Monthly Archives: December 2015

Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month for December 2015

It’s that time of the month again, time for “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”. So what is “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”? It’s a round-up of speculative fiction by indie authors newly published this month, though some November … Continue reading

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Christmas 2015 (with Photos)

Christmas 2015 is officially over, though the fact that December 27 is a Sunday sort of makes it an unofficial fourth Christmas day. I spent Christmas at my parents’, as usual, eating food, decorating and gazing at the tree and … Continue reading

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Two new Christmas stories available – Zwei neue Weihnachtsgeschichten erhältlich

As promised, here are the last two new story announcements for 2015. And as befits the season, both are announcements for Christmas stories, one in German and one in English. Let’s start with the English language story. Bertha and Alfred, … Continue reading

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A Colony of Groots and the Quest for Star Wars Toys

I didn’t have school today, but I went out anyway to run some errands and do some grocery shopping for the holidays. This wasn’t the main pre-holiday grocery haul – that’s on Wednesday. But I was glad to get some … Continue reading

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New Fantasy Story Available: Kiss of Ice

I’ve said before that I’d have a couple of promo posts and new book announcements coming up in the run-up to Christmas and here is the second of them. This announcement is for Kiss of Ice, a dark and wintery … Continue reading

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Great Christmas short films that are actually German supermarket ads

One thing I’ve noticed is that German TV advertising has gotten a lot better in recent years. Gone are the days of Herr Kaiser, Clementine and – the supreme horror of them all – Frau Sommer. The sexist coffee ads … Continue reading

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A new Helen Shepherd Mystery available: Mightier than the Sword

I had my last day of class for the year this Thursday. My students were actually disappointed that there won’t be any class until January, which is certainly a first. But that’s the difference between adults who actually want to … Continue reading

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Seasonal Views of Bremen 2015

Yesterday, I didn’t have school, so I took the chance to go to Bremen and take a stroll over the Christmas market. And since I was in Bremen already, I had lunch at the Übersee Restaurant, their lunch special of … Continue reading

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Star Wars Fever

Friday, December 9, 1983, was the day I first saw a Star Wars movie (Return of the Jedi, which had just opened in Germany, since Europe always got Star Wars around Christmas in the time of the original trilogy). And … Continue reading

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A New Job and a Blast from the Past

I’m sorry that I’ve been scarce for a while, but this week I started a new job of sorts, teaching German to refugees. It’s very rewarding, but also quite stressful, particularly in the first week of class, where things haven’t … Continue reading

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