Frankfurt Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market)

I wanted to share a few photos from the Frankfurt Weihnachtsmarkt.

This Christmas market runs for about a month and is filled with stands that sell handicrafts and food and hot drinks. I tasted some of my daughter's hot kinderpunsch and it was flavored with Christmas spices and was very good. Frankfurt's market is large and crowded and has millions of visitors.

Here is the very tall Christmas tree in the Römerberg, the main square downtown.


And another view of this square.
Here is another section of the Christmas market, a few blocks away, right at dusk. It isn't crowded yet--an hour later it was hard to walk through the market.


A gingerbread stand. The heart shaped cookie says Frohe Weihnacht (Merry Christmas).

There are hundreds of Christmas markets throughout Germany and we hope to visit another market this coming weekend.
Have a wonderful holiday season.

Book Previews

Sometimes I get to read a manuscript for another writer. It is always fun to read a work in progress, as well as an honor to be asked to give feedback. Writers often have a few other writers (sometimes called beta readers) read their book before they send it to an agent or editor.

In the next few months some of manuscripts I’ve read will become published books. The books will likely be a little different from what I read because a lot can change during the editorial process. Follow the links to learn more about these books and authors.

All of these books have memorable characters, great plots, and are fun to read!

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain. Young adult paranormal. Available December 22nd. If you want to read the first few chapters you can go here. This is not the normal genre I read, but I loved this book.

Palace Beautiful by Sarah DeFord Williams. Middle grade fiction. Available April 15th. Her characters are still vivid in my mind and I read this book about 2 years ago.

Thief Eyes by Janni Lee Simner. Young Adult Fantasy. Available April 27th. This is set in modern day Iceland, yet uses some characters from the Icelandic sagas. Very authentic and a very cool book.

There is another book coming out super soon that I’m also looking forward to.

One fun part of Vermont College of Fine Arts' residencies is that faculty and graduating students give readings. Often the faculty read from works in process. There are a lot of books I’m excited to read, yet I need to wait a year or two. But Rita Williams-Garcia's book, One Crazy Summer is coming out January 26^th. Rita was a National Book Award finalist this year for her incredible young adult book, Jumped.

Not a preview, but there is another book I want to recommend. Marion Dane Bauer read The Longest Night to us last July. It was released in August. This wonderful picture book, which has stunning illustrations, is a perfect book to read this winter.