Hi friends,

I hope you and your family are having a wonderful holiday season.

And for anyone who didn’t pick up a free copy of our 20-plus post-apoc author e-magazine last week, it’s still available – Our Christmas gift to our readers. Enjoy!

Once Upon an Apocalypse FREE Christmas E-Magazine

Today, I thought I’d also share a few ideas I had as I brainstormed stocking stuffer gifts for the family. Here are some of the items I enjoy because of their small size and practicality:

The Life Straw – usually around $13, this handy item fits in your bug-out bag or car emergency pack, and allows you to drink straight from any water source for up to 1000 gallons of filtered water.

Fire Starter Steel – often combined with a compass, whistle and magnesium stick, these types of rods create a shower of sparks to easily start a fire in an emergency. Great to have one stashed in the car or purse.

A pack of inexpensive mylar thermal blankets – While not the sturdiest item, these simple blankets are small and easy to stick in the glove box or first aid kit and are useful in many situations when someone who is injured or cold needs protection from the elements.

Moldable aluminum foam splints – These are about the size of a large elastic bandage and roll out to be used as a splint when a limb or injury needs to be stabilized. Effective, convenient and great to keep with your portable medical supplies.

How about you? Any small items you would consider useful or essential to add to a glove box or bug-out bag? Please share, and I’ll add them to the list and maybe someone’s stocking. 🙂

Happy holidays to you and your family!

______________________ 

Misty’s Writing Update:

Have you or your kids ever read the Junie B Jones books?

Rachel, my youngest, loved them so much, I recorded myself as I read to her at night so she could listen to them later as many times as she wanted.

Then my author mind started transforming all the shenanigans that Rachel got up to into similar funny stories.

Together, she and I came up with the character ‘Rascally Rachel’ who does things like sets a trap for the tooth fairy (true story!) and asks Alexa how many minutes until her birthday, because she’s so impatient.

I couldn’t help it and had to jot down some of the ideas. So, as a mental break from my current book, and because she will only be 6-years-old for so long, I wrote the first few chapters of “Rascally Rachel Can’t Wait for Her Birthday” this week.

She and her older brother (the antagonist in the story) had a blast reading it. When I went upstairs to grab something for a couple of minutes, she asked me if I’d finished another chapter – lol.

Whether it’ll end up as something commercial or not, who knows? But it sure is fun creative a book with my daughter’s input.

Her final opinion?

“It’s a pretty good story, except for a couple of lies”

LOL.

We had more than one discussion about the difference between fiction and a lie. Hmm. 🙂

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,

— Misty 🙂