A Miniatures Christmas Story by Robert W Walker

 To continue my longtime Christmas tradition (since 2008!), I am re-posting an original Christmas tale by Robert W. Walker, author of more than 50 novels including  the Detective Ransom series and his time  travel thrillers set in two time periods - TITANIC 2012 and BISMARCK 2013, Hitler's Curse.

Never fear, this story, which runs in two parts ending tomorrow, Christmas Eve, Dec. 24th, is rated PG. Merry Christmas!

The Thief of Christmas Present
By Robert W. Walker

(Photos: Christmas Santa House by C. Verstraete, see more at my website.)



Julia rushed into her mother's room, her eleven-year-old arms flapping as she said, "Joannie stole my Christmas presents! I just know it was her!"

"Your big sister wouldn't do that, Julia."

"Then its one of her girlfriends."

"I've talked to Joannie, and she's given the third degree to every friend who has been visiting the house since Thanksgiving."

Julia's eyes filled with tears. "Musta been that boyfriend of hers then!"

"He seems like a nice, respectful boy, and whatever would possess him to steal your miniature Christmas presents from beneath your miniature tree?"

Anna Waldron hugged her daughter to her. "We'll find the stolen goods. They're likely somewhere on a shelf. Thoughtlessly moved by one of your little friends."

"No, no mom! I don't let anyone reach into my dollhouse and take out anything, not the figurines, not the furniture, and certainly not the presents under the tree."

Anna wondered how this could keep happening to her daughter. Julia had put heart and soul into her miniature house this year. In fact, she'd begun creating the tree, the ornaments, lights, stockings hanging over the fireplace, and the presents beneath the tree since last Christmas.

She'd got it in her head that her dollhouse ought to have all the ornaments and decorations of any home, that Mr. and Mrs. Cluewellen and their three children who lived in the miniature house ought to have a wonderful Christmas too.





Julia had worked so hard to make it happen, and now, day-by-day, all her work was coming unraveled. The day before she noticed an ornament missing from the tiny tree. The day before that one of the stockings she'd labored so hard to make was gone from the mantel. Poof. Now two of the tiny presents from beneath the tree-gone. Stolen.

"At this rate," moaned Julia, "by the time Christmas gets here, the Cluewellens won't have anything left."

Anna patted Julia's hand. "And The Christmas Crook of the Present will have won!"

"We can't let that happen, mom!"

"We must act, set a trap."

"A trap?"

"Yeah, we'll wire up a trap that will snap on those sticky fingers."

"Then you think it's Stevie?"

"I hope not, but your little brother is at that age. I sure hope he hasn't lied about this."

"Well...it's not a ghost. I asked the Cluewellens if they'd had any problems with anything like a poltergeist, and they said no."

"You believe them?" Mother Waldron laughed, but Julia stared at her, eyes saying, 'not funny'.

"They don't lie, cheat, or steal, mom."

"Neither does your brother or your sister for that matter, young lady."

"Well I'm not lying about it! Someone's stealing the Cluewellens' Christmas right under our noses."



"You set the trap," suggested Anna. "I'm going to set up a concealed camera, so we can get to the bottom of this before..."

Julia looked up at her mother, wondering why she'd stopped talking. "Before all of the presents and decorations are gone?"

"Before you make your sister and your brother angrier with you than they already are."

"Angry with me? I'm the victim here. Me and the Cluewellens."

"Honey, you have accused both of them of stealing and lying about it. Then you accused their friends."

Julia nodded, and for a moment Anna thought her child understood and agreed, but then Julia said, "It could've been one of Stevie's dumb friends."

"Well now, we're going to find out, aren't we?"

"You think it'll work, mom?"

"At the rate things are disappearing, my hunch is that whoever's behind the theft will be back."

They put the trap into play.

They wisely left the miniature house untouched and unmoved, the same enticement as ever.

An entire day and most of the evening went by with young Julia wanting to check the Cluewellens' living room and tree every hour, while her mother insisted they wait and see. When Anna decided the camera's battery would be in need of help, mother and daughter went into her room to determine if anything had been taken. They found the front door closed. Julia gasped when she looked in through the windows. The entire tiny Christmas tree had been taken! All about the front door and steps, glitter appeared like colored snow. Whoever was behind the theft, cleaning up after him-or herself-wasn't a concern.

"It's got to be Stevie or one of his goofy friends," Julia said, tears forming. "Maybe Stevie's too chicken to tell on Tad."

"Let's reserve judgment and see what the camera says."

They made popcorn and popped the film into the USB port of the TV and sat down to watch the unfolding events. Unfortunately, during the first hour, nothing unfolded.

"This is a real snore and a bore," Julia complained, tiring of the popcorn as well.

After a while, Julia began making up a story line to go with the miniature people inside the house on the screen, and it was so vivid that her mom could almost imagine that the little Cluewellen family was as real as Julia believed them to be. She began to see Mrs. Cluewellen move that feather duster in her hand. But clearing her head and eyes, Mother Waldron thought better of saying she'd begun to see the miniature people roaming around inside their miniature house. Maybe the miniature was haunted at that....



(** See Part 2 of the Christmas Story, The Thief of Christmas Present, by Robert W. Walker

(c) 2008-2015 RW Walker published by http://candidcanine.blogspot.com

Mini Half Scale Garage in Progress

You know how sometimes it feels like a project takes forevvvvvver?

Well, months anyway.

Photo: The beginning - the shell and the stone foundation done.

That's how it's been working on my Half Scale Garage. Awhile back I saw a Yard/Garage Sale Scene by fellow miniaturist Tanya Thayer (check out her great ideas on her Picture Trail, Tanya's Place - the garage sale is in the first album, Mini Creations) that gave me an idea -- I should make one in half scale.

So, I found a super-cheap cottage kit on eBay. Plain, bare bones. Got the doors cut in front, did some doctoring since I realized the doors had to be smaller so I had to replace part of the wood (don't you love that?) and found a pic of old-fashioned garage doors as my inspiration.
(Click pix for full-size images.)

Months later, I can finally see light at the tunnel's end. The inside walls are lined with wood strips. A part-loft is made and ready to go in. 

The worst part? Well, applying the wood siding. I hate the "work" of minis. I like the planning, the designing, the decorating... not all the doing. But I really like how this is coming out so the "pain" is worth. The front is done, two sides to go and a roof. Yay!

Moving along... I'll share as I get further and once I get to the fun Yard Sale!

Teacher and Writer: Fuzzy Logic Romance Blog Tour

Today I welcome special guest author and teacher Maren Anderson, who just released her latest book, Fuzzy Logic.  (Also available in various formats at Smashwords.) And-- be sure to check out the Rafflecopter to be entered to win an ebook!

Interestingly enough, in real life she's  an alpaca rancher and the book also involves a ranch... (See those eyes peering at you from the cover? ha!) Here's another view: A face you can't resist!

About the book:  

She thinks moving to a ranch will lead to the simple life she craves, but the countryside has other ideas…

 After divorcing her unfaithful husband, Meg Taylor buys an alpaca ranch to finally do something on her own. Almost as soon as she arrives, she meets not one, but two, handsome—and baffling—men. She thinks choosing between the shy veterinarian and her charming securities co-worker is her biggest problem, until life and death on the ranch make her re-evaluate more than her love life. At least her new life is nothing like her old one.

The Writer/Teacher Gap

 By Maren Anderson

 That student in the front row raised his hand. Again. I usually have at least one guy who questions every activity or assignment in my class, but this guy was really persistent. “Why, I mean, what’s the point of this exercise again?” he said.

I saw many other ears prick up when he asked the question. It was a fair question given what I had asked them to do: cut their rough drafts into paragraph-sized chunks. Actually cut, with scissors. It seemed to them a weird exercise; none of their previous teachers had asked them to rip their papers to literal shreds in the name of revision.

I teach writing to mostly first year students at a small college known for having lots of students who are the first in their families to go to college. I am probably the only person they have ever met who writes novels.

It’s this gap between me and my students that made me pause. When that one guy asked me, “What’s the point?” he was not challenging me to be a jerk. He was serious. He did not know what it takes to organize a five-page essay, so he had no concept of what it’s like to plot and organize a 300-page novel. He didn’t know that for my novel Fuzzy Logic, I had to write each scene on a 3x5 card so I could spread them on my dining room table. That was the only way I could visualize where each of scenes needed to go, and which scenes had to go. But I had to bridge the gap.

“The point is to disassociate yourself from your writing as far as possible so you can objectively make revision decisions,” I explained. “Your brain fills in the gaps of what you meant to say, and doesn’t really see what you do say. Cutting the essay in to pieces allows you to see each piece separate from the rest of the paper, so you can see if it actually belongs in the essay.”

“Oh. Okay.” he said. He smiled, went back to his seat, and began shredding his essay.

Teaching Moment, FTW.

** Excerpt from Fuzzy Logic by Maren Anderson:

 He hadn’t said anything since we’d left the barn. I replayed the events leading up to me sitting in the hostile air of the truck.

My heart sank when I remembered the image of Evan in my frilly pink robe holding coffee in my driveway.

“Cody?” I said when I couldn’t stand the silence any longer. “Are you mad?”

He glanced at me, his eyes flashing. “Why would I be mad?” he growled.

“He just kind of showed up last night,” I said.

“Don’t,” he said. “I don’t want to know.”

“I just want to tell you that I’ve been thinking about you, us—”

“And he just showed up and spent the night last night. I hear you.” Cody swung around a corner so forcefully that I gathered the baby alpaca more tightly into my arms to keep it from sliding.

“Please, give me another chance,” I said. “I’m not ready to let you go.”

“But you’re not ready to let him go, either,” Cody said. Pain was sharp in his voice.

“Please,” I said. “Give me whatever time limit you want.” I was afraid to touch him, so I clutched the baby animal to my chest and hoped.

He glared at me again, but his eyes softened before he looked back at the road. He made a turn into a parking lot and turned off the key. He turned to me and looked into my eyes. “A week,” he said. “One torturous week, and I’m done.”

I nodded, afraid breathing would break this reprieve.

About the Author:

Maren Anderson is a writer, teacher, and alpaca rancher who lives in rural Oregon. She writes while her children are at school and spends the rest of her time caring for alpacas, knitting, playing with her family, reading funny books. She teaches literature and composition at a local college and novel writing to eager, budding writers. 

If you want to know more about Anderson’s writing, novel classes, or alpacas, contact her via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/MarenBradleyAnderson), on Twitter (@marenster), or at http://www.marens.com.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


** If the Raffle isn't working - post a comment to be entered in the drawing!!

I love finding out about new-to-me authors so thanks to Maren for stopping by. You can't beat a book that features animals! 

AIM Advent Calendar (Artisans in Miniature)

The special AIM 2015 Advent Calendar is now out! Projects and more!

Download here. 

Happy Birthday and Advent Calendar!

Happy Birthday to me! I'm up at the Mini Treasures Wiki Advent Calendar today with some of my Christmas minis. Check it out!

Annual Miniatures Advent Calendar!

  
The annual Miniatures Advent Calendar is now open!

Get a mini Christmas treat every day to Christmas. (My page is Dec. 7 - also my birthday!)

Miniatures Books Sale!

Here's your chance!

Get any ebooks, including In Miniature Style and In Miniature Style II at the publisher's website for 20% off until Dec. 31,2015! 

Wee C Dollhouse Displays 2015-2

More photos from the display room at the annual Wee C Dollhouse Show, Elk Grove Village, IL. (See pics part 1.)

Really cool wizard's house.

Elegant kitchen and pantry.

My favorite - set in a dome at least 8-9" in diameter. Looked like half scale but a tinier version with only one room. I'd love to do one like this. 

Wee C Dollhouse Show Displays 2015

The Wee C Dollhouse Show  held every November in Elk Grove Village, IL is one of my favorite shows since it has a great display room on top of the vendors! 

A few photos of some of this year's displays that caught my eye:  (Click photos for full size.)

Come back tomorrow for part 2 with more photos.


Dinettes and tables - 

Love the colors. 

Fun!

Two-room scene, sitting room and bedroom

Really like this Men's Shop.

#Halloween in #Miniature 2015- 5 - Happy Halloween!

  * Today is Day 5 of Halloween in Miniature 2015!

* Go to Day 1  * 

I hope you enjoyed the stories and miniatures from this year's contributors. Here's a little more about them and their work.

 ** Watch the Halloween in Miniature 2015 VIDEO! ** 

* Patricia Paul is well known for her unique and spooky miniatures, along with some other amazing creations. She also is a Fellow with the International Guild of Miniature Artisans (IGMA). Visit her on Pinterest or on Facebook.

I have interviewed Patricia before, including in last year's Halloween in Miniature. Patricia has been working in miniature for over 35 years and first made her a son a haunted house when he was nine.

 "That is where the skeletons started," she says. "He was fascinated with skeletons and so the house had to have one.  And of course, Harry Potter books were a big deal around here and we got the books as soon at they came out and saw all the movies. Which is why I have a miniature Leaky Cauldron."

These days, with the kids all grown, she's admitted to doing some clearing out. But she still has some favorites.  "I have tons of Halloween decorations and I have a special fondness for pumpkins for some reason and have a pumpkin collection, which is odd, I know. (Also a miniature pumpkin collection.) I don’t do much decorating or celebrating Halloween since my kids are grown. It was really painful when they lost interest around their teens, I can tell you. And I just recently packed up a bunch of Halloween decoration items for The Salvation Army. Also painful. Everything I’ve ever let go of has claw marks on it, and Halloween stuff is particularly difficult. But I can’t keep everything. I just noticed a storage room I have in the basement is full of Halloween stuff. Which is staying." 

Her own collection includes a family of Vampire dolls by Kay Shipp.  She says, "I would love to do a roombox for them. I have an empty castle front box or an empty radio case that looks like a gothic something or other might work. It could also become The Room of Requirement from Harry Potter fame. Pile of wizardy stuff dusty and aged sounds like a fun project. I keep making things and then selling them, so I have nothing left for my own projects. But, there are plenty of talented people out there I can collect from."

Her current projects include some cool haunted furniture with sculpted gargoyles and skulls, and some upholstered with goth/haunted fabrics of her own design.

* * * 

  * Joanna Campbell Slan is known for her fun Kiki Lowenstein mysteries (the latest is Shotgun, Wedding, Bells (A Kiki Lowenstein Scrap-N-Craft Mystery Book 11) the  and Cara Mia mystery series and short fiction. 

She also is a contributor and editor of the Happy Homicides: Thirteen Cozy Holiday Mysteries - (yes, it includes a story about a dollhouse!!) 

She also loves miniatures! Check out her Pinterest page.

(Haunted house bedroom)

Joanna really enjoys the creative end of making miniatures.  She likes seeing what she can do herself. It's always fun seeing what she came up with, or what she's used to make something else!

I love the colors (and the creature!) in her miniature Haunted House. She's also created a fun Valentine's project and was recently working on a surfboard shop. See her blog for more photos. 

What's interesting is that the Haunted House is Joanna's first official house, even though she's loved miniatures since she was a child building fairy houses in the base of an oak tree. But even then her creative streak was evident: "I dragged home an old TV console and tried to turn it into a dollhouse, but my parents tossed it out. Then my first husband made one, but it was pretty rudimentary, and I did do a little in the way of making bread dough food, but I didn't dare tackle furniture. Then my current--and FINAL, forever--husband bought me a huge dollhouse, which I sent to T & D dollhouses to have electrified and furnished, but I never really got to play with that because real life intervened. We moved to a smaller home and had to sell that one. I was so sad."

She's now making up for it with her recent creations and having a blast doing it, we might add.

* * * 

* UK dollmaker and IGMA Artisan Julie Campbell has been making her delightful, hand-carved polymer clay miniature figures for over 14 years and gets better each year! I especially enjoyed her take on actresses Bette Davis and Joan Crawford from my favorite movie, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? See photos here. Read more about Julie in a past magazine interview I did - see Belle link on my website Miniatures page.

I love the whimsical expression on her witch's face!

* * * 

Nancy Cronin is another favorite miniature dollmaker who makes her own hand-sculpted figures. She certainly has a way with the  spooky figures. Check out her assorted ghosts and witches!

* * * 

Christine Verstraete loves making miniatures and writing about them.  She's had articles published in various newspapers and magazines, both in the miniatures field and elsewhere. 

She also is author of In Miniature Style II,  (in print and ebook) which includes profiles of various miniaturists and photos of their work, along with more than 40 how-to projects. Her first ebook, In Miniature Style now has a new cover and is on Kindle. It includes a selection of projects not included in the second book.

 Here is a photo of the partial living room of the small Haunted Cottage she just finished.

Also done is a Fortuneteller's Room made in a small greenhouse. More photos will be published soon. She is now working on a half-scale garage and yard sale.

    ** Christine also writes short fiction and is author of the young adult book, GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie by C.A. Verstraete. 

Here's an excerpt: 

I couldn't help it and stepped back, glad Carm wasn't around to see my reaction.

   The longer my cousin took to get her water

(where'd she go, Lake Michigan?), the more nervous I became, especially when Spence twisted around and gave a low moan.  His fingers twitched. He kicked out a foot and made a funny low growl. 

   Not good.

   I slid back a few more inches to put some distance between us and wondered what was taking her so long. "Carm?"

   Where was she?

   My attempt to lean backward and peek through the doorway made me lose my balance and bang my arm on the doorframe. I staggered, ending up where I'd started. From the corner of my eye, I saw something move and jumped.

   I turned and took a sharp intake of air. Spence and I gazed eye to eye. He sat up, made another unintelligible growl, and grabbed for me. I screamed and yelled, but he stared straight ahead and right through me as if I wasn't there. My heart pounded so hard I swore my shirt fluttered. I panted, becoming more frantic, as he scratched and clawed at me.

   "Spence, stop-stop!" I yelled. "Carm, help!"

   The minutes felt like hours. I didn't know how much longer I could keep him at bay when my cousin ran in and yelled.

   "SPENCE, NO, STOP!"

    Finally, he did. A second later, he peered at me and back at Carm like he didn't know either one of us....

Coming Soon: 

  New stories about my part-zombie girl character from the GIRL Z book are coming out in the anthology, Young Adventurers: Heroes, Explorers and Swashbucklers -up for pre-order Nov. 1. (See Facebook page.) 

** My character Becca is also in a  new short mystery, "The Almost Ruined Thanksgiving," which will be published in the November issue of Mystery Weekly. Sign up for the free newsletter to read the story.  

*** Check the website or the GirlZombieAuthors blog for updates!! 



Thank you again for stopping by this year's Halloween in Miniature event. Come back next year and be sure to stop by my other blog and website above.