Merry Christmas hope you are having a lovely day with friends and family.
I’ve got a very full tummy so no gymnastics for me! No chance I’ll come down the chimney ever again…
All the best,

A very happy Christmas and a joyful New Year to all my dear friends. I will be busy over the next few days, eating, drinking and spending time with family and I expect you will be too. Enjoy!
I’ll be back with some scheduled posts after Christmas on the Sisters of the Fey blog about:
On my author blog I will be continuing with book reviews and the like and hopefully some poetry, short stories/flash fiction – time permitting.
EXCITING NEWS!!! I am making progress – The Curse of Time – Book two – Golden Healer – my YA fantasy series, is now standing at around 70,000 words.
In case you missed it I shared a fun, jokey Christmas cake recipe over on Solveig’s blog for her 4th Advent calendar.
Here is the link: https://solveigwerner.com/2018/12/22/magical-boozy-nutty-christmas-cake-by-marjorie-mallone-advent-2018-day-22/
Merry Christmas to you all. Keep smiling, writing, creating. Each day is a new, exciting adventure.
Much love,
My Christmas offer. The Curse of Time Book One – Bloodstone:
Buy Book: myBook.to/TheCurseofTime
I’m a contributing author in the Plaisted Publishing House Ghostly Writes Anthology 2018 with my story Ghostly Goodbye.
Available on Amazon, Apple, Nook, Kobo, Scribd, 24S, Playster, Indigo, Angus & Robertson, Mondadori Store:
Social Media Links
Authors Website: https://mjmallon.com
Collaborative Blog: https://sistersofthefey.wordpress.com
Twitter: @Marjorie_Mallon and @curseof_time
#ABRSC: Authors Bloggers Rainbow Support Club on Facebook
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17064826.M_J_Mallon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mjmallonauthor/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mjmallonauthor/
Tumblr: http://mjmallonauthor.tumblr.com/
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and all the best for a Happy New year.
I’d like to spare a thought this Christmas for all those who are lonely, or devastated by terrible news. Not everyone is surrounded by family and friends at Christmas. Perhaps someone you know will be at home eating baked beans alone. I know someone who is. His partner works shifts as a hospice carer, she will be working Christmas day, so he will be alone. Fortunately, they are having their celebration the day after on Boxing Day with a big family get together.
My heart goes out to my daughter’s friend this Christmas. Her mum is terminally ill with cancer and will not live much longer. I feel for her and her brother who are overwhelmed with much responsibility and sadness at such a young age. To add to their plight their parents are separated and they are young adults living alone.
Reflecting upon these overwhelming emotions are perhaps one of the reasons why I became a writer – to express those emotions that are not always easy to understand or to live with. Life can be cruel, but it can also be wonderful. So, I am going to spare a kind thought for her family this Christmas, and hope she finds the strength to deal with the ordeal that will surely follow. From what my daughter has told me she is a resourceful, admirable young woman, and I am sure her mother would be so proud of all she is doing.
2017 hasn’t been the best of years, has it?
There has been much senseless violence, sadness and loss of life, but I discovered a wonderful tweet from one of my writing hero’s: Stephen King which lifted my spirits …
Let’s hope that 2018 is a better year and that ordinary kindness and love will prevail.
Do enjoy the festivities, smile a lot, drink and be merry for life is short, but make it sweet.
I will be taking a bit of blogging break for a few days but I’ll be back in the New Year.
Much love, xxxx
I’m signing off for a blogging break until the New Year, so this is just a quick post to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a fantastic New Year.
If you’d like to see my light-hearted, very silly contribution to Solveig Werner’s Advent Calender this Christmas Eve – here’s the link to my story:
Solveig Werner’s Advent Calendar – Christmas Eve – Serena’s Bubble Monster
Much love, and snowman kisses!!!!
Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx
Welcome………
THE PARTIES NOW OVER BUT FEEL FREE TO STOP BY AND LEAVE YOUR LINKS, ETC, IN THE COMMENTS BELOW…….
Let’s have a big splash, a veritable Mad Hatters Xmas Party…. Invite masses of bloggers over to share cake, music, their links and stories. Wait a minute, it’s a bit cold for swimming… so let’s pop over to Winter Wonderland.
So first things first – provisions – I’m off to Cambridge market to get some nibbles…. I better wrap up warm, it looks cold out there. I’m just starting to recover from a bit of a nasty illness. No worry, I’m sure some hot jacket potatoes, olives, tasty bread, cheeses, fruit, and whatever else takes my fancy, will warm me up and make me feel much better. Don’t worry, I promise not to eat it all!
Now with that done, phew these bags are heavy. How are we going to get to Winter Wonderland? We could walk but that would be boring, and Kyrosmagica doesn’t do boring. So, let’s go ….
Via Rudolf’s magical golden sleigh of course. One sleigh?
No of course not… Rudolf has an army of reindeers and sleighs to take us there. This one is just a mini version stationed at the Grand Arcade in Cambridge. One twirl of my Kyrosmagica wand and we are all set. See those presents? There is one for each of you, just open and see what’s inside. Pop your present on your lap, and let’s hop aboard….
This is your Christmas Link Up Party, have fun, share links but please try to….
I haven’t been for ages…… Every Saturday I (teenage me!) used to go to Murrayfield Ice rink in Edinburgh. Grab your skates, no one will fall, I promise. In fact Kyrosmagica’s Wonderland skates are magical, so everyone, even me will be able to do all sorts of fancy footwork! Wherever you go you will leave a trail of magical golden ice in your wake. Isn’t that just so cool?
Thereafter, I will be diving into Hugh’s Glimpses – his recently released short story collection.
More about that here: Kyrosmagica Awesome Author Interviews : Hugh. W. Roberts
This is the mix…..
The cake…. as it came out the oven…
Happy Christmas Wishes.
Bye for now,
Much love,
I’ve been wondering how to add falling snow, and I found the perfect answer. It is very simple just:
Find out more by clicking the link at the end of this post- including lots of other Christmas ideas to adorn your blog… : WordPress Holiday Snow Transformation
This is a lovely Christmas wreath that my sister in law Lorraine Mallon made for me, and below is the table top arrangement that she made too. Isn’t it lovely? She’s branching out into creative endeavours, and this is a small sample of the sort of thing she hopes to do in terms of floral arrangement, and well as this she intends to make jewellery, and paint too. So good luck to her, I wish her all the very best.
My daughter also had a go at some floral vase arrangement too:
I finished work at 6pm on Christmas Eve so I have been super busy, retail is such hard work! I’m now looking forward to two days off to rest my weary bones. My husband is cooking, (luckily he loves to cook!) so Lorraine and I are going to be sous chefs peeling the spuds.
Hope you have a wonderful Christmas with friends and family.
All the best for 2016.
Bye for now, this is what I’d like to be doing….. you can dream …. No snow here, and no hot tub, sigh….!!
Love Marje @ Kyrosmagica xxx
Hugh from Hugh’s Views and News is sponsoring his Charity Christmas Tree Topper Challenge again this year. Last year’s challenge was a great success!
Do you want to join in with Hugh’s Photo Tree Topper Challenge? Here is all you have to do:
From Hugh’s blog: “Here’s how you can all join in and help Angela, Macy, Toby, and I raise £250 for The Dogs Trust.”
1. Take a photo of what sits on top of your Christmas tree.
2. Create a new post on your blog entitled “Hugh’s Photo Challenge: Week 8 – Charity Christmas Tree Topper Challenge.”
3. Add the photo(s) you have taken to the post and tell us a little about what you are showing.
4. Create a pingback to Hugh’s post or leave a link to your post in the comments section of Hugh’s post so that other participants can view your post.
The challenge is open until Tuesday 5th January 2016 and more details can be found on Hugh’s and Colleen’s blog:
http://silverthreading.com/2014/12/19/heres-whats-on-top-of-my-christmas-tree-whats-on-yours/
Please click on the link The Dogs Trust if you would like to make any donations directly to The Dogs Trust, in UK. Or alternatively in America, you could consider making a donation to the Humane Society of the United States or a local Humane Society in your own hometown.This is not compulsory to enter in the challenge, but if you would like to do so that would no doubt be more than welcome!
Sadly I don’t have a dog myself nowadays but I did as a child, Topsy, a cute little black and white cheeky rascal who used to like eating all sorts of things that weren’t particularly good for a dog! Look at that tiny frame it disguises a hearty appetite for inedible things! I remember one year she ate a balloon at my birthday party. Thank goodness she was okay no harm done. Also one year she ran off and had a love affair with a local dog, we were really worried that she had been lost for good but she reappeared with her guilty tail between her legs…
So to get into the spirit of celebrating man’s best furry friend here are a couple of photos of Topsy:
First this photo is of mum and I on our balcony in Hong Kong, I used to live there when I was little. Actually this kind of captures cheeky me and rascal Topsy pretty well I reckon! My mum is smiling but in a hesitant way as if she knows that she has a handful there…
This photograph below is of Topsy, my brother Donald and my dad Ronald looking all smiley, but Topsy is a bit sad, she is thinking of her wild escapade with her lost love….
As well as participating in the Tree Top Challenge and chatting about dogs I am also joining in Colleen at Silver Threading’s lovely idea to share Christmas Trees from Around The World, so if you’d like to join in with this particular challenge don’t forget to say where you are! My tree is situated at my home in Cambridge, England.
Here’s the link to join in Colleen’s Trees Around The World:
http://silverthreading.com/2015/12/06/christmas-trees-around-the-world/
At the weekend I went out with my husband and my youngest daughter to find a lovely tree at our nearby garden centre. At that point in time my eldest was still at University so unfortunately she missed this trip but she’s back home today, it’s so lovely to see her, and now she has seen the tree too.
I just love a real tree, don’t you?
Especially when it is lit up.
I knew it was the one as soon as my husband pulled it out from amongst an array of other trees it had such lovely symmetry and a fullness that caught my eye. So I said, “That’s the one.” Of course my husband still pulled out a few other likely contenders but I got my way in the end! I can be quite stubborn at times….
I decorated our beautiful Christmas tree with my youngest daughter but to my dismay we couldn’t find the angel to top the tree, so I asked my husband if he could get me another one, but he didn’t manage to find one, he was too busy buying the groceries! Just as well, as I found her hiding in amongst a large bag of Christmas gift tags and wrapping paper. For some reason she wasn’t in the bubble wrap with the other Christmas baubles. Perhaps she felt a bit too grand to be stuck there amongst the bawdy riff raff!
Now she may look like she’s sleeping on top of my tree but don’t let that fool you, she knows what’s what! She’s keeping a look out for any sneaky opening presents before Christmas, that is not allowed.
Thanks for popping by to see my tree and my childhood dog and for joining in the Christmas festivities Kyrosmagica style, and don’t forget to pop over to Colleen and Hugh’s blog to join in the challenges.
Bye for now,
Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx
A very Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year. Have a wonderful time. I’ll be back soon. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Just leaving you with a few cracker jokes:
What do ghosts dance to? Soul music
What do you get if you cross a snowman and a vampire? Frostbite
What kind of pants do clouds wear? Thunderwear
What do you call someone who is afraid of Santa? A Clausterphobic
What’s the most popular Christmas wine? ‘I don’t like Brussels sprouts!’
What happened to the man who stole an Advent Calendar? He got 25 days!
A bit of a departure from my usual inspiring images on a Friday but as Christmas is fast approaching thought I’d mention some Christmas books, and other book bloggers here on WordPress and Tumblr. I’m kicking off my Christmas reads suggestion with this beauty, oops, sorry for being so dark, but this one kind of stood out for me. Well it sounds a bit different. Dying for Christmas. A psychological thriller/crime drama which I found via Scatterbooker on WordPress here’s her review link:
http://scatterbooker.wordpress.com/2014/12/08/book-review-dying-for-christmas-by-tammy-cohen/
Also I really like the sound of Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares. This made a change from the usual titles that are heavily laden with the words, Mistletoe, Christmas, Snow, yes, you get the picture. It sounds light-hearted and fun, a YA contemporary romance.
If you’re hoping for snow then look no further. Came across Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle while I was on Tumblr. Thanks for the recommendation: Books and sugar Quills on Tumblr.
Here’s the link: http://booksandsugarquills.tumblr.com/
Then while I was searching Amazon I spotted My True Love Gave To Me! Twelve Holiday Stories by a whole lot of authors, some of my favourites there!
Sometimes Christmas can be a bit overwhelming, so why not put your oven gloves away and go On Strike for Christmas? Found this beauty via Girls Love to Read. Here’s the link to her book review:
Okay, I succumbed to a bit of mistletoe love but this cover is just too pretty to resist! The review for this Judy Astley Chick lit, romance offering is at Pages and Tea blog on WordPress. Here’s the link: http://pagesandteablog.wordpress.com/2014/12/09/book-review-it-must-have-been-the-mistletoe-by-judy-Astley/
Now if you fancy a bit of Christmas romance I’d definitely recommend that you rush over to Sonya Heaney’s blog because she has a whole host of Christmas novels, including those by #1 New York Times bestselling author Robyn Carr. I knew a stocking would creep in somewhere! Here’s the link to one of her reviews:
Christmas Reads: ‘Tis the Season by Robyn Carr
Are you heading home for Christmas?
Do comment below if I haven’t mentioned a Christmas book you would really like to recommend. Oh, and just in case I haven’t found that Christmas novel for you to read, or gift for you to give, here are some other places to look:
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/22453.YA_Christmas_Reads_WINTER_STYLE_
http://literaryattic.wordpress.com/2014/12/08/6-great-christmasholiday-themed-books/