Interview with Hywela Lyn

CTR: Let us welcome Hywela Lyn to our special winter holiday Book Brew event! First, please give us a bit of information about the book or books you’re sharing today. At least ISBN, Publisher and buy link please! Also provide the genre and heat level if applicable.
How does the book or books tie in with our theme of winter holidays around the world?

HL: BLURB:

Two minds united against a common foe. Two hearts afraid to show their love:

Long ago Tamarith fell in love with a man she can never have, and is convinced she will never love another. However, she cannot help but be intrigued by a handsome stranger whose psychic powers exceed even her own.

Vidarh seeks only to find his true purpose in life and to win the regard of his father, who eschews his son’s psychic abilities. Thrown together by a common threat to their planet, then torn apart by an evil greater than any they could have imagined, can Vidarh save the lovely Nifl woman who has captivated him, before it is too late?

Will Tamarith and Vidarh overcome the deadly enemy who threatens to destroy all they know and love? Will they find the happiness they both seek? Or are they fated to live their lives alone?

‘CHILDREN OF THE MIST’ while not a Christmas story, has elements that certainly reminded me of Christmas, as I wrote it. A sequel to my debut novel, ‘Starquest’, most of the planet Niflheim is covered in snow, and is based on the land of mist and ice of Norse mythology. Although parts of it are cold and inhospitable, other parts of the snowy landscape are inhabited and very beautiful. I became rather fond of the planet in Starquest and knew I had to write another story about the planet and her people and origins. Jess, the heroine of Starquest fell in love with the planet herself, and made several friends there, one of whom, Tamarith, is the heroine of ‘Children Of The Mist.’ Jess started out as an interstellar missionary, and I’m sure she and Dahll would have had a lot of fun decorating the starship ‘The Quest’ for Christmas! Niflheim is an Earth Colony, and the colonists brought many of Earth’s traditions with them, so I imagine Tamarith and her family celebrating a traditional Terran Christmas on the 25th of December!

Published by The Wild Rose Press
Print: 228 Pages, Sensual
Print ISBN: 1-60154-557-6

Purchase Link http://www.thewildrosepress.com/children-of-the-mist-p-1280.html
(Also available on Amazon, Kindle etc.)

More details of this and my other releases are on my Blog and Website, including reviews, trailers and first Chapter excerpts

CTR: Where can our reader friends find out more about you and your writing? Please share your web site, social network pages, blogs or any other contact areas you maintain.

HL: I’m all over the Net, too many to include all but these are some of them:

Details and purchase links of my books can be found on my AUTHOR PAGE at the Wild Rose Press:
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/hywela-lyn-m-138.html

WEBSITE: http://www.hywelalyn.co.uk/

BLOG: www.hywelalyn.blogspot.com

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/HywelaLyn

MY SPACE: http://www.myspace.com/hywelalyn

POLKERDOT BANNER: http://www.polkadotbanner.com/index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=userProfile&user=201

I also run a ‘fun’ blog with Sharon Donovan and Mary Ricksen, featuring a guest author every week: www.authorroastandtoast.blogspot.com

CTR: What winter holiday or days does your family or circle of friends celebrate? Did they bring some special customs and traditions from another country, culture or region to your current form of celebration? Does such diversity maybe enhance the joy and meaning of the season for you and for us all?

HL: In the UK, Christmas Day is traditionally the biggest holiday of the year. There are Church Services on Christmas Eve of course, and on Christmas morning. Most people exchange their Christmas gifts on Christmas morning and have Christmas dinner either lunch time or in the evening, with turkey and all the trimmings. The next day, Boxing Day, is also a holiday when people generally relax, finish off the leftover turkey and many people rush to the first day of the sales. Personally I can think of a lot better things to do on Boxing Day than queue up outside a store in the freezing cold, in the hopes of snapping up a bargain. (grin)

If you wonder where the term ‘Boxing Day’ comes from, there are several stories as to its origins, although it has been dated back to the Middle Ages. In Victorian times it was customary for tradesmen to collect their “Christmas boxes” or gifts on the day after Christmas in return for good and reliable service throughout the year. Some sources say the name derives from an old English tradition of wealthy landowners giving their servants the 26th off to visit their families, in exchange for them providing their employers with their services, and ensuring their Christmas celebrations ran smoothly. The employers would give each servant a box containing gifts and bonuses (and sometimes leftover food). Around the 1800s, churches opened their alms boxes to distribute the contents to the poor. Today, ‘tips’ given to tradesmen or refuse collectors are still known as a ‘Christmas Box’.

In Wales, a pre-Christian custom associated with the end of the Christmas season, was that of the Mari Lwyd ( Grey Mare). A horse’s skull with false ears and eyes attached, along with reins and bells, covered with a white sheet and colourfully decorated with ribbons, is carried around on a pole. The Mari Lwyd is carried from door to door and is accompanied by a party of people. At each door, poems are recited in Welsh. Those inside the house reply also in verse refusing to let the Mari Lwyd in until this battle of verse and insults (or pwnco) is won.
The Mari Lwyd parties gained a bad reputation for for drunkenness and vandalism as they roamed the villages. This was unacceptable behavior especially with the rise of the Chapel and Methodism in Wales, and so the custom was changed. Christmas carols were sung at the doors and the battle of insults and verse disappeared. In some areas the Welsh language gave way to English. By the 1960’s the custom of the Mari had almost died out.
This ancient custom is now being revived in many areas and the students at the University of Wales where I used to work, carry the Mari Lwyd through the streets of my hometown, Aberystwyth.
The most popular New Year’s custom, and one which I remember taking part in as a child, was that of ‘Calennig’ and was carried out in all parts of Wales. On January 1st from dawn until noon, groups of young children would visit all the houses in the village carrying evergreen twigs and a cup of cold water drawn from the local well. The boys would then use the twigs to splash people with water. In return, they would receive the Calennig, usually in the form of copper coins. In my day it was just a case of chanting a small verse or two in exchange for small coins.

CTR: Was there a gift you totally lusted after as a kid or teenager and never got? Did you maybe get it for yourself later or come to realize it wasn’t as cool as you had once thought? Do you go all out with decorating and making a special festive meal or do you prefer a quieter sort of celebration? Have a favorite holiday recipe to share with us?

HL: I’ve been horse mad for as long as I can remember and always secretly wished to find a real live pony under the Christmas Tree (or at least outside in the yard.) My wish never did come true, although I never wanted for gifts and love at Christmas, but sometimes things are denied us for a reason. I had riding lessons and worked at a local riding school in the summer holidays, so that by the time I was eventually able to buy my first horse, I was able to care for her and ride her properly. Horses are a huge responsibility, and need a lot of care, so with hindsight I’m glad I didn’t get my Christmas wish as a child.

I love Christmas, but I don’t like starting too early. About week or so every year, we visit the local Christmas Tree farm and pick out a nice bushy little tree. It’s a really magical place, with a shop, with an animated Santa and reindeer, snow scenes with realistic looking animals, and all sorts of sparkly decorations to purchase. Once we have the tree in situ, and it’s strung with its tiny coloured lights, I spend hours and hours decorating it. I have lots of decorations accumulated over the years, and they nearly all carry their own memories. Tiny horses, crystal unicorns, a variety of little angels, including three little ‘Native American dancing angels; which are beautifully modeled, teddy bears, etc. A large gold star goes on top of the tree, and when it’s finished, we hang gold, red and green garlands everywhere, and holly and mistletoe. I also have lots of festive red candles in various types of holders scattered around the house. We decorate the outside of the house with solar powered fairy lights and a little artificial tree.

There are only two of us, plus our little dog, so Christmas dinner is a fairly quiet affair. We have turkey with all the stuffing, cranberry jelly and stuffing, roast potatoes, etc. My husband Dave usually cooks the main meal, and I do all the ‘sweet’ stuff. At this moment, the Christmas cake is made and ‘resting’ after being fed sherry and brandy. A few days before Christmas, I’ll marzipan and ice it. I always ‘rough ice’ the Christmas cake, to look like snow, and decorate it with miniature Christmas trees, reindeer, carol singers etc. We’re usually too full after Christmas dinner to eat the Christmas pudding, which we usually leave for Boxing Day, to eat with either brandy butter or fresh cream. Instead I make a trifle, with a layer of sponge, soaked in sherry, raspberries or strawberries, fruit jelly, thick custard and whipped fresh cream, sprinkled with chocolate. For tea on Christmas Day we usually have cold turkey sandwiches and Christmas cake in front of the television. Either just before Christmas or for New Year, we visit my family in Wales. We stay with my sister Carol and her family, and are treated to a real family Christmas dinner, and I always make another Christmas cake to take with us, so we actually end up having two Christmases!

CTR: Do you think we’ve become too commercialized and maybe taken some of the traditional or religious meanings away from our holidays such a Hanukah and Christmas or do you think more secular emphasis is appropriate in these modern times? Have some old traditions perhaps outworn their relevance for today? How about the idea of setting aside more to give to charity and the less fortunate, especially in these difficult times, and cutting back on gifts and parties?

HL: I do think we’ve become far too commercialized. I know the big stores need to make a living but honestly, when I see Christmas decorations starting to appear on the shelves in August, I feel there’s far too much emphasis on the gifts and decorations, and the real meaning of Christmas becomes lost. On a personal note I try to buy as many cards and gifts from various Charities as I can, and I think Christmas is a time when as well as enjoying the season ourselves, we should remember people who are worse off than ourselves. Being an animal lover, I support many of the animal charities. I feel God’s creatures have as much right to be warm and well fed at Christmas as we do, after all, Christ chose to arrive in a stable, with the humble donkey and cattle.

Yes, we are certainly far more secular as a Nation than we were, say, a hundred years ago. It makes me sad when people say things like ‘Christmas is really for the children.’ Of course it’s a magical time for children, of all ages, but what do they think we’re actually celebrating at Christmas? Isn’t the birth of Christ a cause for celebration whatever one’s age? If someone thinks Christ didn’t really exist and the baby born in a stable is just a myth, then I can’t help wondering why they still celebrate something they don’t believe in! Having said that, Christmas is a time for giving and sharing, and it does seem that for at least one day in the year, people stop their bickering and fighting and for a short time there really is ‘Peace On Earth.’

CTR: Thanks so much for sharing some customs and celebrations that many of our readers may not be familiar with. Please come back and visit us again!