The Jewish population of Bahrain -- a majority-Muslim country -- is very tiny, and yet in 2015, Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa invited European Jewish leaders to conduct a Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony in the capital city of Manama. It was the first time such a ritual had been performed in Bahrain since 1948. The King's official sanction of the Jewish ceremony continued this year, and is a vivid demonstration that it is possible for people of all faiths to respect one another and take joy in one another's celebrations. You can read more here.

My gifts (yes, plural!) have posted on sshg_exchange, and I tell you now: RUN DO NOT WALK to read All Shadows Pass Away. I am blown away by the gorgeousness of the prose, the vivid lushness of the descriptions, the liveliness and depth of the dialog...There are cats and libraries and walled gardens, Tuscany and Wales and Hogsmeade, there are theological/philosophical debates and picnics, there are echoes of myth and legend, and most of all there is so much love in all its forms: friendship, healing, loyalty, desire, passion, faith.

As if that weren't gift enough, the same Mystery Author also created a lushly beautiful piece of art based on my story A Price Beyond Rubies which looks like a page from an illuminated manuscript and which forms a perfect linking device between that story and hers.

Even if Santa leaves me nothing but coal this year, I will consider myself supremely well-gifted indeed :)

Another one done for the hp_uk_meetup, about the price we pay for getting our heart's desire. Enjoy :)

( A Price Beyond Rubies (HG/SS, PG)Collapse )