Thorn Wilde

You'll get to see lots more of Mandi, and you will be introduced to her parents as well. As for Stuart, he is definitely quite a character. Both of these new people are important to the plot, is all I'm saying. As far as Alan and Matt are concerned, there's nothing in the last book, but you may possibly want to re-read Hubris. Thank you so much, and Merry Christmas to you!

So, Sasha started a topic on what sort of nice stuff everyone got. I want to know what sort of weird stuff you all got! I mean, we all have that one relative or friend who just gives really odd presents. Not necessarily bad presents, just stuff that you'd never think to ask for or want or ever buy for yourself, and that make you wonder, why on Earth would this person get me this? Mine was from my brothers' mum. She got me The Encyclopaedia of 5000 Spells. Yup, you read that right. A bona fide spell book, with spells and incantations from pretty much all cultures and all eras. It has instructions on how to make magic mirrors, bind familiars, make a woman stay in the house (!) and curse your enemies. Now, I have absolutely no problem with people who believe in magic or practice Wicca or anything like that, but I don't. (I would call myself a skeptic, except that puts me in the same category as several douchebags I'm not interested in being associated with.) Neither, as far as I know or can possibly imagine (and I've known this woman since I was born), does my brothers' mum. So what in the name of everything unholy would make her think to buy me this book? Of course, flipping through it I've come up with all kinds of interesting fantasy and horror story ideas, so I'll definitely have to thank her the next time I see her for getting me such an awesome gift!

I'm quite fond of Mandi myself. Felt like the story needed another female character with some attitude. Thanks for commenting, and a Happy Christmas to you!

I second the Little Blue One, and here is the song! Last year, my class played this at the Christmas concert in school, but I had to go home because of a doctor's appointment, so I couldn't be in the performance. I was really sad.

I got a bottle of wine, a couple of books, some home-made truffles, and, from Magpie and my parents, money so I can order myself an iPhone. I'm pleased with this loot.

CHAPTER THREE Unisex ‘So, what’s it gonna be, Mandi?’ asked Dave, sitting down next to Mandira in Chemistry on Friday morning. ‘You coming to my birthday party tomorrow or what?’ ‘Hm? Oh, no, I’m sorry.’ She looked deeply apologetic. ‘I asked my mum if I could go and her first question was, “Will there be boys there”.’ ‘Ah.’ ‘Yeah. And when I told her how far away it was she flat out refused on that account, too. So she actually managed to find two reasons for me not to go. S

I need to get round to reading all the stories so I can vote. Christmas is always so busy!

Thank you!

Trondheim is a great city. I've been a couple of times. Nidarosdomen, the great cathedral there, is magnificent. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Thank you! The aurora is certainly a majestic thing. I'm sure you would love it.

I think I could probably handle it. When I was a kid, my mum considered taking a job in Svalbard. Thankfully, she changed her mind. I haven't seen the northern light in ages myself; usually not far enough north near the equinoxes to see it. I did see the midnight sun a couple of years ago, though. That's a magical sight as well.

Where my grandparents live in Finland we only get about an hour or two of sunlight per day in the middle of winter. Very long dawn and dusk, though. It's actually kind of pleasant. Though having it completely dark would probably be a bit much for me as well.

Thank you!

Thank you!!

Here's mine: Black Christmas

21st December, 1896 In most of the northern hemisphere, today is the darkest, longest night of the year; the Winter Solstice. Not where I am, however. Today is just as dark as yesterday, and the day before that, and it will be just as dark tomorrow. It has been weeks since there was even the chance of blue dusk at midday, since it was possible to glimpse the red rays of a dying sun on the southern horizon for just a few moments. I asked the shaman, through my young interpreter Hector,

In most of the northern hemisphere, today is the darkest, longest night of the year; the Winter Solstice. Not where I am, however. Today is just as dark as yesterday, and the day before that, and it will be just as dark tomorrow.

I think a lot of people will either love Stuart or hate him. As for Matt's mysterious phone call, all in good time, my dear! And the next chapter is 1000 words longer, so I hope it'll be to your liking. Thank you!!

I'm keeping the first few chapters sort of slice-of-life-ish, to sort of give you an idea of what the boys' lives are like right now. Before long I'll pile it up with enough drama to have you set until 2015. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

You definitely will in the chapters to come. Thank you!

Nathan Lane's performance in that movie is gold. It's a really great movie, and I think it does have a lot of value. It's very satirical, which is always good. The original French movie, La Cage Aux Folles, which it's based on, is also delightful and worth a watch if you can find it.

It is initially an American thing, but it's become quite popular Christmas food in the UK as well. In Scandinavia, not so much. In my area, pork is common. In Western Norway they eat mutton. Up North lots of people eat fish. And then there's different parts of the animal as well. In Norway we tend to use the ribs, while in Sweden and Finland it's more common to eat ham, if I'm not very much mistaken. Pork has traditionally been common because pigs were easy to keep, since they eat whatever they get, and there's a lot of food on one well-fed pig. Then there is, of course, the tradition of Lutefisk, but we don't need to talk about that... Bleh. Yesterday, I cooked a Christmas goose, which used to be traditional Christmas food in England, pre-turkey, for our dinner party, stuffed with apples, bread, black currants and thyme. It was very tasty. We served it with buttersteamed sugar snap peas, oven grilled potatoes (cooked in the goose fat), parsnip puree and black currant and wine sauce.

What can I say? I live for the approval and acknowledgement of others. Thank you for your kind and warm words, and I'm glad I've managed to bring you back into the story without boring you. There's always such a fine line there, keeping it interesting while not throwing the reader into the deep end without a flotation device. Thank you!

Thank you, Miles. If I say so myself, I am very happy with the character of Stuart, and he will play a major part in both this book and perhaps especially the third and final volume, which I've started planning. That is if I can even stick with my own plans, of course. Thanks for reviewing!

Well, what would be the fun in that? Thanks for reading and reviewing!