Merry Christmas Eve from me and the people who came from my brain

I didn’t have a chance to send out holiday cards this year. Or update my blog since November 1, apparently. Seems like there’s been a lot to worry about over the past few months–and I know a lot of you have felt the same way.

If the holidays are a tough time for you–for whatever reason, be it the loss of a loved one or family strife or depression that magnifies in times of seasonally mandated merriness–I can’t offer you much in the way of it-gets-better platitudes. All I can give you is a warm hug from Baltimore, a thank you for being my friend, and a promise that I’ll always do my best to be there for you, too.

Thanks, readerfriends, for hanging with me on Twitter and reading my books and just being generally awesome. Some friends of mine send their season’s greetings too…

Merry Christmas from Plastic Brandon & Abel, trimming the tree in Brandon’s family rec room while his parents are at Mass:

(Snickerdoodles to you if you guess what’s in the packages. THE WRAPPED ONES, PEOPLE.)

…Also, happy holidays from Puckatoe, Nebraska, where Rachel and Riley are putting final touches on the Charlie Brown tree Riley rescued from the Trail’s End produce stand.

The ornaments on this little nerd tree include red commas, blue mosaic tiles, and a schmancy cloisonne poinsettia from France that they totally stole from Mrs. Woodlawn.

All of us wish you the happiest of holidays and a peaceful and productive new year. I’m looking forward to relaunching this website with a new design, FINALLY FINALLY getting my books out in paperback, and possibly releasing book #3 in the fall if all goes well and I don’t get waylaid in the Cave of Eternal Revision.

Love you, and hope your wishes come true in 2015!

J