My favorite Christmas traditions go hand-in-hand: baking delicious treats and spending time with friends and family. For years, we hosted a Christmas Cookie Open House at our home every December. I’d bake approximately 300 dozen cookies (yes, I did say 300 DOZEN – I usually made between 12 and 20 Read more…
Once upon a time, in a land far away from sugar plums or even fairies of any kind, there was a little girl who asked Santa for a magic wand. She asked him in a crowded mall, shyly expressing this One Truest Wish to a man whose fake white beard Read more…
It starts not with a gun, but with a whistle. You won’t find a race with fewer frills than this one. No mile markers, regular water stops, pinned-on numbers, or electronic timing; one of my former track coaches holds a stopwatch at the finish time. There’s no tracking device Read more…
Rekindling My Christmas Spirit I remember sitting in front of the frost-laced window, staring out into the flurrying snow, and wondering whether I would get a glimpse of reindeers sailing through the air, pulling a large sleigh behind them. Of course, I was six years old at the time. I Read more…
I am not a sentimental person. I don’t keep my kid’s report cards or their math test, and I could probably fit all of their art projects into one drawer. The tooth fairy has never seen the need to save their baby teeth and the Kindergarten soccer trophies have long Read more…
As far as grandmother’s go, my Grammy P was the best. She made chicken roll sandwiches on hamburger rolls, which I thought was the height of haute cuisine when I was a kid, and every Christmas she gave me a special ornament for the tree—a handmade doll.It was always the Read more…
Holiday Guest Post by Lori Goldstein When Brenda asked me to write about a family holiday tradition, my excitement swelled like a helium balloon. But after an hour in my desk chair, all I had to show for it was a flat piece of Mylar and a voice like Donald Read more…
The window for Pitch Wars is now open! You have until 12/2 at 11:59PM EST to get your applications in to brendadrakecontests@gmail.com. If you don’t know what Pitch Wars is or if you need the submission guidelines, go here. To learn more about our participating agents go here. The mentors’ Read more…
The agent round isn’t until January 22, but I thought it would be fun to announce the agents now, so you can see all the fabulousness waiting for you if you are chosen by one of our amazing mentors. So grab some popcorn, sit by the fire, and warm your Read more…
You’ve scrambled your way through the Mentor’s bio posts, searching for secret words and letters, and looking for clues to help you unscramble the mystery quote. You’ve pulled at your hair, begged for extra hints on twitter and crossed everything crossable, hoping that your entry would be one of the Read more…