Today I’m pleased to have one of my favorite people here today – the lovely and talented Vicki Batman. She’s here to talk about her newest release, Twinkle Lights.
Take it away, Vicki!
Holy Moly: It’s a Naked Tree!
What would our favorite holiday tree look like without Christmas lights? I’m thinking…natural. (But really, naked.)
How did lighting of our tree come about? From Wikipedia we find in 18th century Germany, trees were brought in the house and decorated with candles, fastened in place with melted wax. Edward H. Johnson, an associate of Thomas Edison, had tree bulbs the size of walnuts especially made for his home on Fifth Avenue. By 1930, electric lights became the replacement for candles. In the U.S. by the 1960s, most people began decorating the outside of their homes.
Kinds of lights: twinkle lights, holiday lights, and mini lights. In the UK, they are called fairy lights.
Today, most lights are C6, C7, C5, C9, mini and LED mini, 5MM wide angle, raspberry (a small faceted globe shaped bulb). Want an easy way to decorate? Try net and icicle lights. And then, for the odd places, we have battery powered ones.
In my holiday story, “Twinkle Lights,” my heroine loves, loves, loves Christmas. She always buys a real Fraser fir, adorns it with vintage decorations, and of course, twinkle lights.
Here’s a tiny excerpt:
Just before the bell could ring again, I yanked the door open and my jaw nearly hit the floor.
“Ho-ho-ho,” the bearded man with the pillowed tummy said. “Merry Christmas, young lady.”
A giggle burst from me. “How fantastic. A visit from my favorite guy. Quick”—grasping his coat, I tugged him over the threshold—“come in before my date sees you.”
“I hear you’ve been a very good girl this year.” Santa Cameron shrugged off his faux goodie bag, and I laid it on the tan-checked, club chair. While adjusting the classic, red jacket into place, he came closer to my tree and said, “I think you got the best one, Paige.”
“Thank you, sir. You’re the expert.”
“That I am.” He ruffled some branches, releasing the incredible fragrance. “How do you keep it fresh?”
“It drinks.”
“Yeah, I know. A lot of water.”
“No, it drinks.”
His white eyebrows came together in a V. “I’m not understanding…”
“Vodka. An old family recipe.” I lifted my shoulder. “Seems to work.”
“Vodka? Lucky for you, it isn’t tipping over. Ha-ha.”
So here’s to all of us who wrestle a tree in place and place the decorations on it. May your holidays be merry and *twinkle* bright.
Find Vicki Batman clutching a diet Coke in one hand while trying to figure out where the darn ornaments would look best on her Fraser fir. She also makes appearances at her blog and Plotting Princesses. “Twinkle Lights,” a fun, romantic story is available at Muse It Up Publishing or Amazon.com.
Good morning, Michelle. Last night after dinner, I settled on the couch, picked up the special needlepoint project, and looked up. To my left sat my unlighted tree. Whoops! Up I go, flick on the lights, and returned to my place. Very festive.
Welcome Vicki! Glad you could be here today.
Never leave a tree unlit! LOL
How cute is this. Sweet and sexy, Ms. I just blogged about Christmas trees past and present where my grandest granddaughter almost four years ago couldn’t reach very high so the tree was decorated only two branches from the bottom. This year, age five, she’s shown hooking ornaments almost to the top. Wonderful memories.
How cute!
Thanks for stopping by 🙂