Free Gifts You Can Give This Holiday Season

For many of us, 2025 has been a tough financial year - and for those of us who like to Christmas shop, we've either trimmed that list in terms of people and/or things.

But the best gifts very often cost nothing than our time - and sometimes even very little of our time.

Here's an opportunity for you for you to give thirty-one unique gifts this month.

Simply visit the BryonySeries calendar, pick a date (any date or the current date), read the giving prompt, and follow the instructions.

Yes, each activity does link back to a BryonySeries book. But that's only for context. You don't need to click the link at all (unless you're curious).

Even one of these activities is a priceless gift you can give to the right person on your Chirstmas gift-giving list.

And these gifts are the types of gifts that really underscore the adage, "It's more blessed to give than to receive."

If you've had recent challenges - or are experiencing challenges (I certainly have) - the reflections are a wonderful way to remind you of the blessings you've experienced - now and in thet past - and give hope of the blessings that await you in the future.

Now, if you do have a few dollars to spend, and if you'd like to give a gift of lasting value, here's a way to give children the gift of reading this year.

Happy Tuesday!

Give Kids the Gift of Reading This Holiday Season

Please check out a very unique display at The Book Market in Crest Hill - and then consider celebrating gratitude with us and blessing a child with a BryonySeries book this holiday season.

For the past several years, the BryonySeries B.L.O.C.K.S. team has donated Bertrand the Mouse books to a local Santa Services, which Santa distributes to events aimed at low-income children.

Last year, we also spontaneously gave away thirty Bertrand the Mouse books to a local food pantry and one hundred books to local foster families.

In 2023, we partnered with The Book Market and invited patrons to also purchase books for Santa, in order to increase donations. Thanks to everyone's generosity, we provided Santa with 147 books that year.

This year, we are once again collecting Bertrand the Mouse books for Santa Services.

And we are also collecting BryonySeries children's books to donate to the Will County Children's Advocacy Center in Crest Hill: Bertrand the Mouse, The Adventures of Cornell Dyer, and the Girls of the BryonySeries books.

We will be collecting books throughout the holiday season.

For bulk rates, email us at bryonyseries@gmail.com.

You may also purchase BryonySeries books from Amazon (our store is down) and mail to Denise M. Unland, P.O. Box 2789, Joliet, IL, 60436.

Anyone who purchases any TWO BryonySeries children's books at The Book Market may select one of Bertrand's friends and stocking from the Christmas tree (while supplies last) as our "thank you" gift to you, courtesy of Cindy Phan from Ribbit-Ribbits.

Please reach out to us or chat with Jan Staley at The Book Market if you have any questions.

Together, we can bring the joys of reading to local children this holiday season.

Beause literacy is a gift that that keeps giving long past the expression of gratitude or the end of the book.

Please scroll through photos to see samples of Cindy's homemade stockings and mice.

Actual mice and stockings currently available may not match these photos as each one is unique.

Happy Tuesday!

Special BryonySeries Gifts With Select Purchases TODAY at The Book Market

If you're out and about the Crest Hill area today (Dec. 17), be sure to pop into The Book Market between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

You can check out our BryonySeries Christmas display of eleven curated BryonySeries books, Cindy's backpack bear Ribbit-Ribbits, free purple music roses with select purchases, three Christmas mice that still need adopting, and beautiful mystery gift boxes from Cindy (all free with select purchases while supplies last). 

Even the boxes themselves are gorgeous and sturdy enough for keeping other treasures inside them.

And who can turn their backs on these sweet little crocheted homeless mice?

Rebekah and I will be hanging out with the rest of the books in the series, too. We'll be able to answer your questions about the series and maybe read an excerpt (or two) of your choice.

The Book Market owner Janet Staley is super-friendly, too, and always ready and willing to help you find the perfect book in this family-owned bookstore of new, used, and rare books.

Maybe we will see you there.

Happy Tuesday!

Playing Santa

A good acquaintance of mine put out a call for help on social media this weekend.

Twenty-five children living in a local motel were in need of Christmas cheer. Who could help?

I immediately asked Rebekah if we could afford to donate twenty-five of our BryonySeries children's books (Bertrand The Mouse, The Adventures of Cornell Dyer, Girls of the BryonySeries, etc.).

As Rebekah was figuring that out, we had a bit of a Christmas miracle.

Let's just say someone dropped in, heard about our plans, and offered to buy the books. And then the offer was modified. This person said the kids should get TWO books a piece.

Then that person called another person, who also offered to donate two books to each child, for a total of four books per child.

Then that social media was modified: Approximately sixteen adults were with the twenty-five children and in need of Christmas cheer, too.

So my two donors bought WriteOn Joliet's last fifteen Christmas anthologies, as well WriteOn Joliet's last two "Cheetah" anthologies, and even my copy of the Cheetah anthology, for a total of eighteen books (in case the count was wrong).

Now I had the challenge of wrapping all those books. I REALLY needed to finish the hard edits of the third book in Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara's third book in his BryonySeries Ruthless trilogy - and I wasn't sure if I could get those edits done if I spent every waking minute this weekend on them.

It's been that kind of autumn/2024, ya know? 

So Timothy and Daniel, on their way out the door for their Saturday morning bro-breakfast together, offered to help.

They came home a couple hours later with gift bags, lots of tape - and then Timothy custom-designed large gift tags that would hold all the important information: Gender, age, room number.

And then the boys got busy and started wrapping, making sure that rooms with multiple children didn't get "doubles" with the books.

You should know both boys just completed a busy week at work, along with finals week for their master degree programs. They submitted the final final on Friday night and REALLY looked forward to a quiet, relaxing Saturday.

Instead, they spent the day wrapping one hundred and eighteen books. And then they delivered them.

In the meantime, Rebekah had gone to Cindy's for a Christmas bakeoff since Cindy was making gift boxes of baked goods for presents this year.

Instead, the girls baked all day and then professionally wrapped an assortment of their goodies in individual packs to accompany the books.

That left Cindy without any baked goods for her gift boxes. And she was OK with that.

I should also add we do not even have our Christmas tree up. Heck, it's not even out of the garage yet.

We also have not celebrate St. Nicholas yet (that feast day was Dec. 6).

But I actually DID finish the hard edits on Ed's book late Sunday night.

And Timothy, Rebekah, and Daniel chilled on Sunday.

Most importantly, we brought a bit of Christmas to people who can't bring it to themselves this year. And they can enjoy stories written locally by writers who care about writing good stories and sharing them with the community.

I love the amount of good people can bring into the world when they work together. And social media, for all negativity sometimes associated with it, was the catalyst for it.

Besides we can always bring the Christmas tree out of the garage another day.

Happy Monday!

Meaning Over Money

Last week, I took several days off work between Christmas and the New Year to prepare for our family Christmas and Rebekah's 30th birthday on January 7.

Up until that point, my life was centered on keeping Advent in my heart, deadlines at work, and holiday events for WriteOn Joliet.

During that time, Rebekah decorated the house and put up our family tree - and she also put up the little tree for my room (that Joshua and Timothy brought me for St. Nicholas in 2020) because I simply didn't have time to decorate it myself.

On my first day off, I tied up some loose "life" ends on Tuesday while Rebekah went to some appointments after work. But then she and I dedicated part of Wednesday and Thursday to Christmas preparations. 

Now I also spent some time with some plans for Rebekah's birthday. And we held our annual game and pizza night on New Year's Eve. The rest of the time was spent ed-ting the second novel by Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara, because we need books in hand before Calkins Day.

But when Rebekah clocked out of work on Wednesday, we focused only on Christmas, and we shopped for approximately twenty people. Then when she clocked out of work on Thursday, we wrapped (and wrapped and wrapped).

We are still hoping to embellish the gifts with ribbons and bow - if we have time. It's a busy work week, and I'm leading a WriteOn Joliet meeting tonight.

What we did not do is spend lots of money on gifts per person. This is partly because we don't ask people for their "wish lists." And it's partly because we are also very thrifty shoppers.

But we do know how to give good gifts.

We buy gifts we are reasonably certain people will like based on what we know about that person, their needs, their wants, their likes, their hopes and dreams.

That's how Timothy wound up with pink pajamas with cats printed all over them - and he was delighted. He still has them, even though that gift was from a Christmas at least fifteen years in the past. 

Our emphasis is on meaning over money. 

Now sometimes, the receiver is perplexed at a gift, such as this gift of  paint and plain white T-shirts in various sizes that Daniel gifted me last year. In the hands of Jasmine and Rebekah, the results were stunning and a terrific gift for quite a few people.

Here are five photos to show what Rebekah and I accomplished in those two half, very fun days of working together to find the right gifts. We can't wait to see people's expressions when they open their gifts on January 7.

Now, even if Christmas is already a distant memory for you, may the love, joy, and peace the season brings remain in your hearts and in your homes for all of 2024.

Happy Thursday!

My Mother's Nativity Set

The best nativity set in the entire world (for me) is the one my mother bought in the 1950s.

She was still single at the time (she married my father on September 3, 1960) and working at Continental Insurance.

She always placed this nativity set underneath the artificial tree in the finished basement of our home: 2108 Belmont Avenue in Joliet. A smaller, sleeker, three-piece scene sat below the real tree in the living.

My sister and I would come home from school and listen to our parents' Christmas records, which were stacked on the turntable of the console, which included two upright speakers.

We would lean our ears against the speakers for better sound quality, our way of enjoying headphones before we actually owned any.

Sometimes we played with the figures, too, the reason why they are chipped.

My mother said that Joseph was actually a shepherd because the set she bought was missing the Joseph figure.

I don't know if she bought the Christmas tree in the back at the same time or she added it later. 

I do remember the paper folded angels (with tabs and instructions for folding) were always part of the scene.

At some point, she added the Styrofoam snowman and stapled glitter star either my sister or I made, mostly likely when we attended the former St. Bernard Catholic School in Joliet.

When my sister gave me the set earlier this month, it was still packed in the nearly seventy-year-old gift box with what has to be the original bag of straw, judging from the disintegration of the bag.

The old can of snow was gone. But the snow you see sprayed on the cardboard stable is the snow from my childhood.

This nativity scene, as well as this beautiful piece of the first Christmas by Perry Como, are forever linked in my mind. 

You can listen to it now as you scroll through the photos.

Christ is Born! Let is Glorify Him!

Give a Child the Gift of Reading

When plans go awry, people often say it's because God had a better plan for us.

The Bible actually has a verse that says it: "For God has something better in mind for us."

That is certainly true when I missed "Bertrand's Back-To-School Birthday Bash" in August in favor of hanging out in an emergency department, which resulted in being admitted overnight for the second time that month.

Not only did I meet some fantastic people who shared fantastic stories, a new opportunity emerged.

You see, when I called Janet Staley, owner of The Book Market, to let her know my kids would be running the event, she had a much better surprise: she had already pre-sold one copy of all Bertrand the Mouse titles to a single customer to give to Santa.

For that was the purpose of the event: to give customers the opportunity to buy a Bertrand the Mouse book for Santa to give away to children and special needs adults during the holidays.

I had given Santa nearly one hundred Bertrand books last fall, and Santa said the books were very highly received. In short, Bertrand was a hit, and I am not surprised. 

But the need for books is higher than what I can provide alone. But maybe a few others might want to contribute, too? So Jan was willing to hold a birthday party for Bertrand, where the only gifts he wanted were books for Santa.

Santa did leave that day with fifty Bertrand books. Jan even put together a box of overstock for Santa, too. And Santa brought free ice cream for attendees. So Santa is off to a good start as far as books for children go.

After I was released from the hospital, I called Jan to thank her profusely and see how the event went. And this is where the "opportunity" part came in.

Jan suggested I extend Bertrand's birthday celebration through the Santa season with a special display of Bertrand the Mouse books at her store.

However, among work conflicts, emergencies, and transportation woes, it took a month to get there. But I had a day off work yesterday, and the display finally went up. 

And now it's so easy for you to help Santa, too.

Simply pop into The Book Market during regular store hours, pick out the Bertrand the Mouse title(s) you want to give to Santa, pay for it/them at the counter, and leave the book(s) with Jan. She and I will make sure Santa gets the books.

I have another fifty (or so) books at my house for Santa ready to go, too. But Santa sees thousands of children and special needs adults during the holiday season. One hundred books aren't nearly enough.

The Book Market has limited amounts of Bertrand books, which we will replenish when necessary. So if you're interested in bulk rates, email us at bryonyseries@gmail.com.

One last thought: Even kids who don't read seem to really like the Bertrand books. The books are simple and very approachable. When you put one of these books into a child's hands, you may increase the love for the printed word in an already eager reader and spark an interest in a reluctant reader to take a chance on another book.

And if that happens, you will have given a child a gift that will continue to pay dividends for the rest of his/her life.

The Gift of Two Wolves

Fun Discovery: The Voice Actors Behind Your Favorite Holiday Shows

During our family's Christmas 2020 Film Festival (made possible by social distance due to COVID), we watched some of the animated Christmas specials from my childhood: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Little Drummer Boy, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and  Charlie Brown Christmas.

Thanks to the internet, we interspersed our watching with looking up trivia on the people behind the voices (links at the bottom of his blog).

One man had quite the prolific career: Paul Frees. If Wikipedia is correct, he also had five wives and died by suicide.

Still, the amount of projects to which he contributed is astounding, to say the least.

https://www.otrcat.com/p/paul-frees

https://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com/actors/paul-frees

And now, check out the faces behind the voices of your childhood favorites:

https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/Rudolph-the-Red-Nosed-Reindeer/

https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/Santa-Claus-is-Comin-to-Town/

https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/Frosty-the-Snowman/

https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/Little-Drummer-Boy/

https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/How-the-Grinch-Stole-Christmas/

Christmas 2020 Film Festival: Did We Watch all the Movies?

Since my extended family couldn't get together over the holidays, I decided to sit down and watch a long list of movies I have either never seen or have not seen in many, many years.

Rebekah and Timothy joined me for all of them. Daniel joined us for most of them.

You can find the list on this post: http://bryonyseries.blogspot.com/2020/12/christmas-2020-film-festival.html

Now, did we get through all of them? Well, not quite.

But really only because we forgot one (White Christmas, which I've never seen), we ran out of time for a second A Christmas Carol (Reginald Owen), and we added three more films. 

One of those additional films was The House Without A Christmas Tree, which (thanks to the internet) I learned was based on a true story.

We actually own the DVD, worth buying because we couldn't find a decent copy to stream. And worth watching because, even though it was a low budget film, the results were outstanding and the film and concept holds up well to time.

We also added "Hi-Tops," a rare 1985 Christian musical about three angels sent on a special mission to a high school on earth to study peer pressure.

Before you laugh, this movie was a hit among teens when we ran The Higher Ark youth group for our church, and I don't know why. The kids came from some tough homes, but the high amount of enjoyment (and buzz) for this film really surprised us.

Yes, it's deliberately cheesy, but if you can accept that, you can actually enjoy a movie concept that was groundbreaking for its time (MTV was only a couple years old when it was made).

The musical launched Christian artist Crystal Lewis, but some of the other actors are genuinely talented (I'm looking at you Jeff Carter, i.e. Norman J. Pitts - and "Louie" was pretty good, too).

The full move is actually on YouTube.

Finally, the last movie we added to our list is worth a post of its own. You probably haven't heard of it, much less seen it, and it will be hard to get your hands on it, too.

It was on my wish list for "film day" when I home-schooled, but it was so obscure that even when it became available on DVD, the copies cost hundreds of dollars.

The book is short, only 98 pages, but these, too, cost a couple hundred dollars (if you can find one).

I'd only seen it twice on TV, the last time being more than forty years ago. I was surprised at how much dialogue I'd known by heart.

Stay tuned.

A Christmas Gift for Ed Calkins

I like chocolate way more than candy canes at Christmas or any time. But if I am going to eat a candy cane, I want a traditional cane in a traditional size.

But when I was a child, I typically only receive the miniature ones, always to my dismay.

So as a parent, I only dispersed the "regular-sized" candy canes to my kids - and usually only for St. Nicholas Day (Dec. 6), about the one day of the year that I eat an actual candy cane. True to form, I've eaten just the one this year - I have more still tucked inside my stocking.

I became a fan of candy canes on that day years ago after reading a blessing prayer for candy canes on St. Nicholas day in a book my mother sold in her Christian gift shop.

It was called Prayers for the Domestic Church (originally published in 1979), and I longed to own that book. My oldest kids were very young, and I was building up our home prayer life at the time and seeking ways to seamlessly weave that into our ordinary lives.

My mother gave it to me at Christmas one year. We used it so much, most of the pages split apart from the binding. The book was lost in one of our many moves.

The blessing prayer for St. Nicholas candy canes is here.

But now, I also like miniature candy canes all though December, especially if they are cold. And that's because of Ed Calkins.

When my family and I delivered newspapers in the middle of the night, and when Ed Calkins was my supervisor for one of those routes, he always distributed miniature candy canes with our route books. And he did this every day throughout December.

I believe that an ordinary gift, when given sincerely and with well wishes, becomes more than an ordinary gift. 

I'd usually eat that candy cane while we were actually out about in the middle of the night, windows down, heat blasting on high. We had nearly a thousand papers (not counting Ron's papers), so we were out there about three hours every night.

This year, when Ed and Nancy Calkins dropped of the artwork for Ruthless, he also dropped off three round peppermint balls, apologizing for the lack of actual candy canes since they were in short supply this year. Because COVID and candy canes go together, I guess.

Last week, Rebekah and Daniel shopped for our Christmas Eve food. Rebekah spied a box of miniature candy canes. She checked the expiration date: 2023. 

So Rebekah bought it and placed it under our tree for Ed, whenever we see him again (hopefully before 2023). 

In doing so, Rebekah became part of the chain of giving a taste of something sweet to weary people working in the cold dead of night when more sensible people are sleeping.

Merry Christmas, Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara!

An Old-Fashioned Christmas Sing-Along

"And a little child shall lead them"

My head has an interesting mix of ideas this morning.

It's Christmas Eve, and my two of my adult children are already hard at work (I shall soon join them - maybe - for I might be banned from the kitchen in favor of their bonding) preparing our traditional twelve course, Eastern European Christmas Eve dinner.

In the BryonySeries world, it's the day dedicated to werewolves.

And last night, Timothy did an extremely imaginative photo shoot with Bertrand for his first cookbook that Rebekah put together: she prepared and shot all the recipes and formatted the book. I was the taste-tester.

In fact, Timothy staged, and then took, such an interesting mix of photos that we can use most of them (with a few more) for another Bertrand the Mouse book.

Yes, I am going somewhere with this.

During the editing process of "Bryony," the first book in the BryonySeries, my publicist (back when I had a publicist) complimented me on how "in touch" I was with my inner child.

Last night, Timothy showed off his creative inner child, a child he once thought he'd lose.

During this time of year in our newspaper delivering days, we listened to Christmas music as we delivered, including recordings of my favorite albums growing up.

One of them included this version of this song. 

Except we rarely listened to it because it made Timothy sad. I shared a memory of my thoughts when I was eight and trying to picture what that meant.

Fortunately, it didn't come true for any of us; the borders are still there, and we can go in and out whenever we wish. And it showed last night.

So Christmas Eve, BryonySeries werewolf day, Bertrand the Mouse, childhood and childlike attitude - all of these made me think of this verse: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb...and a little child shall lead them." Isaiah 1:6

However you worship and wherever you are in your faith journey and approach to life, may you always retain a sense of wonder, awe, and good-old fashioned playfulness.

Now, here is a sampling of Bertrand's culinary adventure. For who else to lead Bertrand through the experience than a professional chef?

Do Three Good Things At Once

Anyone who has accompanied me on any part of my writing journey knows that, when it comes to book marketing and sales, I'm rather soft in my approach.

That's going to change a bit over the next few weeks. And then I'll return to soft.

I'm running a special BryonySeries holiday book sale in conjunction with The Book Market in Crest Hill. I wrote why I created this special sale yesterday.

But by participating, you will do three good things at once.

1) You will have an opportunity to try out a piece of my fiction by purchasing a book.

2) You will help out an independently owned and operated bookstore during this COVID pandemic.

3) If you give away my book, or if you give away the store credit you earn with the purchase, you will also promote the cause of literacy.

Details are here.

Thank you for considering a purchase and for reading this blog.

Photo by Timothy Baran

Instead of WriteOn Joliet's Author of the Month...

 ...I bring you the BryonySeries/The Book Market Holiday Book Sale.

This is what we're doing and why.

For the last three years, WriteOn Joliet has hosted its annual, open-to-the-public anthology release party (with free, chef-created food) at The Book Market in Crest Hill.

And for the last two years, we've featured an "Author of the Month," with our WriteOn Joliet authors, which has included a book signing, also at The Book Market.

This year because of COVID, some of our monthly author signings were canceled - including the one in December. And the anthology release party didn't happen at all.

Now The Book Market doesn't rise and fall on sales from WriteOn Joliet authors (I wish!). But we do generate SOME sales, and the store's owner Janet Staley always feels that our release party generates enough sales to make it worth staying open late on party night.

So Timothy, Rebekah and I put our heads together last week and devised this plan.

From now until January 7, you will receive a $1 credit to The Book Market for every $5 worth of books you order directly from me. I have approximately twenty titles of books for nearly every age, so perhaps you might find something that interests you (or will interest someone you know).

Timothy even generated some beautiful coupons that we will email to you. A draft is below. I am paying the credit forward to The Book Market, so money only flows toward the store, not away from it.

This year has been a tough year for many people and businesses, especially small businesses and their owners. By working together, we can bring some holiday cheer to this indie bookstore in Crest Hill.

For step-by-step instructions on how to participate, follow this link: bryonyseries.com/promotions.

Throwback Tuesday: Five Minutes on Christmas Eve

I wrote this post a decade ago and posted it on Christmas Day 2010 and thought you might like to read it today.

Many of us (my family and I included) won't be celebrating Christmas this year the way we've celebrated it in this past.

But that doesn't mean the celebration won't have equal (or greater) value than celebrations in years past.

This particular Christmas Eve a decade ago was rather bleak. And then I did something that changed the bleakness and made this particular night one of my most favorite memories.

May this post help inspire you to stretch your creativity and make this holiday season the best so far.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Five Minutes on Christmas Eve

As I'm writing this, I get a phone call from my nearly seventeen year old daughter Rebekah. She and her fifteen year old brother Daniel and my husband Ron are done rolling newspapers and are heading home. Communion bread for this morning's Divine Liturgy is rising in the oven, and soon I'll be out in the van throwing newspapers.

This is not how we used to spend our Christmases.

Years ago, when my six children were very young, Christmas Eve meant getting together with my first husband's side of the family and enjoying a special Christmas Eve dinner of twelve traditional dishes, that represented the twelve apostles. We continued that tradition up until this year when the timing of Christmas as per the newspaper schedule and everyone's work commitments made such a gathering impossible.

Then the Holy Spirit tapped me on the shoulder as I was getting ready for bed last night, at the ungodly hour of seven o'clock (It's ungodly when you rise at midnight). I hollered down the stairs for Daniel, but he had left with my oldest son Christopher to pick up my daughter-in-law Cassie from work. So, I phoned my twenty-year-old son Timothy, who was still stuffing Sunday inserts for their customers with Rebekah.

After making sure they were near each other, I asked Timothy to put me on speaker phone. He did, and I read from the Gospel of Luke, beginning with Gabriel's appearance to Mary and ending with the shepherds. When I finished, there was a chorus of excited voices. My kids were not alone in the warehouse.

A number of other carriers were spending their Christmas Eve there, too, preparing for Sunday so they could spend Christmas Day with their families and had been touched by the reading. Timothy said, "Now it feels like Christmas. Thank you for reminding us of the reason for the season."

Whatever the reason for YOUR celebration this day, have a blessed and merry Christmas!

Cheesy Promotional Post: Five Ways to Make Readers Happy This Christmas

 Do you have friends or family who like to read?

Then buy them a WriteOn Joliet anthology (you thought I was going to recommend the BryonySeries books, didn't you)?

WriteOn Joliet is a welcoming, diverse group of writers of varied skills, interests and experience. The group includes professional journalists, fiction novelists, bloggers, screenwriters, musicians and poets.

A local writer approached me in 2011 and asked me to start this group with her. After telling her "non," multiple times, she found a core group of half a dozen writers and reapproached me with all of them.

She has since moved on (married, children, single mom, and now a nurse, yes during COVID - she's awesome), but Tom Hernandez stepped up, and we've continued to grow, although WriteOn has met on Zoom for most of the year.

Because of Tom's suggestion, WriteOn Joliet has published an anthology every years. This is the first year we were not able to host a release party (complete with free chef-created food), so I'm pushing a little harder to let people know about us.

The anthology is a fundraiser for WriteOn Joliet, and all proceeds stay within the group. We've used the money for speakers, workshops, and marketing our writers.

Except for the "baby cheetah" special edition anthology, all of our anthologies are called "Write Where We Are." That means all the pieces are where we, as writers, currently find ourselves in our respective writing journeys.

Readers will find poems, essays, short stories, novellas, novel excerpts of varying styles. Any reader should be able to find at least one piece to enjoy. Those who purchase the book can have the satisfaction of knowing they've helped writers become more effective in communication, whether they seek to inform, inspire or entertain.

And, yes, you will find excerpts from some of my books, too. 

The only anthology not yet on our website is the newest one, released in the last couple weeks. You can find it here.

For the other WriteOn Joliet anthologies, go here.

And if you want to buy all of them, message us writeonjolietgroup@gmail.com, and I'll work out a discount with you.

Story Round-Up: Features in The Herald-News, Dec. 15 through Dec. 20

LOTS of Christmas/holiday deadlines today (and plenty of great stories to read) so no editorializing by me today.

Just plenty of wishes for all who've landed on this page that today is full of blessings for you and all whom you hold dear.

Non-bylined features:

Monday through Saturday I assembled my non-bylined works - brief posts and calendar listings - into one convenient file and posting them on Facebook in the evening, so readers can easily choose the ones they want to read.

One can also find those event listings, the Gotta Do It calendar, as well as the pets, health, faith, and arts and entertainment calendars, under the sections tab on the left hand side of http://www.theherald-news.com/. Click on "features" and the topics drop down.  Gotta Do It runs under "people."

Community news? Again, under the sections tab, under features, and by topic. Updates are posted on these days in print and web (and some only on web on other days as I have the time): 

 Social media:

Daily updates: I do post the briefs and calendars on Twitter during the week, so you're welcome to follow me at @Denise_Unland61.

BryonySeries stuff: I post curated content relating to the BryonySeries at @BryonySeries. And assorted related content at www.facebook.com/BryonySeries. And of course, please follow the adventures of Bertrand the Mouse on Instagram at bertrand_bryonyseries.

If you're a writer anywhere in the world, you're welcome to jon WriteOn Joliet's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/writeonminooka/?ref=bookmarks. We're based in Joliet, Illinois, but we love to meet and interact with writers outside our area, too.

Upcoming events:

Once Timothy Baran is done updating this page, these will listed here: https://www.bryonyseries.com/fetes-and-feasts. 

Check out the progress he has made so far. Each square is hand-built. And be sure to "hover" your hand over the first square. Note: this only works (so far) with the desktop version.

But he's also made A LOT of changes to the website. So be sure to roam around a bit.

Books and Such

Information on my books (including where to buy) along with upcoming events is at www.bryonyseries.com. If you have any questions, email me at bryonyseries@gmail.com.

Thank you for reading The Herald-News. And for reading this blog. And if you've read (or plan to read) any of my books. Your support is greatly appreciated.



A place of hope for families
65-year-old center in Joliet for youth with disabilities makes 2 significant changes

In order to step forward, this center is stepping back - and a vision for the future is being defined.

https://www.theherald-news.com/2019/12/04/a-place-of-hope-for-families/acvhhz4/

'I was just a kid trying to stay alive'

Former Joliet athlete needs a new special needs van

Decades ago, a moment of tragedy changed the course for this outstanding student athlete. But it didn't affect his independence. And his friends are working hard to ensure it.

https://www.theherald-news.com/2019/12/09/i-was-just-a-kid-trying-to-stay-alive/dooqxw8/

'He was a Marine, definitely'

Francis Ryan of Joliet had a worth ethic that was second to none

He also had a daily habit, which the Marines also influenced.

https://www.theherald-news.com/2019/12/09/he-was-a-marine-definitely/dodjayw/


VIDEO: The measure of a hardworking man

Frank Ryan of Minooka shares a story that illustrates how he, as a child, regarded his father Francis Ryanof Joliet

https://www.theherald-news.com/video/id/f59e88ee-f442-42b4-ada8-c27c16fb81ad.html

'We’re looking at being a beacon of light in serving'

New pastor at Joliet church brings her experience to the community

This pastor lost nearly a dozen friends to gang violence in high school. And while she was still in high school she began to address it.

https://www.theherald-news.com/2019/11/27/were-looking-at-being-a-beacon-of-light-in-serving/ac14950/


Prepared with kind intentions

Joliet H-N features editor's son prepares recipes from Culinary Hearts program

Try these recipes for chicken and dumplings, biscuits, cranberry and orange muffins, and blueberry crisp.

https://www.theherald-news.com/2019/12/17/prepared-with-kind-intentions/d61fiih/


Plainfield couple collects Christmas vintage

With nearly 50 photos and one video, this may be the most magical, virtual journey you'll take this Christmas.

https://www.theherald-news.com/lists/2019/12/17/578af23dc0f341f3824985a8f18883b3/index.xml?page=1


Artworks: Get creative with final gift giving
Joliet area artists and businesses offer unique ideas for last-minute presents 

https://www.theherald-news.com/2019/12/16/artworks-get-creative-with-final-gift-giving/dqgmdou/

Ye Olde Shoppe Window

The living room of Jean and Don Newhall of Plainfield reflects the joy and wonder of Christmas past with their moving display of window pieces.

https://www.theherald-news.com/video/id/9483a9a3-6afe-431f-96af-67d2271625fe.html


VIDEO: Something in the Water

Leap of Faith Ministries in Plainfield held its Christmas recital on Dec. 15 at Minooka Community High School. Here, the Brilliance Jazz class performs "Something in the Water."

https://www.theherald-news.com/video/id/ad0c2ace-4264-4da1-9965-3f3eb3c0ab81.html

Illustration by Matt Coundiff for "Visage."

BryonySeries Throwback Thursday: Recap of Rebekah's Christmas Challenge

Monday, December 29, 2014

Recap of Rebekah's Christmas Challenge

In an earlier post, I had written how my twenty-year-old daughter Rebekah was lacking in Christmas spirit due to our family situation being vastly different than in Christmases past.

So I challenged her to "make" Christmas for us, without spending money and with using only the resources in these four rooms that comprise our latest home.

Since Rebekah decided to recreate our traditional Eastern European Christmas Eve feast (a modified version), I softened the "no money" edict to allow her to purchase a few key ingredients we did not have. While items were baking and simmering, Rebekah gave Ellis Island a nice cleaning, too.

She ended up making bread (no dairy, flavored with olive oil), bobalki (bread balls i a poppyseed brown sugar syrup, yes I know honey is traditional, she forgot to buy it), pirohi (dumplings stuffed with potatoes and cheese), mushroom soup (button mushrooms, sauerkraut, barley...and hers was better than mine!), spiced apricots, as well as banana bread and chocolate chip cookies for our church's annual in-house caroling party following liturgy the next morning.

She bought two types of olives, sparkling grape juice, split pea soup, baked beans, smoked sausage.

The result was a nice surprise when Timothy came home that night. Stupid us, we forgot to remove the lids before we snapped the picture!

Elusive Files

This morning I "wasted" about forty-five minutes or so searching for a poem I'd written for our "Christmas letter" when our family delivered newspapers.

These are basically flyers placed in each subscriber's newspaper with information on how to tip the carrier. And I always tried to make these as whimsical as possible.

One year, I wrote a variation of "T'was The Night Before Christmas," which featured the antics of our family slipping and sliding on the snow during delivery, along with a hand-drawn illustration of me, smiling as I walked through the snow to hand a newspaper to a customer.

I didn't find the poem. I may have written it before 2007, which is when I had a computer crash (We delivered from 1998 to the end of 2012).

I've not given up hope. I may have saved a hard copy. I still have boxes from Channahon to unpack.

What I DID find, however, is a series of Christmas letters Timothy had written to various members of our family back in 2010. I had forgotten about these, as he may have, too.

But he'll see them this morning. I emailed them all to him.

BTW, he took the photo of his Christmas tree, as he celebrates his first Christmas in his first townhome.

Blessings to all you this day!