SANTA, INC is a dumpster fire. Here are 5 lesser-known Christmas stories for adults that actually celebrate Christmas.

With all the negative audience reaction towards that scrooge of a “””Christmas””” show SANTA, INC., I thought I’d post a few of my favorite, obscurer Christmas shows/books/games that my husband and I enjoy. Nothing edgy here, but these shows/books have a more adult sensibility to them than some other Christmas specials.

If you’ve enjoyed any of these specials, games, or books before, feel free to reminisce in the comments section!


OLIVE, THE OTHER REINDEER screenshotOLIVE, THE OTHER REINDEER

Executive-produced by Simpsons-legend Matt Groening, this TV special (based on the children’s picture book) about a dog who thinks Santa wants her to fill in for an injured reindeer is full of dry and witty jokes that fly fast and furious. Also, it has a bar brawl.
Drew Barrymore’s endearing here as upbeat and optimistic Olive. And if you like FUTURAMA you’ll hear a lot of familiar voices in the supporting cast. I’m partial to worldly con-artist Martini the Penguin, however!

Purchasable through Amazon.


PREP AND LANDING promotional imagePREP AND LANDING

My family watches this EVERY Christmas! It’s a Pixelvania tradition!
With 2 half-hour specials, an even shorter short film, there’s plenty to enjoy from this world of high-tech elves on Christmas night. (Think of the beginning of ARTHUR CHRISTMAS, but zoomed in to just the elves’ point of view.)
Like so many things made during the golden age of Pixar, it addresses adult concerns (feeling tired of Christmas, feeling unappreciated) in an entertaining way and is chock full of great jokes and sight gags that reward repeat viewing.

Currently streaming on Disney Plus.


KLAUS promotional imageKLAUS

While not perfect, as a 2D animation nut, I adore what they’ve done with the art form. And watching cynical Jesper change his ways is oh-so-satisfying. I seem to recall the townsfolk having a little bit of a Tim Burton vibe, too (I don’t have Netflix)

Currently streaming on Netflix.


Title screen for DRACULA CHA CHADRACULA CHA CHA and SKEAL

Playing these two short, ridiculous, off-the-wall indie Christmas games is another Pixelvania Christmas tradition!

Here’s a touch more info on the winter-wonderland catchy-music single-button platformer(?!) that is DRACULA CHA CHA here on Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

But I refuse to tell you anything about SKEAL because it is so short and the gag is so amazing.
Game page and browser version here.


A GINGERSNAP CAT CHRISTMAS Book Cover: A ginger cat with a halo smiles at a terrified black and grey kitten hiding behind him.A GINGERSNAP CAT CHRISTMAS

I wrote a Christian Christmas book that’s basically HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN with kitties as the angels. While the focus is on the kitties winning over the kids, the kids themselves are dealing with a family member permanently altered from an accident, and their mom has housing and job worries during Christmas.

Ebook available here.

Paperback on Amazon.


That’s all for now! Thanks for reading!

The Pixelvania Proclamation o’ Progress, August 2020

The Pixelvania Proclamation o’ Progress is a semiannual post detailing what’s going on around here, and what might show up in the future. It also includes reviews of shows, books, games, products, etc. you may also like. It’s only posted twice a year so as not to clog up your valuable, beautiful brain space.

Cute kitty photo at the end.

Recap

Here’s what’s been published since the last post:

Cover for HELLO, WIZARD. Eerie glowing text pops off a wrinkled piece of paper against a stone background. Cover for THE CAPRAMANCER NEXT DOOR: A laughing woman wields a glowing shepherd's crook while a goat leaps through a portal overhead Cover for MIDWINTER MAGIC: A stylized glowing reindeer leaps against the blue Northern LightsCover for THE GIRLFRIEND WHO WASN'T FROM DELAWARE - A giant hand made of blue static reaches down to pluck an apartment out of a building like a Jenga block

It was fun working on Midwinter Magic and Girlfriend back-to-back, because those stories are POLAR OPPOSITES in terms of tone, one being a mythic fairy tale and the other a gruff guy’s modern horror nightmare.

I also added most my books to Book Cave’s content ratings site, in case you’re trying to decide if a book’s content (violence, swears, etc.) is appropriate for yourself or a youngster.

Currently in Production

I was already an author working from home when the pandemic struck. Routine is priceless in a work-from-home life, and I was fortunate that I’d been building one since the past year. So on the one hand, my day-to-day life didn’t change much. Writing and writing-related projects got done.

On the other hand, I’ve definitely been absorbing the extra stress around me…and the malaise weighing down the air was something I’ve also had to do battle with (as I’m sure you did/are doing!). So…sometimes not a lot of writing got done. But some did happen!

Steel City, Veiled Kingdom (SCVK) – Print Books

Still in production! They’ve been revised twice now (basically spellchecks) and are set for another round of look-overs. They’re gonna be beautiful.

The Purrfect Christmas – Illustrated Paperback

Just getting spun up on this project; right now I’m planning the illustrations. Doing a chapter book with spot illustrations isn’t something I’ve done before, but I think the resulting product will be a really fun Christmas book for families to read together.

Chrystine’s Sleep Solution

This midlength horror story is still making the rounds at the magazines. Let’s hope it finds a nice home out there!

Nosferatu Novel (previously The Horror of Hriana)

A Worlds of Everlush novel/novel sequence. This SCVK spinoff is currently on hiatus for reasons you’ll see below. I’m thinking it’ll get split into three books with awesome titles, which I’m very excited about…If that’s the case, The Horror of Hriana will probably be dropped as a series title, so that it’s a little more obvious the stories are about a vampire. Lately I’ve been itching to get back to this one.

Post-SCVK novel (working title: The Bad Host)

A Worlds of Everlush story (already at short novel length), a low-key sequel to Steel City, Veiled Kingdom. Just felt like it was time to start it.

Writing it, I feel like this:

Cat using a cat-sized computer with the caption "I have no idea what I'm doing."

Another short horror story with a cat

Currently titleless. Wrote it as a quick break from The Bad Host; need to type it and start sending it to magazines.

Future Plans (AKA Plotting and Scheming)

Love Potion Commotion! (Magic Fashion Frenchies #1) – paperback formatting AND cover refresh

This will complete my backlist titles that need to be in paperback. But I wanna do it right, so I’m not gonna start it until Purrfect is in paperback. I also have to rethink the cover so it not only fits this novel, but the second book in the series, AKA…

Salute a Pooch! (Magic Fashion Frenchies #2)

I’ve got a few chapters written, but it’s been on hiatus for some time now. I think getting Love Potion Commotion! off my plate will revitalize this one.

Crazy Rich Dragons stories

Still wanna write these!

The Gardeners of Palomar

This was actually the first novel I started writing after finishing SCVK back in 2016. I dropped it because someone said I really ought to do a sequel to SCVK (that impulse turned into Nosferatu Novel)…Anyway, I’m starting to miss it, it was a real weird one, hee!

Finish Ancient Unfinished Shorts

…including a post-apocalyptic banjo fantasy, a cybernetic take on Sleeping Beauty, and I can’t even remember what else.

A thriller novel starring Ternerr from SCVK (previously The [Something Something] Conspiracy )

This will be a Worlds of Everlush novel, spun off from SCVK. Wanna clear the deck summore (and finish my course on writing thrillers) before I take a crack at this nut!

Start a Pixelvania merch shop

Thinking it’d be fun to put some of my book covers on shirts. And maybe some cat jokes! Could be fun!

Recommended Reads, Watches, Plays, and Products

Book cover: The Twisted OnesThe Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

Kingfisher (AKA writer-artist-comic superstar Ursula Vernon) writes in a lot of different genres, but this book is her first horror novel—folk horror, if you force me to get specific. A woman discovers a dark secret cleaning out her deceased hoarder grandmother’s house out in the sticks. You’ll love the main character’s down-to-earth voice and there’s some deliciously creepy stuff in the middle (the HILL man, the HILL!!). I was considerably less enamored of the ending, but the first parts are so strong, I still want people to read it.

3.5/5 Pixel Snackies

TV Series Image: Samurai CatSamurai Cat

This is a live-action TV show from Japan about a samurai learning life lessons from an adorable white kitty that he was originally supposed to assassinate. 5/5 Pixel Snackies.

Oh, you need more info before you watch? Well, it’s formatted weird on Amazon (with big gaps of dead air in the first season, as though the commercials had been cut out, but the time for those commercials left in), they’re missing the movies that go in-between each season, and none of the show’s translators can seem to agree if the kitty is a girl or a boy (my vote is girl).

Despite these goofs, Samurai Cat is ENTIRELY worth watching, 110%. It’s heartwarming, it’s hilarious, it’s family-friendly, and it proves there’s nothing unmanly about being a cat guy. (If you’ve ever searched for cat-themed gifts for a man, you understand my pain.)

I saw it on Amazon Prime Video. If you’re having trouble finding out extra info about it online, search for Neko Zamurai. 5/5 Pixel Snackies.

Video Cover image: Duke Bluebeard's CastleDuke Bluebeard’s Castle (1988)

One of the YouTube comments for this reads: “…if Hitchcock had written an opera.” So naturally I had to click. I LOVED IT. It’s suspenseful, only an hour long, and, if you’re so inclined, very fun to yell comments at (“She discovered his model train room!”). And this Bluebeard smolders.

Béla Bartók’s music is mostly eerie…but in some parts it shimmers like the best parts of Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier. Wonderful. I saw it here on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9Aq2WWds8k

When you realize it is awesome you can buy it here: https://www.amazon.com/Bartok-Bluebeards-Castle-Robert-Lloyd/dp/B002NY7YVY/

5/5 Pixel Snackies.

Game Image: Toki Tori 2+Toki Tori 2+ (PC and other consoles)

This little-known gem deserves to be right up there with legendary environmental puzzle games Braid and Portal. You start the game with two moves: a stomp and a whistle. With these two moves, you can reach anywhere on the map, as soon as the game starts! The catch: to do this, you have to first know how those two moves interact with the other little critters in your environment…

No tutorials. It’s Inductive Reasoning: the game. I discovered it from this GMTK video. Definitely worth the buy—I spent 32 hours total runnin’ my little chicken around, and it was grade-A jumbo puzzle platforming at its best. Check out the little explanation of the map first, that’s helpful.

5/5 Pixel Snackies.

Game Image: A Short HikeA Short Hike (PC)

A friend gifted me this. It is SO relaxing, so charming, and so much fun to move around in. I wish I could climb and glide like this in real life. Alack!! I can only do it in this game—but I’m grateful I can.

This game will take your blues away.

5/5 Relaxing Pixel Snackies

Product Image: T-Gel ShampooNeutrogena T/Gel Shampoo

Come winter, my scalp always goes flaky—dry air + indoor heating = the itchies. Last year, I told my hairstylist and she recommended this shampoo. “You don’t use it every time. In fact, it’ll probably live under your sink,” she told me.

Now, because this is life, there’s an upside and a downside to nearly everything. The upside of this shampoo is that IT WORKS. I used it once every 2-3 weeks during the cold months and my flakes disappeared. Wonderful.

The downside of this shampoo is that it leaves your head smelling like the smoker’s lounge of a museum basement from the 1970s.

Is it pure, unfiltered tobacco gel I’m rubbing into my scalp these days? I’m not sure. Is smelling like an ashtray worth a flakeless ‘do? I think it is.

4/5 Pixel Snackies.

Our mascot, Pixel J. Cat

Our mascot, Pixel J. Cat, lounging in a camping chair

We moved “our” camping chairs to our patio earlier in the year.

Now they’re not our camping chairs anymore.