For once in my life, I have no answer to that silly question. I have my front teeth, at least at this particular moment. I have friends and family who love me, most of the time sufficiently but not too much. I have a fabulous employer who 
has stuck with me through thick, thin, and near disaster. I have my health, my dogs, a roof over my head, protection from the storms.
I don’t have my husband of nearly twenty-five years. That ended last January and I’m facing my first Christmas in a long time alone. Alone isn’t such a bad thing, especially for someone who has more than once been alone in large crowds.
But enough of the downer post. What I want for Christmas, other than World Peace (I am such a fan of Miss Congeniality!) is the opportunity to read and share really wonderful books in a wide range of genre and style. In the last several days, instead of writing on a paranormal erotic novella, a first for me, I’ve read an Urban Fantasy, a m/m romance, a semi classic, and an historical. All slightly off beat, all delightful.
So now you’re wondering about what books have captured my admittedly off beat interest? So glad you asked. The Urban Fantasy is Doranna Durgin’s Kodiak Chained; the m/m romance (that’s male/male for the more innocent!) is Tara Lain’s delightful Snow Balls, the semi classic is The Cowboy and the Cossack (recommended by a friend at least a year ago but not read until now…sorry, Susan!) and the historical romance is Tessa Dare’s The Scandalous Dissolute No-Good Mr. Wright. Yes, it is as much fun as the title implies.
As for my own writing, instead of the Romantic Suspense requested by a publisher, or the halfway done then abandoned NaNo book, I’m plotting out the story of Gabriel, from My Killer My Love. Turns out he didn’t die when he tried to hurt Kendra and Mykhael. But the Atrahasis are really, really mad at him, and he has to live among humans for a while. Poor guy.
Mona Karel Author 