Two Fridays left in December, and I’ll be wrestling kids into naptime spending time with family, so I won’t post anything until January. However, I wouldn’t want to leave you without cool blogs to read, so here are a few of my favorites (in random order). There are more on the sidebar of my homepage, so check them out, too.

• inkscape – Melissa Jackson is a writer and critique partner who blogs about books and writing. She also just announced that she landed an agent – whee! Congrats, Melissa!
• Writer Unboxed – Here you’ll find a wealth of writing inspiration, writing craft, and author interviews. Seriously great stuff.
• Jamie Weil – Jamie’s a fellow writer who blogs about healthy living. I read it for a daily dose of health inspiration, humor, and heart.
• Maggie Madly Writing – Whatever topic Maggie decides to take on, she does so with a mix of philosophy and care that I can’t help but admire.
• PB Writes – PB Rippey’s posts are poignant and beautiful, often a prose-poem with delicious images and always humor. This one, about a squirrel, was one such post, although the one about the Swedish au pair with a taste for bikers left me in hysterics.
• The Graceful Doe – Jo Hart writes kidlit for all ages. I got a kick out of reading her recent post about 12 x 12, in which she aimed to write twelve picture book drafts, one for each month of 2012.
• Kris Aro McLeod – If instead of reading, you’d like to feast your eyes, head over to Kris’s blog. She’s a local illustrator who just began posting daily sketches inspired by whatever novel she’s reading. She recently finished Life of Pi and is currently on A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian. Here is one of my favorites.
• YA Muses – This blog is full of awesome because it’s five of my favorite writers in one place – Donna Cooner, Katherine Longshore, Talia Vance, Veronica Rossi, and Bret Ballou. They share craft tips, book recommendations, angst, and inspiration. What’s not to love?
• Reading is Delicious – A good pal of mine writes about anime, books, cons, food, and whatever else strikes her fancy. She presents her opinions solidly and intelligently and she has a keen eye for artwork and illustrations.

Also, totally unrelated, our Christmas tree came with a few stowaways this year. Arachnids, specifically Spiderus Terrifyus. My favorite. Z found a big spider the other day. Aragog lives! In our Christmas tree!

See you in the New Year! If I’m not eaten by spiders first!