2021: Expect the Unexpected – Christmas Around the Tree

Posted on December 26, 2021 by peggylchambers

Merry Christmas!  I hope yours was great—mine was.  It was smaller than usual, but the food and company were wonderful. 

We had Christmas dinner at my son’s again.  He’s a great cook, with a big enough house to hold the family and it takes a load of pressure off me.  I’ve hosted Christmas for many years and have two tables, kitchen and dining room. But after all these years to only have to bring food to an event is a godsend. 

My sister is sick, and my son-in-law’s mother is ill and those were the topics of conversation.  But we still had a great time.  Most of the grandchildren were there—one from Colorado—and it is always great to see them.  They are grown, but they are still my grandchildren.

When it was over, my daughter and I realized we didn’t take one picture!  This is just unheard of in our family. But maybe we were having too much fun to drag out the cameras. 

I have leftovers, but not a ton.  There were only ten people around the table, and we didn’t have to prepare as much food as sometimes.  That is a good thing.

But the love was what brought us together.  My son is off this week and going fishing. My son-in-law is probably heading out to see his mother. My granddaughter is off to Colorado and back to work.

Christmas dinner is never enough to see my family.  I want an entire week, but that’s impossible. They have lives to live and projects waiting for them to finish. But the feelings of Christmas live on in our hearts.  When you get busy this week—and you will—try to remember the feelings of being around that table with the people you love, and it will once more warm your soul.

Family is everything.

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2021: Expect the Unexpected – Teen Authors

Posted on December 19, 2021 by peggylchambers

Last week we discussed the book and craft expo at the Enid Public Library.  I saw lots of old friends and talked to the public who attended. But the best part of the book signing was the little book that was gifted to me. 

The public library has many missions besides just checking out books.  They have projects for teenagers and children—there are even crafts for adults.  But I’ve volunteered with the Teen Authors before and truly enjoy working with them. 

One day I met with them to discuss writing a story.  I was unsure of the ages of these kids and when I got there, they were much older and wiser than I originally thought.  My prepared speech was not going to do what we needed it to do.  So, I winged it.  We began by brainstorming ideas for a story.  Each student spoke up and they came up with a  main character and his goals and motivation.  One of the students took notes as they threw out ideas and over a two-hour period they developed a story.

I never knew what happened to that idea. But at the book and craft sale the Teen Authors had a table of their own.  They had printed their book with illustrations and gifted me a copy.  There was an acknowledgement in the front thanking me for my help.  I was so excited!

I came home with the book of Slippy’s Escape and it has the place of honor on my bookshelf.  You never know how you can affect someone with your actions.  Kids are such a sponge absorbing everything around them.  They did a wonderful job, used their imaginations, and crafted a book of adventures.  I hope they write more.  I can’t wait to work with them again.

What are you reading this week?

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2021: Expect the Unexpected – Book, Bake, and Craft Expo

Posted on December 12, 2021 by peggylchambers

The Public Library of Enid and Garfield County hosted a Friends of the Library Book, Bake, & Craft Expo yesterday.  There were 20 authors, a baker and some crafts made from books.  Lovely!  I attended and met up with some old friends. 

The Grinch was there with his little dog Max and the public came and went. Some seemed surprised when they just walked in the door to return a book and found the entire downstairs filled with books for sale. 

It was a great time to catch up with old friends.  (Did I fall asleep talking to Sheldon Russell?) With the pandemic, there have been fewer get togethers than the past.  I hope we can continue to do such things.  I sold some books and bought some books (I always do) and talked literature with like minds.  I’d love to do it again soon.

It is Christmas and what better time than now to buy and read a book. 

What are you reading this week?

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2021: Expect the Unexpected: The Gift of Books

Posted on December 5, 2021 by peggylchambers

It’s Christmas and what better time to give the gift of books. If you have a child on your Christmas list, give them the gift of living a life outside themselves. Books can transport you to places you might never go.

Ian’s Magic https://www.amazon.com/Ians-Magic-Peggy-Chambers/dp/1735830615/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=ian%27s+magic+peggy+chambers&qid=1638714309&sr=8-1 is a middle grade reader for 7 – 10 years. Ian learned at an early age that he could perform feats of magic—if his math problems were correct. If not, things might not turn out right for him. But as a grade schooler, he has problems that need solving that can’t be solved on paper with a pencil—like a little brother. And he MUST win the annual math contest this year. The prize is an electronic tablet, so he won’t have to share the family computer. But Thomas wants to win too, and he might be better at math than Ian. Is it fair to win the contest using magic?

Glome’s Valley Glome’s Valley: Chambers, Peggy: 9781717076243: Amazon.com: Books is a young adult novel for 10-15 years. Ethan traveled to the Heavener Runestone for the summer with his archeologist dad and is bored while his dad studies the stone. For something to do, he hikes the hills and runs into a boy about his age who is dressed in Viking garb. As they begin to play in the forest, Ethan meets other inhabitants and soon realizes that the boy is a ghost of Vikings that inhabited the forest centuries before. And Glome has friends and foes; energetic fairies and smelly trolls who have been fighting a war for many years. Ethan is pulled into the war and sneaks out at night to help his friends not knowing that there are forces who want him to fail. His dad finds an app on his phone to help him locate his son and summon Thor for assistance.

Return to Glome’s Valley Return to Glome’s Valley: Chambers, Peggy: 9781521912201: Amazon.com: Books takes place 14 years later when Ethan returns to the place he played as a child and finds not much has changed in the forest, except for him. He meets Trondelag, the dragon and a young girl who might be his doppelganger from when he was young. Glome and the fairies let it slip that the Vinland Maps, an archeologists dream, lay hidden in the forest right under his nose. But Trondelag tries to convince Ethan not to risk his life for a piece of paper that would make him famous. Will he have to summon Thor again for help?

It’s Christmas and time for gifts. What better gift than a book. What are you reading this week?

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2021: Expect the Unexpected – The One

Posted on November 28, 2021 by peggylchambers

This week we transitioned from Thanksgiving to Christmas.  We have less than a month to decorate, eat to excess, and buy all those gifts for under the tree. 

My hometown of Enid, Oklahoma started a new tradition this year.  A Christ Tree (The One). A 140-foot fresh cut tree set up near the downtown area at our local Stride Center (4) Stride Bank Center | Facebook. In recent years Enid’s downtown has been transformed into shops and restaurants, even a new hotel in an effort to bring in tourism. And this year it was the tree.

The tree, trucked in from California and paid for by local businessman, Kyle Williams, came in looking a lot like Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tree. And then, like the one in the Peanuts comics, it came to life with a little love and decorations.  Actually, the tree arrived without all its limbs. But they were provided when the tree company stood it up, drilled holes in the trunk, and inserted the limbs it needed. It was then painted green with a preservative that should make it stay nice until the end of the Christmas season. Enid’s Tallest Christmas Tree – YouTube

Then Friday night after Thanksgiving Enid had the tree-lighting ceremony complete with live music, fireworks, and an ice-skating rink. It was estimated that some 30,000 people were in attendance for the ceremony.  Enid only has a population of 50,000.  I wasn’t down there fighting for a parking place, but however many people were there, the local restaurants could hardly keep up. Maybe The One will bring in tourism.  KJ’s Big Adventures -The WORLD’S TALLEST FRESH-CUT CHRISTMAS TREE. – YouTube

Enid is a medium-sized town with a small-town atmosphere and big-town ambitions. The tree will be lit each night through New Years and along with the other decorations downtown will provide a festive atmosphere. Come to Enid and check out “The One.” And be sure to eat at our restaurants and explore at our businesses.  We’d love to have you.

What are you reading this week?

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2021: Expect the Unexpected – Black River Memories

Posted on November 21, 2021 by peggylchambers

It’s Thanksgiving this week, a time to think of family.

My aunt passed away in the last year and due to Covid her children were unable to bury immediately. It took a year, but they finally were able to have the service. Our family is from northeast Arkansas in the Ozark mountains, and we gathered there once more.

In talking to my cousin about the funeral, we began to discuss our grandmother, a petite woman who raised eight children during the Great Depression with the bible in one hand and a spoon in the other—she was always cooking. That is when the conversation was drawn to her recipes and memories of picnics on her lawn with all the grandchildren.

It was a place of family gatherings when I was young, but the large family has dwindled, and we wanted to keep the memories of those gatherings alive. That is when the idea of creating a book of memories and recipes came to light. My cousin and I had contacted everyone else in the family for memories of their time at our grandparent’s house and recipes of our grandmother’s. We called the book Black River Memories Black River Memories: Chambers, Peggy, Descendants, Coats: 9798459526288: Amazon.com: Books because the Black River runs through the countryside there and we swam in that river many times. We self-published it on Amazon so everyone would have access to it and then sat around at my aunt’s house and reminisced. It was a wonderful time, and I was so glad we had a chance to get together.

Here is my grandmother’s recipe for our favorite cookie. Of course, it is in the book.

From Ethel Downing Coats (a/k/a “BaBaa”) 1902 – 1975

my maternal grandmother

Mix Together:

1 Cup soft shortening

1 ½ Cups Sugar

2 Eggs

Sift Together and Stir in:

2 ¾ Cups Sifted Flour

2 tsp. Cream of Tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp salt

Mix together and chill at least one hour. Roll into balls the size of small walnuts. Roll each ball in a mixture of 2 tsp. sugar and 2 T. cinnamon. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until lightly brown but still soft approximately 8 – 10 minutes at 400 °.

What are you reading this Thanksgiving week?

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2021: Expect the Unexpected – Graphic Novels

Posted on November 14, 2021 by peggylchambers

Expect the Unexpected just raised its little smiling face again this week.

I’ve published one comic book, Stone of Thor, for Okie Comics www.okiecomics.com. You can get a copy there is you’re interested. I wrote it based on my two books, Glome’s Valley  https://books2read.com/u/4ERZA0 and Return to Glome’s Valley https://books2read.com/u/bpzR0g  set at Oklahoma’s Heavener Runestone. It includes the main characters from these books on a new adventure. It was a fun venture into the art of comic books.

This week I was approached about adapting my new novel, Flatiron Death Grip, Flatiron Death Grip: Chambers, Peggy, Saenz, Gabriella: 9781953589101: Amazon.com: Books into a graphic novel.

My first call was to some good friends at my local library. They snatched up great examples. Neil Gaiman was my favorite though I found Shakespeare and The Great Gatsby in the pile they had waiting for me. Comic books/graphic novels aren’t just for kids anymore. The librarian explained to me that teaching the brain to imagine what happens between the panels is a great way to teach people to read. And then there is the art!

I don’t know when or if this project will finish. I have nine pages so far and I was exhausted. I want to see what the artist has accomplished. But it is a great way to take your work, condense it and have someone bring it to life with their art. Graphic novels and comic books are an art in themselves. The work that goes into them is tremendous. If its been a while since you read a comic book, or its longer cousin the graphic novel, find one and immerse yourself into that world. You’ll be glad you did.

What are you reading this week?

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2021: Expect the Unexpected – Daylight Savings Time

Posted on November 7, 2021 by peggylchambers

We just ended Daylight Savings Time—again. I was really tired of the dark mornings, but this evening, I’ll be tired of the early dark evening. Sigh. I am a sun worshiper. You can tell by my sun damaged skin. And if I had my way we would have more sun than dark. Twelve hours of daylight followed by twelve hours of dark is not enough light. But the universe doesn’t ask me.

As a retiree, I no longer have to hit the floor running at 5:45.  I can sleep until the sun comes up, which has been later in the last month. I was awake before seven this morning with the sun in my eyes. I smiled. Come supper time, I might not be smiling when it is dark before I get food on the table. When I was young, I remember going to the office in the dark and coming home in the dark many times. I don’t think my old body could manage that now, but I did it for years.

My sister lives in Arizona and they don’t participate in Daylight Savings Time. So, six months out of the year, I have to remember when I call her we are two hours ahead of her in Oklahoma. The rest of the year, we are only one hour ahead of her. So confusing!

But fall has fell and winter is on the horizon. We will have a freeze soon. We’ll just have to be happy with curling up with a good book or movie under a blanket with our hot cocoa by the fire. Actually, that doesn’t sound so bad. What am I griping about? Maybe the dark sky can be relaxing after all. And I got an extra hour of sleep last night.

What are you reading this week?

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2021: Expect the Unexpected – Witches’ Cliff

Posted on October 31, 2021 by peggylchambers

I’ve got a little Halloween story for you this week. Witches’ Cliff is a quick read novella and available electronically on Amazon Amazon.com: Witches’ Cliff (Deerbourne Inn) eBook : Chambers, Peggy: Kindle Store.

Penny Winters flees to her birthplace in Vermont to consider the marriage proposal she left behind in Salem. Complicating her already difficult decision, she is smitten when she encounters handyman Liam on the porch of the quaint Deerbourne Inn.

A modern-day wiccan, Penny intends to contact her distant great-grandmother, who died on the cliffs when Willow Springs held witch trials. Penny needs advice, and the best time to connect to her ancestors is on Halloween. But she is not the only witch in Willow Springs, and they both have their eye on the same man. And who is the old woman who keeps appearing, telling her to go home?

Penny comes to the cliff to seek Grandma’s advice. But Halloween is an important holiday for a witch, and she is not alone on the cliffs that night. Penny will have to battle not only for Liam’s attention, but for her life.

Appearing from nowhere, the elderly woman, in a tattered dark dress stood in the middle of the road. Her wild hair strung with branches like she had fallen in the forest before stumbling onto the highway.

            Swerving to a stop on the side of the road, Penny threw open the door. Jumping from the car she raced back where the woman had been – and stood in the middle of the road turning around.

            No one was there.

            She spun in a circle three times, searching the woods beside the road for the woman. Where could she have disappeared? The woman was there – Penny saw her. But no one could be found in the area, now.

            A horn blasted behind her making Penny jump and twist around. The semi barreled down the highway and she leapt out of the way, running for her car. That was real, and much too close.

            “Go home.” The voice whispered in her ear. And once again Penny spun around.

What are you reading this week? How about a little Halloween read?

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2021: Expect the Unexpected – The Beach Life

Posted on October 24, 2021 by peggylchambers

I took a little fall vacation last week and my husband and I and our cousins traveled to Corpus Christi. I am drawn to water like a magnet. When I was a kid my favorite TV show was Flipper. I dreamed of having a dolphin friend instead of a dog and living on the beach. I didn’t. But I have been able to visit the beach a few times in my life. I could live there. If for some unknown reason I missed my ride back home, I know I could survive on the beach.

We stayed on the barrier islands where Padre and Mustang connect, and our condominium was about a half-mile or less to the beach by way of a boardwalk. We could see the water from our balcony if we stood on tiptoe and looked to the right. The sand dunes protected the structure from hurricanes and was an easy walk, after you climbed the stairs.  My old legs complained about the climb, but my heart knew what was on the other side—the endless water and waves of White Cap Beach.

We visited the beach morning and evening. Our final night we stood for a while trying to get a shot of the full moon over the water, but none could do it justice. We drove into Corpus Christi along the beach until the road ended at the Naval Air Station and saw the sea wall and downtown murals around La Retama Park. I know they have First Friday Art Walks there, but we didn’t make it on the correct weekend. I wrote about the art festival in Secrets of Sandhill Island and wanted to see it. I was on a mission to research for another book.

We ate wayyyyy too much food. Of course, we had to eat at Snoopy’s Pier and other seafood restaurants over the water. We discovered breakfast was hard to come by on the beach since every other tourist had the same goal. But we were still full of food from the night before.

Years ago, when my parent retired, they spent their winters in south Texas near Harlingen. They made day trips into Mexico with their neighbors and hung out on Padre Island. Standing on the beach I became nostalgic thinking of them and their lifestyle. I found more than one PERFECT beach house to spend the rest of my days in. It wasn’t for sale, and I couldn’t have afforded it anyway, but I could dream.

I’m a beach bum at heart. I hummed Kenny Chesney in my head all week and sipped a few Margaritas. I can’t wait to go back. In the meantime, I’ll write another beach story.

What are you reading this week?

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