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Freshly baked cookies. Mmmm. You can just imagine it. Sitting on the table, greeting all those who live in the house. The smell of sugar wafting in the air, kissing you sweetly on the cheek. Chocolate chip, sugar cookies, take your pick. But I'm making gingerbread. I'll first buy a gingerbread house-making kit, but whip up an extra batch of icing, because the kits never give you enough. I would make the flat gingerbread pieces myself, but every time I try, the house looks mor

Non-fiction The colours of Christmas date even back to Pagan and Celtic traditions. Here, we meet The Holly King and The Oak King. The Holly King ruled the winter, his power strongest at the solstice, before being taken over by the Oak King, who would proceed to rule over the warming months. They would, in myths, fight for control, and would rise and fall during the solstices, not in a battle of good and evil, but of light and dark, life, death and rebirth. The Winter Solstic

Contemporary There'll be a young couple; their names are irrelevant. Sat down at the kitchen counter, they'll read their books, distantly listening to the news. She will be reading a contemporary romance, of course, set at Christmas. He'll be reading something smart, maybe about economics or business, because he'll promise his future wife that they'll be rich one day. That'll spark a debate. No, a 'debate' won't be the right word. More like a... consultation? Of their dreams.

Contemporary “What are you going to ask for this year?” Mum leaned over Daisy, whispering in her ear softly, a gentle smile on her warm face. She could recognise the Christmas smile; it meant that she and Fred were being good this year, and that she was relieved that no one, including their old cat Cookie, had tried to eat the Christmas decorations. Daisy also recognised the question. It's the same question every year, without fail. And every year she knew the answer.  She wo

Contemporary Within a snowy plain, where no creature dare stir, lay an abandoned hotel. It sat, sad and melancholic amongst piles of white goodness that wouldn’t clear until Spring. The brick walls held firm, despite the paint slowly chipping off, making the sign hardly visible. It was just as well, because no one had visited the hotel for over a decade, because a rumour had spread that it was overgrown with poisonous weeds.  Well, never mind the rumours. Even if they had eve

Non-fiction Oh! History! I love this one! So... diverse and magnificent! But this his-story (see what I did there?) won't be your cut-and-dry textbook. For today only, I have hired Sir Chrystamasasaurus (don't laugh at his name! He's sensitive!) to show you how Christmas came to be. And remember! Don't laugh at his name... "Sir Chrystamasasaurus. Good to meet you. I'm not here to dilly-dally, so I'll do your introduction for you." He takes your hand, shaking it quickly and fi

Contemporary The Orphanage. 1990. Mikaela, Andrew and Alexandra sat on the couch. "At least someone is getting a Merry Christmas." Andrew huffed. Yeah: Zelana. She got chosen, but none of them were surprised; she kept good care of herself, was smart, and clearly had big things to do in life. It was impossible to show these things to the people who came in and eyed them like vultures, trying to determine if you were the 'best' fit. But Zelana managed to break that curse. Alex

Contemporary "A... rock?" I grimace at Charlie, who is smiling his foolish grin, looking at me expectantly. The rock is the size of my palm, painted with a few strokes of gentle blue, and definitely not a disappointment. I clear my throat, readjusting the Christmas lights of the tree. "Thank you." I'm unable to make my voice above a whisper. Why did I expect something to change this year? He was an incredible gift-giver that first Christmas we spent together. I got a beautifu

Non-fiction. A 'story' about stars (this is more of a tale/description). Hmmm.... what could this be about? I hear you asking. This is my non-official application for stars to be considered the #1 symbol. Not that some symbols are superior to others, but... hearts are definitely not numb er #1 in my book. Yes, I love a good heart, but it's curved and weird to draw. A star is super easy. You have that little trick you learn when you're little, and feel so proud of yourself

Contemporary "Mum?" Kieran shivered as he was wrapped in his mother's scarf, and Tom was wrapped into his Dad's. Tears glistened Mum's eyes, but her smile stayed strong, even as her voice faltered through the gentle, "Yes, my boy?" The twins huddled between their parents, hiding their faces into their thin clothes. Kieran continued, blocking Tom's ears with his gloved hands, "We're not going home are we?" They were waiting for their car to be inspected, to see if they'd be on

Contemporary The family never had much. That has to be stated, before you can understand this story. This is a story of how to give, when you don't even have enough for yourself. For the last few years, it had been just Stanley and Dad. Even before Mum left three years ago, their wealth hadn't been plenty. Now, at his school, a Secret Santa was being hosted. It's a great concept, in theory, but in Stanley's opinion it just adds stress to everyone's lives. He tried his best to

Contemporary Now, I need to let you know we rarely buy many new Christmas decorations. We love to keep our old ones, and build our collection through our memories. But this year is different. It's our cousin's first Christmas, and we want to make it extra special, so while we're out Christmas tree shopping, we're also looking for the perfect bauble or decoration to gift her, so she can also make life-long memories. I had such a decoration, and so did my sister. Mine was — no,

Fantasy There is a word in German which I want to tell you about: Vorfruede. It’s one of those ‘untranslatable’ words, which encapsulates the “joy on anticipation”. It literally means before (vor) joy (fruede). I think you can tell where this is going. Throughout the month of December, I hope we’ll bring about Vorfruede, by exploring the meanings of Christmas one at a time, from the 1st to the 25th of December. Now, I have to go through some of the maintenance before we can c

I'm starting a busy few months. I'm trying to edit Emerald, and do a little something for Christmas (more on that next week), along with school, and next year I'm doing work experience and mocks... Ah! I could go on and on. What I've found is that it's hard to do everything. It is so tiring and time-consuming that sometimes you just want to give up on everything and read or binge-watch your favourite series all day. I get it. This is not a message just to you, but also to

Books! They're not only fun to write, but also read. It's one of the best ways to explore language and all it entails, along with improving your own writing. This week I wanted to go through some of the books I loved, and which I think you should read. Additionally, I'll be including a little 'reading journal' for different genres, themes, etc, which are found in the books you might read. My Favourite Books (and age ratings): Oxford Blood- 14+ YA murder mystery thriller Enola

I know it's technically not called NaNoWriMo anymore, but I'm going to stick with that because it perfectly encaptures what it is. If you didn't see the previous post, NaNoWriMo was closed due to the use of AI, and their beliefs, but many websites are taking up a similar thing. At the end I'll leave some links to some of these platforms. Whilst looking for them, I found NaNoWriMo2, which I would be careful with, and do your research whether you are a fan or not. But you can j

When I say publishing, I mean I'm going to be talking about doing everything on your own, and how to do that. Because it's so hard to get traditionally published, especially as a teen, so we have to resort to indie publishing. But then we're left drowning in an endless sea of information, unable to find what we actually have to do, and what we can avoid to not have too much on our plate. I think I'm going to split this topic up into a couple of blog posts, so stay turned. Tod

Nadia, what is going on? I want to know what you're writing! Are you editing your second book? Are you doing any more events? Where's the after-writing guide! I'm here to update you on what's up in my writing career, in case you couldn't have guessed. I usually like to be snappy, and to the point, but this week I'm relaxing on that and having a chat with you. Comment below if there's more questions you want answering. Right now I'm not writing very much because I'm focused on

This week I want to challenge you to leave your comfort zone and try to include different writing techniques for every letter of the alphabet. For example, in a poem, choose 2/3 you want, or in a book, include as many as you can. It's fun to try to think of your own! It's a great challenge in itself, and finding the techniques themselves will stretch your knowledge and improve it. Before you scroll down and look at the techniques, try to find some on your own. Alliteration- t