Mistletoe Madness Blog HopWelcome to my giveaway for the Mistletoe Madness Blog Hop!
In addition to chances to win at over 50 blogs in the hop, the Grand Prize from the core author sponsors is a brand new Kindle Fire along with ebooks from 14 authors!

Enter my giveaway at the end of the post and then be sure to enter for the Grand Prize on the main hop page. And don’t forget to visit the rest of the blogs in the hop!

If you’re  familiar with my House of Arkhangel’sk series, you know that it’s set in modern-day St. Petersburg, Russia, as well as in a celestial city called Elysium patterned after Imperial St. Petersburg. And if you’re a Twitter follower or Facebook fan, you also know that I’m totally obsessed with all things Russian.

So it should come as no surprise that my giveaway for this blog hop is Russian-themed as well: along with signed copies of the first two books in my Arkhangel’sk series and a signed Fallen Queen cover flat, I’m giving away a gift sampler of Kusmi Russian Blend teas (includes my favorite, Prince Vladimir, as well as their Earl Grey blend, Anastasia, and their Troika, St.Petersburg, and Bouquet of Flowers teas). (This giveaway is international.)

TFQ2-on-book_155x236The Midnight Court by Jane KindredKusmi Tea Miniatures Les Russes

You can skip to the bottom now to enter via the Rafflecopter, or read on to learn a little about holiday traditions in Russia.

While Orthodox Christians in Russia celebrate Christmas, it isn’t the big to-do it’s become in the US and Western Europe. Instead, Russians have a large celebration on the New Year—Novy God—with a decorated yolka (fir tree), and instead of Santa, a similar figure named Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost) delivers presents with his assistant Snegurochka, the Snow Maiden. This secular holiday became more popular during the Soviet era, but has been a Russian tradition since the time of Peter the Great.

And as a bonus holiday treat, here’s an awesome Russian cartoon about a tech-savvy Ded Moroz and a plane-flying Snegurochka:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And if you haven’t entered the other hops yet, hop to it!


Comments

26 responses to “More Mistletoe Madness!”

  1. Megan Bamford Avatar
    Megan Bamford

    I love tea with a good book.eqfizzgig at hotmail dot com

  2. We have very few traditions around the holidays that have lasted the years–mostly because our family is so small now. However, one thing my mother and I MUST DO, is bake. We bake way too much, actually, and end up giving away a lot of cookies and muffins.

    1. I bake too much too…but then I’m loath to give it away because it takes so much work. :D (Argh! Caught myself in an egregious typo! LOL. Edited.) ;)

  3. I have a cup of tea everynight and it’s always loose leaf :)Happy Holidays!
    ajcraig77@comcast.net

  4. Cassandra Hicks Avatar
    Cassandra Hicks

    I love the whole holiday spirit of the season and spending time with my family :)Thanks for the awesome giveaway!
    cassandrahicks1989@yahoo.com

  5. I love hot tea with my books!Thanks for the contest!
    Merry Christmas!

  6. Readsalot81 Avatar
    Readsalot81

    One of my favorite days during the holiday season is Christmas Eve. We get together with family we only see once a year. So there’s about 15-20 people crammed into a pretty small house.. add kids of all ages, crazed animals running around sneaking scraps and you get a pretty boisterous house! The kids are furtively counting the gifts under the tree while the adults are happily consuming witches brew topped with dry ice. We take a walk around the neighborhood looking at xmas decorations, and finish off the evening by playing music and opening gifts. It’s a fantastic night.

    1. I love this. :) I have a very small family, and most are far away, but Christmas Eve is my favorite day of the year anyway, full of possibilities.

  7. April Holgate Avatar
    April Holgate

    Happy Happy Holidays! Thanks for the great giveaway!My fav thing about the holidays are the awesome sparkly lights! We drive around on Christmas Eve and see them all while singing along with carols on the radio! My fav holiday memory is doing this with my grandpa!
    grapeapril75(AT)gmail.com

    1. I love the sparkly lights, too. :)

  8. Wow, thanks for the giveaway.Every year on Christmas day the extended family gets together for a barbeque. Its always fun.

  9. happy holidays! What a good combo, good book and tea. Thanks for the chance for both.
    Judy
    strawberryrose@earthlink.net

  10. Dawna Newman Avatar
    Dawna Newman

    I love being with family, it’s one time of year we are not just popping in and out . We actually are together for the whole day , laughing , playing games, watching movies.

  11. I love to bake. I’m a cookie junkie. I love to bake, eat, and share the cookies so no problem.planterofhope at aol dot com

  12. We go to midnight mass and then there’s eating afterwards.bituin76 at hotmail dot com

  13. I celebrate Christmas. I love decorating the house and looking for gifts, and also wrapping them.
    Thank you for the chance!

    spamscape [at] gmail [dot] com

  14. 4th of july cookout, thanksgiving dinner and christmas gathering

  15. Jeannie Platt Avatar
    Jeannie Platt

    Oh my… Love your giveaway… I never had russian tea and i drink many different kinds…
    For a tradition that we do in my house is Santa jammeis… My grandma started it 9 kids so every christmas eve they got new pj’s so that Santa could find them and make sure they were sleeping… My mom did this with us 5 kids… I do this with my family… Nothing like getting a brandnew set of warm pj’s for christmas eve to sleep in and wear opening presents.

    thank you for being part of the hop and merry christmas.

    j.m.platt83@gmail.com

  16. We celebrate Christmas.

  17. We celebrate on Christmas Eve with dinner, games and then presents. Thanks for the great hop.

  18. We observe lots of Holiday traditions but the one I always make sure happens is stuffed stockings. Even if we were in the middle of a military move and driving across country when the kids woke up they would have stockings filled and left by their hotel beds or in the car.Merry Christmas and thank you for the hop stop.
    z
    seawitchreviews at yahoo dot com

  19. Holly Underhill Avatar
    Holly Underhill

    Hello, thanks for the giveaway!I love spending time with my family at Christmas. :)
    skizzles_22_hju@yahoo.com

  20. Sherry Johnson Avatar
    Sherry Johnson

    Happy Holidays,thanks for the giveaway.
    dragonkeep62@gmail.com

  21. We celebrate Christmas. We don’t have any unusual traditions just the Christmas tree and holiday decorations and we watch the Charlie Brown Christmas special.

  22. We celebrate Christmas here. My favorite tradition is definitely cookies for Santa — my sons help me bake and decorate them, and I love seeing their little faces when all that’s left on the plate the next morning are crumbs!

  23. Megan Bamford Avatar
    Megan Bamford

    Thank you!

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