Welcome back, Karen!

Karen Cino is a multi-published author who has been writing since she was fourteen years old. She started her career by writing poetry, short stories and writing articles for her high school newspaper. After reading Jackie Collin’s Lovers and Gamblers and Jacqueline Susann’s, Valley of the Dolls, Karen found her niche. Karen loves writing about local places that people can relate to. 

Karen loves the summer, loves the beach. Her previous books were written and take place in various places across Staten Island. Karen relocated to Toms River, New Jersey in 2018. She traded in the Staten Island Boardwalk for the shoreline in Long Beach Island. Her Cookie Cutter Cozy Mystery Series takes place in New Jersey.

Karen is a member of Romance Writer’s of America, Liberty States Fiction’s Writers Association and Women’s Fiction Writer’s Association.

Currently, Karen is working on a Cozy Mystery Series and Women’s Fiction Series.

Free Christmas Activities

by Karen Cino

With the holidays right around the corner there is so many activities you can do that are absolutely free. Yes, you are reading right, free.

Growing up, this time of the year has always been about family. But with the current conditions, many of outdoor activities and parties have been canceled. So, now you must be wondering how do I keep up with the family tradition of having everyone over for a party? You know as well as I do that zoom parties just don’t cut it but you can keep up the Christmas spirit by making your own traditions.

Go for a ride through the neighborhood and look at all the decorations that your neighbors have put up. Back in the day, I would put my kids in the car and we would drive around for an hour looking at all the beautiful decorations. It’s free and we’d use the time singing Christmas carols as we drove around.

Kids love playing around in the kitchen. Use this time to make Christmas cut out cookies. You can get already made dough, or bring the activity a step higher and have your kids make the dough. The fun part will be decorating the cutout cookies.

Set up an activity for the kids making decorations for the tree. Construction paper and a glue stick. Use your cookie cutouts to make the ornament. Have the kids decorate and hang it on the tree.  I used a hole punch and colored yarn for the kids to hang it up.

Toilet paper cardboard rolls make the best napkin rings or can be used as place cards. Even though company this year will be sparse for all of us, why not have the kids decorate the table with their own creations. It will make the afternoon go by fast and give the kids something to look forward to.

Making Christmas cards, using coffee cans as planters, an empty vegetable can decorated with construction paper and personalized are many of the arts and craft activities your kids can make and give to their parents and grandparents as gifts. Not only are they creating, they are recycling, saving the environment.

These activities are not just for kids. They are also wonderful afternoon activities for the seniors in your life and a great distraction from our writing and/or editing. So, no matter where you live, there will be plenty of decorations for all the holidays this season.

From my family to yours, I wish you a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays, full of love and happiness.

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New Beginnings (Cookie Cutter Cozy Mystery Book 1) by Karen Cino released a few years back in the cozy mystery genre.

After a traumatic event in her life, Connie Acosta heads down to the Jersey Shore to stay with her friend, Sara Mazza, who lives in a fifty-five and over community. For Connie, this is a temporary stop until she figures out what she wants to do.

Connie and Sara have a brief discussion and decide to start the baking business they had spoken about decades before. But things take a dramatic turn when Sara gets Connie involved in a mysterious adventure at the clubhouse.

For the month of December, Karen is discounting her New Beginning, Book 1 in the Cookie Cutter Cozy Mystery Series for .99 cent