Brenda Chapman

Christmas Eve, 2011. It's a bitterly cold morning with a coating of snow on the ground. I'm nearly ready for guests and meals - we begin tonight with family and my friend Sue, who comes every year for Christmas Eve supper. I change the menu every year. This evening, we will be having pork tenderloin, tourtiere and a lemon mousse dessert. Tomorrow is the main event - turkey with sausage apple stuffing and all the fixings. If we were bears, this would be the gorging part just before we crawl somewhere warm to sleep away the rest of the winter.

I have the entire week off and will spend it catching up with friends, reading (I sure hope there are some mysteries in my stocking), writing a bit and completing the final edit of Second Chances - due January 6th. I received a copy of the Dundurn catalogue in the mail this week and Second Chances has a full page spread. It's slated to come out in September, a good time of year for a YA novel to be released. In keeping with 1971, the year of my novel, I included the titles of a lot of music from that period. I'm thinking it would be fun to make a tape of the songs to play at my launch. A little "Black Magic Woman" anyone? Maybe I could ask one of the old rock bands to come play - they're all back on tour it seems.

Well, I won't write much today since I have brownies to bake and lemon mousse to whip up. I just want to wish everyone a wonderful holiday with family and friends. I've found in years past that it's not the gifts or the picture-postcard, perfect holiday that makes Christmas special, but it is the little moments. Pulling out the ornament box and reliving memories as you hang them on the tree, getting together with friends you haven't seen in a while, calling my family up North Christmas morning, waking up with my girls sleeping over . . . I hope that each of you savour your own special moments and the magic of the season brings joy and peace.

Merry Christmas and a toast to the year that was and the year that is to come.