Xmas book by N.L. Belardes available from iUniverse for 10 bucks - By N.L. Belardes
Unfortunately, Lostocean pulled out of my fun Christmas list. I don't normally push my Children's story available through iUniverse, The Blimperwhirls. But then, why not? It is a great little holiday treat. Kids dig it.
Here's an excerpt:
It really was ‘The Imp of Christmas Doubt’, this little toy creature that suddenly squirmed from the startled elf’s grasp, only to turn into ash the entire peppermint buggy where the elf sat, three nearby peppermint light poles, and an entire Christmas tree of peppermint candy-shaped lights. After dancing in victory, it then wandered its way down Candy Cane lane, where, after sniffing a sudden waft of peppermint air, it disappeared into a bank of snow and snuck its way into the hollows of tunnels beneath Santa’s village.
There it went, into the dark and the cavernous recesses beneath several of Santa’s toy factories. If ever there could be darkness at the North Pole, this strange toy found the very pit of despair. And why? Because from such darkness there emanated a strong peppermint odor that the imp, in its strange purpose of destroying peppermint candies, wondered about such fragrant origins. It wandered dark passageways, squeezed between the icy webs of snow spiders, and passed through a set of iron bars built long ago to prevent merry elves from wandering into anything dark and foreboding beneath the village. You might wonder what kinds of sounds there were other than the pitter-patter of little devilish toy feet? For one, there were the squeaky sounds of water that didn’t quite know whether to be frozen or not. From ice to liquid, and liquid to ice, water went wheezing in these depths; little vermin which ate spider webs like candy peered from dark holes and made muffled noises; it seemed the very bricks and wood beams of these passages made lonely creaking sounds that typically were only heard in empty rooms and old houses late at night. And the strangest sounds of all could be heard in a long brick-layered corridor, where old toys, not quite able to move their broken parts, hung on the walls like ghosts, and made sounds much like a wraith would make just before saying, “Boo.” Quieted for a moment, the imp found a lonely bench near the hanging toys. It was a seat that was so tiny that it seemed made just for the imp’s solitude. The bench itself was perched on a ledge overlooking a chasm, where far below there was a twinkling and winking as if the very universe had been turned upside-down; it seemed to the imp as if the starry night-time sky had been formed as a very deep chasm, instead of as a very high and untouchable place. It was from far below that this peppermint scent originated. However, on this slightly dusty bench, this strange devilish toy looked away from the chasm and instead, pondered the meaning of Christmas. It doubted itself, magic, and where even it came from. “I am the Imp of Christmas Doubt. I have a purpose,” it said to no one but itself. “I have to do something about this purpose. But what about my batteries?” it said, stretching its impish red arms. “I wonder if they will work for very long, especially if I continue to where I had wanted to go, so far below?” This was the Imp of Christmas Doubt for goodness sake. It was full of self-wonder and forever filled with self-doubt, and without any candy canes there beneath the earth, the imp, though previously hungry on the trail of the peppermint scent, became filled with ever more doubtful thoughts, even as it looked to the twinkling lights from far below, which perhaps were in themselves great peppermint stars.
buy now...
or,
browse more of the book...
I guess the Lostocean guys have some rearranging to do in order to sell their CD. Here's a note from their piano vituoso:
hey nick,
sorry to get back to you a little late, but we
actually aren't currently selling our cd online right
now. We had to pull back our cds from third parties,
and we are going to set up a system so we can sell
them ourselves through our website. thanks for the
consideration though! everything is well in the
lostocean world, we are caught up in finishing our
fall writing recording sessions, putting eight more
songs under wraps, its quite exciting and we will
finally be able to take a break!
thanks for asking about the cds though...its a bummer.
we just cant be going through third parties with our
album now with our label.
merry christmas
-skyler
Here's an excerpt:
It really was ‘The Imp of Christmas Doubt’, this little toy creature that suddenly squirmed from the startled elf’s grasp, only to turn into ash the entire peppermint buggy where the elf sat, three nearby peppermint light poles, and an entire Christmas tree of peppermint candy-shaped lights. After dancing in victory, it then wandered its way down Candy Cane lane, where, after sniffing a sudden waft of peppermint air, it disappeared into a bank of snow and snuck its way into the hollows of tunnels beneath Santa’s village.
There it went, into the dark and the cavernous recesses beneath several of Santa’s toy factories. If ever there could be darkness at the North Pole, this strange toy found the very pit of despair. And why? Because from such darkness there emanated a strong peppermint odor that the imp, in its strange purpose of destroying peppermint candies, wondered about such fragrant origins. It wandered dark passageways, squeezed between the icy webs of snow spiders, and passed through a set of iron bars built long ago to prevent merry elves from wandering into anything dark and foreboding beneath the village. You might wonder what kinds of sounds there were other than the pitter-patter of little devilish toy feet? For one, there were the squeaky sounds of water that didn’t quite know whether to be frozen or not. From ice to liquid, and liquid to ice, water went wheezing in these depths; little vermin which ate spider webs like candy peered from dark holes and made muffled noises; it seemed the very bricks and wood beams of these passages made lonely creaking sounds that typically were only heard in empty rooms and old houses late at night. And the strangest sounds of all could be heard in a long brick-layered corridor, where old toys, not quite able to move their broken parts, hung on the walls like ghosts, and made sounds much like a wraith would make just before saying, “Boo.” Quieted for a moment, the imp found a lonely bench near the hanging toys. It was a seat that was so tiny that it seemed made just for the imp’s solitude. The bench itself was perched on a ledge overlooking a chasm, where far below there was a twinkling and winking as if the very universe had been turned upside-down; it seemed to the imp as if the starry night-time sky had been formed as a very deep chasm, instead of as a very high and untouchable place. It was from far below that this peppermint scent originated. However, on this slightly dusty bench, this strange devilish toy looked away from the chasm and instead, pondered the meaning of Christmas. It doubted itself, magic, and where even it came from. “I am the Imp of Christmas Doubt. I have a purpose,” it said to no one but itself. “I have to do something about this purpose. But what about my batteries?” it said, stretching its impish red arms. “I wonder if they will work for very long, especially if I continue to where I had wanted to go, so far below?” This was the Imp of Christmas Doubt for goodness sake. It was full of self-wonder and forever filled with self-doubt, and without any candy canes there beneath the earth, the imp, though previously hungry on the trail of the peppermint scent, became filled with ever more doubtful thoughts, even as it looked to the twinkling lights from far below, which perhaps were in themselves great peppermint stars.
buy now...
or,
browse more of the book...
I guess the Lostocean guys have some rearranging to do in order to sell their CD. Here's a note from their piano vituoso:
hey nick,
sorry to get back to you a little late, but we
actually aren't currently selling our cd online right
now. We had to pull back our cds from third parties,
and we are going to set up a system so we can sell
them ourselves through our website. thanks for the
consideration though! everything is well in the
lostocean world, we are caught up in finishing our
fall writing recording sessions, putting eight more
songs under wraps, its quite exciting and we will
finally be able to take a break!
thanks for asking about the cds though...its a bummer.
we just cant be going through third parties with our
album now with our label.
merry christmas
-skyler
This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on
Saturday, December 10, 2005.
You can leave your response.
leave a response