Michelle Miles: From Halloween to Christmas in 2.3 Seconds

It’s hard to believe it’s November already.

You know what else is hard to believe? That Christmas decorations were in the stores in September. At Hobby Lobby, they started putting them up in JUNE. Really, Hobby Lobby? School hadn’t even started, for gosh sakes.

Hubby, kid and I were in the mall this past weekend – ON Halloween, mind you – and we noticed they were starting to put up Santa’s workshop. You know, where all the kids can sit on his lap and tell him what they dream of for Christmas.

You know what I dream of? No Christmas before Halloween.

Do You Believe in #Ghosts? by Karilyn Bentley

#ghosts #Halloween

(Image courtesy of digitalart/www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

Tis the season for spookiness and things that go bump in the dark. I don't know about you but I love fall. Here in Texas, it usually doesn't get very cold this time of year, but it does cool down into the 70s, which makes for great trick or treating weather. And seeing all the Halloween decorations around my neighborhood makes me think of the more spooky side of the holiday.

Yep, I'm talking about ghosts. Do you believe in them? I do. Maybe not the way they're portrayed in the movies, but I do have a healthy belief in otherworldly spirits. Perhaps that's because as a child I used to be able to see the occasional ghost or feel their spirits haunting certain houses. But my favorite ghost story really isn't mine, it happened to a colleague.

Vicki Batman ~ Fall is in the air! Michelle Miles isn't the only crafty girl out there. lol

Fall is in the air!

Michelle Miles may be a crafting genius with her pumpkins; however, I am crafty sometimes, too.  I'd gone to the grocery store and thought I'd peruse the Halloween/Fall aisle cause—you never know. And lo and behold, something did catch my eye: a candy carrier. Since the boys are grown, I don't need candy sitting around because I'd buy chocolate (tried the caramel Milky Way yet??), and I'm like most red-blooded girls, I'll eat every freakin' piece so it isn't wasted.

For this door decoration, all I did was loop ribbon over the handle to hang from a tack on the top of my door. I tied a festive wire ribbon into a simple bow with florist wire, then wired it onto the handle of the candy carrier. Here's Ethel:

Michelle Miles: Getting Crafty for Fall

Fall is my all-time favorite season. And it’s a very short season here in Texas. You blink, you miss it. But there’s something wonderful about the season. It’s when the weather starts to change. We get a little rain and cooler temps. Well, sometimes. It’s still been hot here and by hot I mean 80+ degrees. THIS is unacceptable fall weather in my opinion.

But when the calendar hits October 1, I’m all about getting the fall decorations out. I confess I started a little early this year. I couldn’t help it. I got these super cool blinking eyes that go in the window. See, I like “cute” and “fun” Halloween decorations. Not gory and gross. We’re the house that the little kids love to come to because it’s cute and fun. I put out the fog machine, too, to give it some ambiance. This year we’re trying to figure out how to get more fog.

Anyway… I have lots of fall décor. We buy new stuff every year to add to the collection. I LOVE decorating with these fall colors. This year, I decided I wasn’t going to carve any pumpkins – first time in about six years. Instead, I bought fake ones to decorate. And I had a great time doing it, too!

Check out this chevron pumpkin I made:

Halloween Hauntings by Karilyn Bentley

Happy Halloween! I love this time of the year. While it's not my favorite holiday - that spot goes to Christmas - it is definitely up there in second place. What's not to love about leftover chocolate candy? We all know Halloween is a special time for kids - and some adults - to dress up and go around begging for treats, but do you know how the traditions started?

Halloween has its history in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain (pronounced sow-en). Samhain is a celebration of the end of harvest season and the upcoming winter. November 1st was their New Year's Day. October 31st was New Year's Eve for the ancient pagans and it was on this day that they believed the walls between the world of the living and the world of the dead thinned, allowing the deceased to come into the world of the living and cause havoc such as sickness or damaged crops. A bonfire was part of the Samhain celebration.

WHO DOESN'T LOVE A GOOD SCARE? by Kathy Ivan

It's getting close to that time of year where we all love a good scare. It's become something of a ritual to scream on Halloween—the more bloodcurdling the better. Tales of terror have been passed down for millennia about ghouls, ghosts and goblins inhabiting the dark places, waiting and watching for the perfect opportunity to frighten the unsuspecting.

As kids who didn't sit around telling scary stories? Maybe it was around a campfire with other teens, darkness all about except for the flickering of the firelight and the deep, dark shadows surrounding you. Remember the one about the man with a hook? Tell me you didn't scream when it was being told and somebody tapped you on the shoulder. Maybe it was a slumber party, a sleep-over with your friends, sitting around in your PJ's, the lights dimmed and one person held the flashlight under their chin, telling a spooky ghost story.

Entangled, a Paranormal Anthology

by Michelle Miles

I'm so excited to talk about the new anthology I'm in. It's a paranormal/Halloween anthology called Entangled. It's available as an ebook at B&N, Amazon, Smashwords and other fine online retailers. It will sell for $2.99 through October and then $3.99 thereafter.

I know most people don't like anthologies. But the thing that's unique about this one is that all the proceeds will go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Eleven of us have banded together to support breast cancer research with our writing. Authors4theCure includes award-winning and New York Times bestselling authors, as well as two breast cancer survivors.

BCRF-funded research has helped save lives and improved the quality of care and rate of survival for tens of thousands of breast cancer patients in the past decade. Their research has revealed that the "cure" is a mosaic made up of as many approaches to diagnosing, treating, preventing and surviving as there are different types of breast cancer. The anthology is also a mosaic made up of many stories donated for this worthwhile cause.

I hope you'll pick up Entangled, not only for the fantastic stories but for helping an awesome cause.