Jamieson Wolf
Number-one bestselling author
12 + 2 – Happy Holidays from Jamieson Wolf
I love the Holiday Season.
It’s full of everything lovely: lights, turkey dinners, time with family and friends, presents, hot apple cider.
It’s also time for my annual holiday novella! How cool is that?
No, it’s not a warm fuzzy of a novel. It’s about a serial killer who “gives joy” on the Holidays. I mean, what’s a little blood amongst others?
Here’s a little bit about 12 + 2:
It had always been this way.
Oliver had always given into the call of 12, giving joy to twelve people every year for Christmas; but things were different now.
With his son Edgar back in his life and his writing finally being noticed, Oliver knows that his life is in the public eye and he won’t be able to create his art.
Thankfully, his son Edgar can do the killing for him.
This Christmas, there will be blood.
You can read 12+2 for free right here:
http://www.wattpad.com/31940489-about-12-%2B-2
This is actually the third and final novella in a trilogy. I hadn’t planned on writing more than the first novella, 12, but the story never really left me.
So last year brought 12 + 1 and this year brings the last chapter 12 + 2.
I hope you enjoy reading it as I write it and that it leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy for the holidays…probably not, but that’s all good too!
Happy Holidays!
The Brightest of Souls – A Poem
I got onto the bus and
all the seats were full.
I resigned myself to standing
but when a woman saw me,
she stood up quickly
and tried to gave me her seat.
The woman had a stroller
in front of her, the baby
was within it, cooing away.
“No,” I said. “That’s okay.
I can stand fine, you sit
with your baby.”
A man got up from
his seat. “You sit down.”
He said to the woman.
“You sit here.” He pointed
at me then at his seat.
When I sat down,
the child’s eyes followed me.
There was an older woman
sitting next to me and she
tapped me on the arm.
“That child notices you.”
She said. “Children always
notice the brightest of souls.”
She gestured at the child.
“This child is very taken with you.”
I looked at him. He was very small
in a very big stroller. He was wearing
a red and white winter coat.
Blond curls poked out from
beneath a thick hat.
I waved at him. “Hello.” I said.
“Hello there. Aren’t you a cutie.”
I was rewarded with an instant smile
that filled the front of the bus
with brightness more brilliant
than sunshine. When he laughed,
it grew brighter. I waved at him
and talked to him some more,
each laugh he gave me
was like the tinkle of bells.
As I got off the bus, I turned
to watch it drive away.
The bus looked as if
it were filled with brilliant
and beautiful sun. It now
filled the whole bus until
everything was visible.
I saw the child waving as the
bus drove away,
a trail of the suns rays
behind it like a tail.
Sword and Sanctuary – A Poem
I held the letter in my hand.
It was waiting for me
when I arrived home.
I knew that he had left it for me,
one last gift or something
made to hurt. Perhaps
a little bit of both-
he was good at that.
His gifts came with strings,
his councel came a price,
and his company with
sacrifice.
In the letter,
he told me that he had
moved on, he had found
someone better than me.
It was like a knife.
with only one purpose.
I’d finally let him go.
He was like holding on to
brambles and thorns,
that took blood from me
as payment.
To get away from him,
I had fought against the
thorns he offered and hid
inside the forest,
in the branches of the trees
looking out until he
had gone away.
It was fitting that
his last words to me
cut like a sword.
That he sliced into me
as I had done to him.
I’d cut him out
to save myself.
I stood, holding the letter,
running a finger along
it’s sharp edges.
The cut was fast, like a blade.
The paper became bloody
in seconds,
the shape of trees formed
on the paper drawn in my ink.
The trees were shaped
like the forest I had hid inside.
The branches were moving
on the paper.
Intense heat ran through me.
It wasn’t anger, just the knowledge
that the forest was no longer safe.
It was done providing sanctuary.
My hand grew warm.
When the flame erupted,
in the middle of my palm,
I was not afraid.
The burning of the paper
like the crackling of leaves,
brief and quick.
The letter was simply
ashes now.
When I blew the ashes away,
the cut on my finger was gone.
I took the sword that he
had offered to me
and used it to
cut him
away.
These Words and I – A Poem
I don’t understand the question.
Words are garbled to me,
going in and coming out.
Twice yesterday, I went to speak,
and words that I hadn’t meant to say
came out instead.
When I’m speaking, it as if
my words aren’t my own.
Sometimes, I go to speak and words
that are best left behind a filter
of some sort come out unbidden,
as if they were lying in wait.
As I say them, I try to push them back in,
try to stop the flow coming
from my mouth, try to quickly
build the barrier up again.
It is the inside voice
that we usually keep hidden.
I struggle to make sense of them,
these shapes that make letters,
those letters forming words.
I used to know them so well,
we used to be on good terms.
We got along famously,
wrote together, spoke together,
told stories together,
these words and I.
Now I wonder if I will
ever know them
that well again.
Christmas at Carrington’s by Alexandra Brown
Georgie Hart loves Christmas. It’s especially lovely at Carrington’s department store. She adores helping customers find the perfect present and there’s just something so magical about being surrounded by beautiful decorations that really make the department store sparkle.
This year is even more exceptional as Georgie has a man in her life, the hunky and adorable Tom Carrington. She’s over the moon to be with Tom at Christmas and hopes to finally be able to tell him she loves him…or is it too soon?
However, things do not go according to plan. She turns on the television one evening to see her bottom shaking to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies”. Mortified beyond belief, she is shocked to learn that Carrington’s will be home to a new reality show, Kelly Cooper Come In Store.
Shock turns to mortification when she learns that Tom knew all about it and never told her! Georgie fears that instead of being magical, this will be her worst Christmas ever!
What Georgie doesn’t count on, however, is that Christmas is full of magic and a little bit of it might just come her way…
I flat out adore Alexandra Brown’s Carrington’s series. The books go beyond the genre of chick lit and make it something more, something deeper. Laugh out loud funny and told with tons of heart, Christmas at Carrington’s is no exception.
Eddie, Sam and the whole Carrington’s gang is back for me. It’s a thrill to see them all again. One of Alexandra Brown’s strength lies in the characters she creates. Georgie is flat out the best heroine I’ve read in ages. Brown doesn’t just write characters, she creates them. You feel as if you know them, even after a few pages.
What’s great about Christmas at Carrington’s is that the book doesn’t go anywhere you think it will. The reality show (or as Eddie calls is Dramality) adds a whole new dimension to the book. Georgie is shocked to learn that a lot of the reality tv shows she loves are actually staged and there is the real reality and the one portrayed on the show.
I also loved the development in character between Georgie and her father. It was heart breaking but beautiful and tender hearted and it speaks again to Alexandra Brown’s strength that in one book, she was able to make me laugh out loud and tear up. There is such a range of emotions in Christmas at Carrington’s and it takes a very skilled author to perfect that balance.
I’ve already read the book twice and will read it for a third time over the Christmas Holidays. What makes Christmas at Carrington’s (and all of her books) so wonderful is that these are people you care about, people you root for and some that you love to hate. She’s able to pull you right into the story from page one and you won’t want to stop reading, anticipating the ending but dreading it at the same time because you never want the book to end.
Christmas at Carrington’s is a fantastic, wonderful, magical read. I for one, can’t wait to read it again. Do yourself a favour and treat yourself to an early Christmas present. One that you’ll want to read again and again.
Will Georgie get a happily ever after for Christmas? You’ll just have to read it yourself and find out!
Buy Little Yellow Magnet from Amazon and Kobo!
Jamieson Wolf has written a compelling story about navigating multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy. His story will touch your heart, make you cry, then laugh, and inspire you. A touching memoir with a bit of magic…and tarot! ~ Theresa Reed, author of The Tarot Coloring Book
Jamieson Wolf 