Welcome to the New Year’s Eve party and an opportunity to thank the friends who have contributed amazing posts throughout the year and those who have visited, commented and kept me motivated.
It would be impossible to mention everyone but I do hope that you know how much your support means to me as a person, blogger and author.
I cannot take all the credit for the blog as I have an amazing group of contributors who bring their expertise and talent to the weekly line-up.
William Price King – American Jazz singer, musician and composer has been writing the Music Column for the last eight years.
This year The Breakfast Show every Tuesday hosted by the two of us has been showcasing the hits of the 1940s onwards. On Fridays William shared the lives and music of the music legends of the last 100 years.
In 2023 William and I will continue to co-host the Tuesday Music show and we have selected the top Big Band Era hits to share with you. Along with the dance crazes and the incredible dancers who delighted us with their footwork. The first show is on January 3rd and every Tuesday throughout the year.
William has some stunning performances on his YouTube Channel and here is just one of my recent favourites Autumn in New York
Blog– IMPROVISATION – William Price King on Tumblr – Buy William’s music: William Price King iTunes – Facebook – William Price King – Twitter – @wpkofficial
Regular Venue – Cave Wilson
In 2023 I will continue to promote the authors in various ways. I also want to utilise my podcast as an additional platform and this includes recording the blurb of new books on the shelves to share in the promotional post but also on Anchor and Soundcloud along with the book cover and links. The authors can also embed the audio blurb on their own blogs if they have WordPress or are on a blogging platform that is compatible.
My focus in 2023 is also going to be on my book reviews with some more reading time if I can wangle it. There will also be the usual Summer Book Fair, Christmas Book Fair and a new interview series.
Now time for some music to liven this party up….one of my all time favourites from Creedence Clearwater Revival and you will have to excuse me for a few minutes as I have to get up and dance.
Now time to thank another contributor who has been providing wonderful recipes and support for the blog for the last seven years and Carol Taylor’s first contribution was a post about her dog Saangchai and Soi Dogs in 2016. She then began to share her food expertise the following year.
Carol Taylor lives in Thailand following along career in the catering industry who has written the Food and Cookery Column for the last six years. In 2021 Carol brought The Green Kitchen to Smorgasbord with a wonderful mix of food, recipes, sustainability, conservation and commonsense.. This year Carol shared her A-Z of food and culinary terms with some great recipes and that continues through to mid- 2023.
One her own blog Carol Cooks 2 Carol shares a wonderfully varied exploration of food, culinary terms and processes, conservation, sustainability and healthy eating, along with some entertaining Saturday Snippets to end the week.
Connect to Carol – Blog: Carol Cooks 2 – Twitter: @CarolCooksTwo – Facebook: Carol Taylor
Time for some more music and another of my favourites Christina Aquilera courtesy of her official channel..Christina Aguilera you can check out her albums Amazon – I will be back after his brief dance break.. if I don’t pull a muscle….
Another amazing supporter to the blog for the last seven years is D.G. Kaye… Debby Gies we began emailing each other back in 2015 and Debby’s first Travel Column was posted here in 2018 followed by the Relationship Column. Debby has also been co-presenting the Laughter posts for several years and has great foraging skills when it comes to finding gems.
D.G. Kaye – Debby Gies – Non-fiction and memoir author who loves to pack her suitcase and take off to warmer climes and wrote the Travel Column for two years before sharing her wise words on relationships in 2020 and 2021. This year Debby began a new series of Spiritual Awareness which has opened our minds and hearts to the essence within us all that reaches out to others… That will continue through 2023 and Debby has some new ideas for later in the year to share with us.
Debby published a new book just before Christmas which I loved and I know will be enjoyed by many.
Read all the reviews and buy the books: Amazon US – and: Amazon UK – follow Debby: Goodreads – Blog: D.G. Kaye Writer – About me: D.G. Kaye – Twitter: @pokercubster – Linkedin: D.G. Kaye – Facebook: D.G. Kaye – Instagram: D.G. Kaye – Pinterest: D.G. Kaye
Time for some music, and as I still need to catch my breath back from dancing around the kitchen to Christina… time to slow things down. Celine Dion with The Power of Love and wishing you all that magic in 2023. Released at the end of 1993 in Canada and the US and hitting the UK Charts in 1994 –CelineDion
Time to thank two contributors who also bring the funny side of life to the blog… and first the best selling author Daniel Kemp who allows me to steal funnies from his Facebook page to share with you.
For the last four years author Daniel Kemp has permitted me to share his funnies from his facebook page in the Open Mic Night once a month
Daniel Kemp is an ex-London police officer, mini-cab business owner, pub tenant and licensed London taxi driver never planned to be a writer, but after his first novel –The Desolate Garden — was under a paid option to become a $30 million film for five years until distribution became an insurmountable problem for the production company what else could he do?
In May 2018 his book What Happened In Vienna, Jack? became a number one bestseller on four separate Amazon sites: America, UK, Canada, and Australia.
Here are a few examples of the hilarious funnies to be found on over to Danny Kemp .. Facebook page.
A selection of books by Daniel Kemp
Read the reviews and buy the books also in audio: Amazon UK – And : Amazon US – follow Daniel: Goodreads – Website: Author Danny Kemp – Facebook: Books by Daniel – Twitter:@danielkemp6
The next song is from one of my favourite all time bands and we had a rerun of the two Mama Mia films again recently and I expect we will watch them again in a year or two. Brilliant… here is Mama Mia. ABBA’s Music: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK
In the last two years it has been entertaining to have another Open Mic regular join the comedy team..Author Malcolm Allen
Malcolm’s funnies never fail to make me laugh and I know that he has also entertained the audience for his Open Mic nights here once a month. Here is just a small selection.
About Malcolm Allen
The author was born in London UK and experienced a challenging childhood, leaving school with no academic qualifications at the age of 15. He had mixed fortunes in his early working days but managed to secure a job in the banking industry at the age of 19. During a period of 32 years he enjoyed a demanding and successful career in London, the pinnacle of which was becoming a Company Director at the age of 37. Following a life changing experience in November 1998 he emigrated to Perth, Western Australia in September 2001, relocating to his current home in Melbourne, Australia in November 2015.
Buy the book: Amazon US – And:Amazon UK – And: Amazon AU
And the last song today is Katrina and the Waves and even when it is bitterly cold outside with pouring rain, it always cheers me up…If you are lucky enough to be spending the holidays in the Southern Hemisphere then I guess you will already be walking on sunshine. Buy the music Amazon
Thank you so much for spending some of your holidays with me and I hope that you will join me and my friends again in 2023… Happy New Year.. Sally ♥
Smorgasbord Blog Magazine 