Ever been part of a "perfect" holiday tradition that went completely, hilariously sideways? 🤔

I'm sharing a memory from my childhood as an altar boy, on the most important night of the year: the Christmas Eve midnight service. It involves two nervous acolytes, a brilliant new invention (wax-free candles!), and a secret practice run that combined to create… well, a massive failure to light. 🔥😂

It's a story about good intentions and the chaos that sometimes follows. I can still feel my arms burning from holding that heavy cross while it all unfolded!

📖 Read A Failure to Light on my website

Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.

📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories.

★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!

🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast app

I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.

Happy Reading!

Tom Bradley's hands were skilled at crafting beautiful furniture, but after Hurricane Helene slammed into the Asheville region, they were calloused from clearing debris. With his workshop washed away and Christmas just a day off, he brings home a mangled, one-sided tree—another reminder of all they'd lost. Or was it a reminder of all they had?

📖 Read A Tree for Christmas on my website

Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.

📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories.

★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!

🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast app

I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.

Happy Reading!

Our lives are governed by choices, but what if you only had to make one? Meet Roscoe, a Siberian Husky whose life is a blissful, decision-free paradise... with one hilarious exception. While his meals, exercise, and bedtime are dictated by a higher authority, one daily ritual becomes a dramatic performance of indecision. He performs the "Roscoe Shuffle"—an intricate, comical dance of sniffing, circling, and leg-lift deliberation that turns a simple bodily function into a high-stakes negotiation with the universe. From forensic "Geological Surveys" to the "Canine Compass Theory," we explore the profound weight of a single choice through the eyes of a very particular dog.

If you've ever been overwhelmed by options or just love a good dog story, this one's for you.

📖 Read Roscoe Shuffle on my website

Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.

📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories.

★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!

🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast app

I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.

Happy Reading!