Authors on Holiday – Debra Parmley

Author Debra Parmley shares Christmas through the eyes of a child. Welcome Debra!

My favorite Christmas ornament and a favorite memory is from the year our youngest son was five months old and our oldest was two years four months old.  Our tree was typical of Christmas trees put up in the homes of those with small children. Fancy breakable ornaments three feet up from the ground and a plainer bottom half.

With babies and toddlers in the house you put extra thought into safety. Ornament hooks; ornaments with small pieces, and glass ornaments are serious choking and injury risks.  Lights must be high enough little hands can’t grasp cords and furniture far enough away it can’t be used to climb up and grab hold of anything. Touchable ornaments need to be safe to be placed in the hands of small children with no small or breakable parts.  I used string to hang the ornaments on the bottom half of the tree.

Our two year old put the ornaments on the bottom of the tree and hung his brothers blue and satin white “baby’s first Christmas” bulb low enough his brother could see it.

The tree was decorated and his brother was awake so it was time for him to see his first Christmas tree. I put him on the floor beneath the tree and we waited. At first he looked at the bulb, this new thing. I was on the floor with our camera and took a picture and then moved around to get a picture of his face. At that moment he reached and light filled his eyes as he reached for it. The wonder, the joy, all of what makes Christmas a real Christmas for me was captured that moment in the shot and frozen in my memory.

Christmas is to me is the joy in a child’s eyes, the joy in an elderly persons eye, or people of any age. Pure light and joy.

The picture may show this more than my words could ever hope to. I’ll share it here and wish each of you all the love and light and joy of this holiday season.

About Debra:
Her first novel, A Desperate Journey, a western historical romance, was a finalist in the Bobbi Smith Creative Writing Challenge.  Not long afterward it was a finalist in the American Title II contest.  For those not familiar with the contest, she describes it as similar to the American Idol contest, but for authors. Readers voted online and the prize was a publishing contract. A Desperate Journey was published a year later by Samhain Publishing.

Debra’s second western historical romance, Dangerous Ties, was published Feb. 15, 2012 by Desert Breeze Publishing in eBook and will be released in print April, 2013. Aboard The Wishing Star, Debra’s first contemporary romance, will be released Oct. 11,  2012 by Desert Breeze Publishing in eBook. Trapping the Butterfly, a 1920’s romance set in Hot Springs, AR will be released in April, 2013 by Desert Breeze Publishing in eBook. Visit Debra on the web or find her latest release can be found by following this link.