I hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday season and that the start of the New Year brings peace to everyone during these difficult times.
As I write this newsletter, snow is falling outside my window for the first time this year. Our twinkling Christmas tree and decorated window create a picturesque frame to the majestic, but chilly outside. There’s not enough snow to build a snowman or a fort, but just enough to coat the trees and dust the grass evenly.
The view alone makes me think of homemade braided cinnamon wreaths and a hot cup of cocoa. I included my yummy braided cinnamon wreath with cream cheese frosting at the bottom of this newsletter.
It’s not only scrumptious, but looks pretty with its white frosting and cinnamon sugar coating. YUM!
Back to books, can you tell I love food?
Word count is moving. I’ve started to focus again on DNA and I can’t wait to introduce Karen, my newest character, as she counts down the days to her own Christmas due date.
DNA: 37,370 words
Dalya Book III (Stranger Shores? I haven’t settled on the title yet, maybe in the next newsletter I’ll do a vote): 16,694
Braided Cinnamon Wreath
I like making this recipe into a wreath shape and then cutting slices of it, but you can make mini rolls too.
Dough
1/2 cup of warm milk 110°F
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1/8 cup melted butter
1 egg yolk
1 TBSP sugar
2 cups of flour
1/2 tsp. salt
Cinnamon Filling
1/4 cup softened butter
4-5 TBSP sugar
3 tsp cinnamon
Cream Cheese Frosting
2 oz cream cheese
4 TBSP melted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup of powder sugar
Mix milk, yeast, sugar, melted butter, & egg yolk. Allow it to sit for ten minutes.
Mix in the shifted flour & salt. Knead the dough into a ball and place the dough in a greased bowl. Cover bowl with towel or plastic wrap and place in warm area to rise for at least one hour.
Whisk butter, cinnamon, and sugar.
Flour your work area and roll out the dough into an 8 x 12 rectangle. Spread 3/4 of the filling on it.
Roll the dough long ways into a log.
Slice the rolled up dough down the center and separate.
Take one of each end and braid the two pieces together into a circle.
Brush remaining filling on the top.
Bake at 400°F for 25 minutes
Drop the temperature to 350° and back for an additional 10 minutes.
While baking, beat cream cheese, melted butter, vanilla extract, and powder sugar until smooth. Drizzle on hot cinnamon wreath and enjoy.
As always, check out the books below, most of them are on sale or free!
They took his daughter, so Micah comes to take their kingdom. Fifty thousand gun-toting paladins march behind him, all baptized in angel blood, thirsty to burn unbelievers.
Only the janissaries can stand against them. Their living legend, Kevah, once beheaded a magus amid a hail of ice daggers. But ever since his wife disappeared, he spends his days in a haze of hashish and poetry.
To save the kingdom, Kevah must conquer his grief and become the legend he once was. But Micah writes his own legend in blood, and his righteous conquest will stop at nothing.
When the gods choose sides, a legend will be etched upon the stars.
Get these novels from ten masters of fantasy and unlock portals to new worlds today for less than a dollar a piece!
Table of Contents
1. “Rise and Fall of the Obsidian Grotto” by Christopher D. Schmitz
2. “The Tally Master” by J.M. Ney-Grimm
3. “A Veil for the Vanguard” by Danny F. Santos
4. “The Kakos Realm: Grinden Proselyte” by Christopher D. Schmitz
5. “The Dragonslayer’s Sword” by Resa Nelson
6. “Apprentice Storm Mage” by Douglas Van Dyke Jr
7. “The Avant Champion: Rising” by CB Samet
8. “The Chronicles of Agartha: Book 1 – The Green Boy” by Sherif Guirguis
9. “Severance Lost” by J. Lloren Quill
10. “Prelude to Insurrection” by JC Kang
11. “The Dragon Princess” by Paris Hansch
