I was an Indie Lit Secret Santa over at HTMLGIANT. (I think I want that on a t-shirt. Or a bumper sticker. Or a snazzy tote bag.)

I got this postcard in the mail the other day. (A treat in itself because I get so little real mail these days. Remember letters? I miss letters.):

The flip side of the card promises that the advertised book, Light Boxes, has been ordered for me by my Secret Santa, and will be shipped to me when the book pubs in January. This is one of the great things that came of signing up for this exchange. I hadn’t heard of this book, or the author, Shane Jones. Did some clicking around, found the book’s site, read an excerpt, and am now truly excited to receive the book. Can’t wait to read it. So a new-to-me author and a book I might not have come across otherwise. What better gift than that? Thanks to Chris Higgs, who was revealed to be my Secret Santa.

Which brings me to the second great thing to come from this indie lit exchange. I found two fantastic new-to-me blogs of new-to-me writers, which you should check out too. Chris Higgs, my Santa, linked above, and Brad Green, who was my Santee. Or, rather, I was his Santa. Brad’s blog is beautifully written. Do go check it out.

I gave Brad a subscription to One Story. Also worth checking out. I love One Story, and not just because it means I get more real mail every few weeks.

Other than the flurry of Secret Santa excitement, there’s just been a whole lot of snow around here, which I will not bitch about again. All I will say is that Thumper and I did not make it back east as planned. And we’ve been doing some of this:

First snow man:

First snow Beat poet: