Brisk wintery greetings one and all!

The beginning of the week saw temperatures in the single digits here. But by late Tuesday the thermometer had crept up into the high 40s. And that’s when the precipitation in the form of rain and pea sized hail balls came down in a deluge. It continued along with thunder storms for most of the day and finally wore itself out late in the evening. The skies cleared and the temperature dropped back to “normal” for the season and area yesterday. The sun was beautiful after so much dreariness, but there was no snow. Oh well. Maybe next year.

We spent the afternoon at my mother-in-law’s house in the usual feeding frenzy and gift exchange. I spent the majority of my time in the kitchen preparing various and assorted side dishes. The high point in excitement for the before feast events was the stove catching fire. No worries. I don’t tend to panic. The first burst of flames went out when the pot was removed from the burner. However when we attempted to use the burner again, the flames came right back. I dumped a half a box of baking soda on the element, smothered the fire and opened all the windows to let the smoke out. That’s when the smoke detector decided to go off. My husband came running to control the emergency, which, of course, was already dealt with. We had him battle the smoke detector into submission so he could fulfill his manly obligations. The food was delicious, by the way.

This month’s coloring page features the 3 Fates, also known as the Moerae. They determine the course of each person’s life. The youngest Goddess, Clotho spins the thread and the other two weave the life story and finally cut the thread at the life’s ending. I thought this group of Goddesses was perfect for this time of year when we retreat from the world for the winter months. They are usually portrayed as old crones, but in my imagination they have never been elderly.

You can join the mailing list now to download this and other free coloring pages by going to http://magicalchildbooks.com/newsletter.html and signing up.

If you have been meaning to purchase a copy of Rabbit’s Song with the autographs of myself, SJ Tucker and Trudy Herring, there are only 5 copies left. I don’t know when or if the three of us will be all together in the same place again to sign more. Avoid disappointment and grab yours now. The special pre-release offer of an original story about Rabbit and his friends as told by SJ and Trudy in MP3 download is still available to all purchasers of Rabbit’s Song. The MP3 will remain on the web site until February 14th, the official release date of Rabbit’s Song to the general public. Visit Magical Child Books’ web site http://magicalchildbooks.com to order your special copy now.

Of course, all the other wonderful Pagan children’s books that Magical Child Books offers are still available there, too.

I am working on an adult non-fiction book with Ashleen O’Gaea (Raising Witches) which is almost complete. We will be searching for a publisher soon. In the mean time, we need your help. The book contains several of my holiday recipes. I am a seat of the pants type chef and cook by using a pinch of this and a dash of that. I have done my best to recreate my family favorites into measured recipes to include in the book. How can you help? I need a few adventurous souls to be recipe testers. If you want to take part, email me back for the details. I will add your name to the book as a contributor int he acknowledgments.

And last but not least, my publisher has informed me that they are seeking new manuscripts for Spring 2010 and beyond. If you have a story about Pagan children celebrating any of the assorted Earth Religion based holidays or activities, check out the submissions page on the web site. Who knows? I might be selected to illustrate your story! http://magicalchildbooks.com/submissions.html

A very happy 2009 to all of you.

Blessings,
Lyon

P.S. Remember, send your budding artists’ renditions of this month’s coloring page to me as a jpg (less than 1 MB, please) and I will post it on my blog!

Here’s hoping all your wishes and dreams come true in the coming year. Have a wonderful holiday season.

It would be wise to get out of this little hooligan’s way. I sketched this out in early September but never finished it as other more pressing projects kept me occupied. She’s been yelling at me ever since. So I finished her up today. Maybe now I’ll have some peace and quiet?

This month the ABC of Lessor Known Goddesses features Kebechet. She is the daughter of Anubis the Egyptian God of the Dead. Her job is to carry water to Her father for the purification of the dead’s souls.

Join the Magical Child News Yahoo group to download this and previous coloring pages.

Hi everybody. I know I’ve been scarce around here. I have a good reason, though!

I’m working on the art for my 4th picture book! The publisher has placed it on the web site for pre-orders. Check it out!

Rabbit’s Song by SJ Tucker & Trudy Herring

http://magicalchildbooks.com/rabbits.html

I am super excited! Well…back to the drafting table.

Blessings,
Lyon

July is half way through. Time just seems to go faster and faster as I get older. To the left is a portion of the newest installment for the free coloring pages at Magical Child News. This month features the letter J and the Goddess is Jerah, a Semetic Goddess. Sign up for the yahoo group mailing list to download this and previous free coloring pages.

I joined a new blog group this week called Watercolor Wednesdays. The members have to be watercolor artists doing children’s book illustration. Every Wednesday we receive a prompt for a new painting. This week’s prompt is “this little piggy.” We are to let our imaginations run wild, and mine is working over time. So much so I haven’t been able to decide what to do yet.

Work on Rabbit’s Song is moving along smoothly. The rough layout for the cover has received approval and I am busy finalizing all the changes and tiny details. The publisher will be making the book available for pre-order as soon as the cover receives final approval. The authors and I will all be appearing together in Tennessee for a pre-release party. All the books pre-ordered before the mid October event will be signed by all three of us. I am very excited about this.

I’ve decided that watching the scale inch up over the summer has got to end. I got my bike out of the basement and dusted off the cobwebs yesterday morning. I rode out to the post office and back in the morning. It actually felt kind of good to be doing something just for me. In fact it felt so good that I decided to ride the bike down to A Visual Impact in the afternoon to get my hair cut. (Check out the logo — I designed it for them.) I arrived at the shop without incident, got my hair cut and started on my way home. I took the main drag home (fewer hills) instead of taking the side streets I traveled on my way downtown. That was a mistake. Not only was the traffic heavier, the folks in the cars seemed to think they needed to honk their horns at me as they drove past. The side of the rode is not in good repair, so it was tough going. I gritted my teeth and struggled on until I cam to the rail road tracks. The tracks cut across the road at an angle. I was attempting to pedal my sorry self across them and avoid the worst of the potholes and road debris when a car swooshed by rather closely with horn blaring. It startled me and I took my eyes off the road momentarily to see the car rush past only to have the front tire of the bike catch in the track and get stuck. Needless to say, I kept going and my bike didn’t. OW! I now have a nice pair of matching road rash on my right knee and left leg. I wear leather biking gloves, so my hands are undamaged. A good thing because I used them to stop my face from landing in the gravel by the side of the road.

Suffice it to say, I won’t be traveling that section of road again!