Series: Webb’s Glass Shop Mysteries
Author: Cheryl Hollon
Hi, Savannah here. I'm feeling sad and grateful. This will be the first holiday season without my dad. But, truthfully, it feels a bit like years past since I put up all the decorations. The year after my Mom died, he let me figure out what traditions I wanted to continue and what traditions I wanted to start. He was wise that way.
My favorite part is putting up the Christmas tree. It's always a real tree, but only about five feet tall so that I wouldn't get overwhelmed. I put on the lights first, then the ribbon garlands and finally start hanging the ornaments. In one time-worn box are the fragile ornaments that my mom made during the first Christmas of their marriage. They didn't have much money, so she made a dozen out of egg-cartons, poster paint, glitter, glue, and scraps of lace and rick-rack that she gleaned from the bottom of her sewing box. The white one has in the picture has cutout openings filled with colored tissue paper to resemble stained glass panels. It's the first ornament I put on the tree and it gets the front and center position.
The last holiday installation task is to display my mom's collection of snow babies. Mom loved them and she would get one every Christmas from Dad to add to her collection. They rest on a pair of crocheted place mats that my Grandmother made.
What are your unique decorating rituals?
There's a #BOOKGIVEAWAY! Leave a comment and your email address in the form of name(AT)server(DOT)com to avoid the SPAM bots. Do this by midnight on December 24 for the chance to win your choice of a signed copy of any book in the Webb's Glass Shop Mystery Series, Pane and Suffering, Shards of Murder, Cracked to Death, or Etched in Tears. This giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian residents only. Winner will be notified within 48 hours after giveaway closes.
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Etched in Tears released on November 28, 2017 and is available on Amazon, Nook, Kobo, and in all your favorite bookstores. It is published by Kensington Books. You can also ask your library to order it for you.
About Etched in Tears
When a famous glass artist is murdered at his own exhibit, deadly secrets are put on display, and it's up to glass shop owner Savannah Webb to see through a killer's cover.
Celebrated glass artist Dennis Lansing is returning to St. Petersburg, Florida, for an exhibit at the world-renowned Salvador Dali Museum. His unique style of embedding document images in his art is at the vanguard of contemporary glasswork. But as Savannah's first boyfriend and a former apprentice to her father, Dennis's return home has her reflecting on the past--a trip down memory lane that takes a dark turn when Dennis is found murdered at the museum with an old reference letter from her father in his pocket. A search through her father's records sheds new light on Dennis's history, but it seems his present life wasn't so transparent either. Now, with a gallery of suspects to consider, it's up to Savannah to figure out who fits the mold of a murderer.
Meet the author:
Cheryl Hollon writes full time after she left an engineering career designing and building military flight simulators in amazing countries such as England, Wales, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan and India. Fulfilling the dream of a lifetime, she combines her love of writing with a passion for creating glass art. In the small glass studio behind the house, Cheryl and her husband George design, create, and produce fused glass, stained glass and painted glass artworks.
Visit Cheryl and her books at her Website, Facebook or Twitter
Posts
I put up the crocheted Christmas tree my mother made, along with the tiny ornaments she made for it. schmokercarol(at)yahoo(dot)com
ReplyDeleteMy mother crocheted a beautiful tablecloth for our Christmas buffet display. It was gorgeous.
DeleteI don't have any unique decorating rituals. But I love celebrating Christmas! Merry Christmas everyone! suemngirl(at)yahoo(dot)com
ReplyDeleteI love the celebrating as well. Good Luck in the Giveaway!
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