First I want
to thank Paty for having me on her always interesting blog. I really appreciate
the chance to share here two of my books—both involving the Christmas season. Writing
any book where Christmas is an important part of the plot has, for me, responsibility
attached. I know. It sounds simple. Christmas tree. Christmas Eve service.
Family dinners. Gifts. Pageants. Religious services. Santa Claus. Baby Jesus.
But the thing is there are so many expectations involved with this very busy
and important time of year. If I incorporate it into a book and I have several
times, I feel a sense of responsibility.
If a person
is going through a divorce, separated, feeling hurt or had a family that wasn’t
much of a family, then Christmas will have one set of expectations. For those
who have great memories of wonderful family sharing, it will be another. A
writer may cover it different ways depending on what the characters need but
considerations for how it will impact the reader have to be taken into
consideration at least by me.
The
symbolisms for the season, with both pagan and religious roots, are those of
beauty, light, love, family and giving. It’s both fun and challenging to think
about different ways to tell the truth of a complex season while giving the reader
something positive. Twice in my books I’ve glossed over it, but I have two
where it’s an important part of the story-- one its essence and the other its
beginning.
A Montana
A Montana Christmas carries on characters in From Here to There. I realized there was
something more to resolve in this story especially since I had opted not to
have an epilogue. The novella picks up a few years later where a husband and
wife, Phillip and Helene, have worked out a comfortable life where they live
part of the year in Boston Montana
She wants to
invite all of Phillip’s family to spend the holidays on the ranch with her
uncle. This had been her second home and a place she had come to love as the
place of her heart. Her own parents, wealthy and not particularly family
oriented were divorced and heading off hither and yon for the holidays. Helene,
who is hoping to have a baby soon, wants family for her child to grow up knowing
and that means Phillip’s mother and siblings.
Phillip, who
has not had good memories of family Christmases, expects disaster. Although he
has helped his mother, brother and sisters, he has been emotionally estranged
from them mostly out of self-protection. Christmas seems to him like a time
fraught with ways to go wrong, but he wants to please his lovely wife; so he
arranges his schedule to be on the ranch. With Helen’s uncle having had heart
surgery, the ranch foreman has a lot of work planned for Phillip. Ranch work
doesn’t take a break for the holidays.
This story is
about family, love, Montana
Trailer at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C84Je5kNexc
A Montana
From Here to There: http://www.amazon.com/Here-There-Romance-Edge-ebook/dp/B006PNS7EC
Tucson Moon
is a western historical romance, but it starts off with the Christmas season as
Deputy US Marshal Cole O’Brian shockingly learns his daughter, Grace, whom he had
left to be raised by her dead mother’s parents, is on the train heading for Tucson
It’s
Christmas and really neither Cole nor Grace have had much experience with the
kinds of Christmases Priscilla grew up with or what she offers to them. They
are about to learn. Besides the usual Christmas activities like baking cookies,
decorating a tree, having a great dinner, this Christmas involves a Yaqui
celebration.
Tucson Moon
is about a great deal more than Christmas as it takes the story forward with
two dissimilar people finding they have more in common than they imagined with
danger waiting and trials ahead.
Excerpt:
“All
right, we’re in agreement that if it’s all right with Grace, she will stay with
you and I guess I can visit, get to know her?”
“That
would be my suggestion. You know Christmas isn’t far off.”
That
was a holiday Cord rarely if ever thought about. It meant a few more drunks in
the bars; but otherwise, it wasn’t anything he had celebrated in any way for
years—if ever. It meant Santa Claus? He remembered sarcastically asking
Priscilla Wesley if she believed in that personage. He wondered now if Grace
did. Hellfire, he was so far out of his depth that he couldn’t see how he could
get to the surface. He rose and walked over to the fireplace staring blankly
into its darkness.
Priscilla
came to stand beside him reaching out to touch his arm. “It will just take
time. Actually the holidays might be a good time for you with her. It’s fun to
put up a tree, decorate a bit, attend church, sing carols, give presents, have
a wonderful Christmas dinner—which is Rose’s forte. It will be a time to ease
yourself into what she’s like, who she is.”
He
whistled low as he met her gaze. “Can I take notes? I have to admit I know
nothing about any of that. My world... well it’s not the same as yours.”
She
smiled. “Part of it will be for awhile as you give Grace a chance to adjust to
you. As much as you don’t know her. She doesn’t know you either.”
“And
what she does know has to be pretty bad given how Janice’s parents felt about
me.”
“Well
that will all change now—slowly.”
He
surprised himself by his urge to reach out and take her into his arms. He
resisted the impulse. He realized this was going to be a test of his will power
to be close to this woman as he got close to his daughter. He’d always found
her physically attractive, challenging but now he saw there was another side.
Damn.
Before
he could say more or even think of what to say, Rose came to the door. “Lunch
is ready. You two ready for it?”
“Grace
is hungry now?”
“Yes,
she is.”
Priscilla
smiled. “Maybe you can eat now too, Marshal?”
He
was surprised to realize he was hungry; and although he knew it wasn’t going to
be easy conversation around the table, he was ready to give it a try.
As
he followed the two women to the kitchen, he thought getting to know Priscilla
Wesley was going to be as hard on him as trying to make peace with his
daughter. He wondered if he was up to any of it.
**************************************
Other places
to find my work both contemporary and historical love stories set in the
American West. Please come and visit. I try to keep readers updated especially
on Facebook and Twitter but lots of images from the books and my own life on
Pinterest.
Trailers to all of my
books: http://rainydaytrailers.blogspot.com/
Amazon Central with
profile and my books: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B006UX64X8
Twitter: Rain Trueax@RainTrueax
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/raintrueax/boards/
Merry Christmas and
hope everyone has a great holiday season of their own.
3 comments:
Thanks so much for having me here, Paty and I look forward to your visit at my blog tomorrow :)
Hi Rain. Trading blog spots is fun! Welcome!
Can''t wait to read this, Rain.
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