Christmas in New Orleans 2013

Melinda Palacio

notice the gilded pine cones

Christmas in New Orleans brings so many wonders. A simple pleasure I've enjoyed was collecting the pine cones that fell from the my tree, spray painting them gold and tying them to a wreath. Crafty Chica, Kathy Cano-Murillo would be so proud of me. Other than cooking, this is as crafty as I get. I tried sewing napkins last year, but they are all askew and my weak attempts at crocheting a hat for myself resulted in a doily, which has since unravelled. In a pinch, I can sew a button back on.

This year, the hubby and I hosted the New Orleans WNBA party (no, we are not basketball players, Women's National Book Association). One of the great things about living in New Orleans is the city's rich literary history. If you need to know where to start, read Susan Larson's The Book Lover's Guide to New Orleans. Before living here part-time, I took a unique literary walking tour that included homes of famous authors and locations for several books and movies, set in New Orleans with tour guide extraordinaire Carolyn Kolb, who now has a book, New Orleans Memories: One Writer's City.

Jonathan Kline and Daniel Chacón at Octavia Books

Last week, I had the opportunity to play tour guide to Daniel Chacón who read at Octavia Books with Jonathan Kline. Both authors worked very well together. Those who missed the reading should buy their books. I recommend both Hotel Juarez: Stories, Rooms, and Loops and The Wisdom of Ashes. Chacón and Kline are both masters of the written word. Their concise, to the point, and poetic prose delights and enchants at each turn of the page and each offers a glimpse of a different world, New Orleans for Kline and Juarez and El Paso for Chacón.

Ready, Set, Christmas

It only took two decades, but after my mother passed away in 1994, I wanted nothing to do with holidays because they depressed me to no end. I'm finally at a place where I can enjoy holidays and not feel like crying in a corner. Since this is my last post of 2013, I will wish everyone a happy new year. Happy reading and happy writing. Gracias la Bloga readers and mi la bloga familia. I look forward to sharing more musings on the writing life with you in 2014. I leave you with the newest addition to our family, my most adorable nephew, Marley Palacio.

Marley and Santa fall asleep reading. Christmas can be exhausting.