments here. And I have a Pavlovian response to emails -- every time my phone shows a new message, I get a little thrill. This many comments made me feel like I was attached to a generator or something. MADE MY WEEKEND.)

So, the fine folks at random.org informed me that the winning comment was...Erin! Who said:

"I've actually never done a scavenger hunt before, this is pretty fun, thanks for this!"

To which I say: Congratulations, Erin! I sent you an email about your prize package, and I am going to screw my courage to the sticking place and brave the post office at the end of this week. You all know how I feel about the post office, but for you...I will suck it up and go.

Now it's December -- which means that we are gearing up for Christmas as well as the oldest girl's birthday. And here's the thing about the holidays: I don't need gifts. We have already established that I am the luckiest girl on the planet. Gifts are superfluous for me.

But...GIVING gifts? That's my favorite part. I love choosing the perfect gift for people. Choosing the wrapping paper. Wrapping the presents. Arranging them. Watching people open them. Watching people (especially my kids) ENJOY them. I have already bought a catapult and a ukelele and while I'm sure by mid-January, I will be smiting my forehead and wondering how I could have been so foolish, right now I am ridiculously pleased.

And this year, I have gifts for you, too. There'll be more details soon, but I'll have chances for you to win some really wonderful books, swag, and other delightful things.

(But no catapults. That's for the middle kid.)

Thanks again for participating in the YA Scavenger Hunt, guys! If you didn't get to see Colin's deleted scene before it was taken down, rest assured I'll be posting it again soon.

 

Good Book Hunting: The Winter 2011 YA Scavenger Hunt!

Remember the scavenger hunts you did as a kid? Ours always involved running around the neighborhood in the dark, harassing our neighbors for bits and bobs of things: tablespoons and packets of ketchup and rubber bands...it was a lot of effort for prizes typically found in a junk drawer. But THIS scavenger hunt is different. It is infinitely more awesome. On THIS hunt you will be able to gain access to exclusive bonus material, sign up for giveaways, and get an all access pass to top secret insider information. This fabulous sneak peek into what’s coming up in YA literature is for three days only!

Please note: the hunt will run from noon PACIFIC TIME on December 1st to noon PACIFIC TIME on December 4th.

 

As an extra bonus we’ve put together a puzzle with one keyword found on each website. Complete it and you will be eligible for a fantastic GRAND PRIZE which will include signed editions of books, signed bookmarks, jewelry, and many more exclusive gifts with at least one gift from EVERY AUTHOR! So, go grab a cup of coffee or whatever your preferred web-surfing beverage is, and get ready to be blown away by new and upcoming YA releases.

 

Here's how it works: Copy and paste the puzzle below onto a document or print it out. As you proceed through the scavenger hunt, look for the words -- one on each website -- that are highlighted in RED. Write down the unscrambled word next to its' scrambled partner in the list below. When you are finished, fill out the Google form here.

You can also comment on this site to be entered into a special TORN/TANGLED giveaway -- details are at the end of this entry.

Please unscramble the words below

1. NVSEIURE   2. MLTSIPIE   3. PEMETKIREE   4. IIHEDOMC   5. FMERLOAHTWER   6. DLENGO   7. IRDEEDEWLB   8. RSUERNEDR   9. AOCATTINA   10. AHNCEDNTE   11. GURENDOHY   12. GAUINDAR   13. RETECSS   14. EMCREAB   15. LORNDDWURE   16. AIRSFCCEI   17. RIASSMHCT   18. RWTHACES   19. RTAAENTNRSP   20. DETLGAN   21. YFNASAT   22. NTOAPHWYP   23. SLLESUOS   24. ECNNEOIP   25. LOENIOASTD   26. EORFWLWE   27. AREEHTFS   28. AAAOLRPMNR   29. HSIGDNA   30. DOBANADNE   31. LIECSHORCN   32. SPSESNEU   33. OTMYHLGYO   34. ELWLHAENO   35. TTOAINRTAC 37.BTRSUTEFEIL   36.   UAUTFLBIE

 

Rules: To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit this filled in puzzle before noon on Dec 4th Pacific Time. All the keywords must be in the correct order and numbering. You must include your full name and address. Entries sent in without name and address will not be considered!

 

I'm lucky enough to be hosting Marley Gibson, who is sweet and funny and also, as you can see from her picture, adorable!

Here's a little more about Marley:

In addition to writing young adult books, Marley also writes non-fiction.  She thought, what better time than the holiday season than to offer bonus material and a sneak chapter from her new book, THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS.  It's a heart-warming, Chicken Soup for the Soul-type book filled with stories from real people.  Not only is the book a great stocking stuffer, it’s already gone into its third printing!

 

 

And, as befitting a scavenger hunt that takes places during the holidays, here's a bit about her book, THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS.

A heartwarming collection of true stories that will inspire, entertain, and get everyone into the spirit of Christmas

At Christmastime, it’s hard not to get caught up in the shopping, the decorating, the party planning and the family drama—and too we often to lose sight of the true meaning of the season.  But sometimes, through God’s grace or a simple twist of fate, we’re able to step back and understand what the holiday is truly about.

The Spirit of Christmas is an inspiring collection of true stories from real-life people who have experienced such moments where the meaning of the season becomes clear and touches their hearts.  A man mailing gifts at the post office witnesses a moving scene that changes his life forever.  An unhappy couple are drifting further apart…until a special Christmas gift allows them to renew their love and mend their fractured marriage.  And a father tries to keep the spirit of Christmas alive for his son with a grand gesture--a gesture that will be remembered by his family and many others for years to come.

Filled with magic, wonder and deep meaning, it’s impossible for these stories not to touch your heart—and fill you with The Spirit of Christmas.

Marley's Website

Buy THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS at Barnes & Noble

Buy THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS at Amazon

And now, your sneak peek! Don't forget to keep an eye out for the word in RED.

 

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"Christmas is cancelled," my mother said sternly, her eyes moist with tears. Only two months earlier she had lost her beloved father to heart disease.

"You can't cancel Christmas," I said.

"Yes, I can. Daddy is no longer with us and it doesn't matter to me this year."

That shocked me because I'd often thought of my mother as the Queen of Christmastime. She's a church organist, teaches carols to the kids, and leads the choir in seasonal musicals. She plays for her church with such fervor I sometimes wondered if the angels were channeling their choruses through her.

Christmas canceled?

It wasn't that I was upset about not having presents or toys. I was eighteen, a freshman in college, and I didn't need those material items. What I wanted was the Christmas tree put up the way Mother did it every year with the ornaments organized exactly right. What I needed was the smell of Christmas turkey as we gathered around the dining room table with many delicious, homemade side dishes. What I yearned for was to hear my mother sit at our piano in the living room and sing about the birth of Christ, the ultimate present God gave to the world that brings us peace, love, and joy all through the year.

Christmas canceled?

"Not if I have anything to say about it," my sister, Jennifer, said on the phone. "If Mother won't put up the tree, we'll do it."

"I'll help too," my brother, Jeff, yelled.

"I'll help, as well," Dad told me. "But your mother isn't going to be happy about this."

We even got Grandmother in on the plans, knowing she wouldn't want to be alone on Christmas day without Granddaddy.

The decision was made: We would have Christmas.

For me, it felt like a long December, finishing finals at college and coming home to find the house just as it was the rest of the year: No tree. No wreath. No candles. No crèche. Even my cat, Smokey, walked around twitching his nose and tail as if knowing something wasn't right.

My brother, Jeff, arrived, followed by my sister, Jennifer. She had driven from New Jersey to Alabama with her two cats, Jo and Natalie. We were prepared for a full-frontal, all-family-members Christmas assault on my mother.

While Mother was out one afternoon, Jennifer, Jeff, and I began to decorate the house. We put the artificial tree together, hung the lights, strung the tinsel, and placed the ornaments in the best way we could to make it look like Mother had done it. I carefully unwrapped each hand-painted item of the crèche and set Mary, Joseph, the wise men, camel, sheep, angel, and finally, baby Jesus, on top of the piano among holly leaves and berries.

Jennifer decorated the mantel with pinecones, Christmas cards, and candles. Jeff put Mother's wreath on the front door and placed a spotlight in the lawn to highlight it. We were ready to face Mother.

Minutes later, her car pulled up and we waited.

She walked inside, put down her purse, and said nothing. The former Queen of Christmas went into her room.

While our family drama was going on, a feud had begun. Smokey hadn't liked having two other creatures invade his space. Jo and Natalie slept in his favorite spots, ate his food, and ganged up on him. He was definitely not full of the Christmas spirit.

We kids bought the turkey and were going to cook it Christmas day to the best of our ability. It wouldn't be Mom's cooking, but we were to have our Christmas feast.

Christmas Eve, Mother went to church while Jennifer and Jeff went to visit a friend. Dad and I cooked breakfast food for our dinner. As we quietly ate our pancakes and bacon, a horrid screech, like a mountain lion calling out filled the room.

"Was that the cats?" I asked.

Dad just raised an eyebrow, shrugged, and went back to eating.

Seconds later a cacophony of sounds mixed together as the animals rushed down the stairs. Meows, howls, and hissing filled the house. Apparently Smokey had had enough and defended his territory from the two females who'd been torturing him the past few days. All of them ran around the house, through the living room, and under the dining room table.

Three flashes of black fur were a blur as Dad and I tried to separate them. Jo bolted underneath the Christmas tree, followed by Natalie. Smokey pursued. The jumbled mess of cat-ness disappeared under the green branches lit with colorful lights.

As the catfight continued, the tree began to shake. The ornaments clanged and shivered. Dad and I didn't know what to do, so we watched. Just then the tree started to shake and tip forward. Dad and I did our best to catch it but the tree hit the living room floor with a loud crack.

Even though Mother wasn't in her regular Christmas frame of mind, one thing I knew was that she would freak out seeing the tree and her ornaments scattered across the floor. Dad and I only had a few minutes before she'd come home from church.

Without Jennifer and Jeff there to help—Jeff knew how to set up the tree just like Mother—we did our best to return the tree to normal. Dad tightened the trunk in the base and I toiled over returning the lights and garland to some semblance of normalcy. It took quite an effort on our part, but we succeeded in righting the tree and straightening it minutes before the front door open.

Mother found Dad and me in the living room trying to act as if nothing happened. We probably had discomfort written on our faces.

"Those damn cats knocked down the Christmas tree, didn't they?" Mom said.

"How did you know?" I asked.

"Because it's crooked and everything's a mess."

Dad shrugged and looked at me. "We tried."

I started laughing. Hard. I couldn't help it.

And so did Mother. It was the first time we'd heard her laughter in a couple of months—in fact, not since Granddaddy's death.

Finally, she gazed around the living room and took in that we'd decorated for her. Tears filled her eyes and she went over and sat at the piano. She ran her hand gently over the figurines of the crèche and paused over the baby Jesus.

That's when Christmas spirit refilled my mother's broken heart and she stretched her fingers out onto the ivory keys. She began to play and sing, "Joy to the World."

Yes, there was joy to the world. Our family was together that Christmas and we would celebrate the most joyous day of the year together. We would miss not having Granddaddy with us, but he was in heaven with Jesus—where he'd always wanted to be. And that only added to our Christmas spirit.

And Christmas had been un-canceled.

While Mother continued to sing, I went upstairs to seek out the culprits of our Christmas chaos. There they were. Smokey, Jo, and Natalie were all curled up on my bed in one large kitty ball.

I laughed and shook my head. Indeed, there was joy in the world.

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Did you find the secret RED word? (Hint - leave off the S at the end.)

Thanks for stopping by, guys -- I hope you're enjoying the tour! While you're here, leave a comment to be enterered into a special TORN/TANGLED prize pack that includes a signed copy of the book, swag, and a special iTunes mix of songs that inspired the series. Note: to be eligible to win you also need to submit a valid entry for the YA Scavenger Hunt grand prize.

 

Ready to meet Karen Amanda Hooper, who's hosting the next leg of the Scavenger Hunt? Click HERE!