The Grinch Grows a Heart

 

 

 

 

Writer, humanist,
          dog-mom, horse servant and cat-slave,
       Lover of solitude
          and the company of good friends,
        New places, new ideas
           and old wisdom.

 

 

What a year it has been, scowls my Grinch.

Covid has wielded a scythe among us for the past two years now, cutting down the elderly like dry wheat. Omicron is coming/here. Even if it proves to be less deadly, we could end up with higher deaths due to pesky math. (If the death rate is lower, but still occurs, and the increase of infections is significantly higher, a bad number times a decent number equals more deaths.)

And this question looms larger than I ever thought possible in my lifetime—Will America's 200+ year experiment in democracy survive?

And the planet. I know scientists have set a degree limit on how warm we can get before things get "really bad," but I wonder if the Earth knows to stop after it gets "really bad" and what happens after "really bad."

Wait, I'm suppose to be bringing cheer and jollies on the night before this sacred buy-buy-buy holiday.

Humbug. Bah. Grrr.

What's to bring to cheer? Which family members are missing around the table? How many families have no food, much less a table?  

What hypocrites we are. We are not worth surviving. 

My Grinch stomps out into the doomed world, turns a corner . . . and encounters this:

 

This man, Anthony Cymerys, is an 82-year-old barber. Every Wednesday he brings his equipment to a park and gives free haircuts to the homeless . . . charging only a hug.

My Grinch freezes.

Maybe . . . .?

This young man in the hospital bed has had multiple, painful surgeries. He is Anthony Borges. He was shot five times while holding open a door for other students to escape at the Parkland School shooting.

Maybe, my Grinch considers, as Dickens wrote, it is "the best of times, the worst of times, the age of wisdom, the age of foolishness, the epoch of belief, the epoch of incredulity, the season of Light, the season of Darkness, the spring of hope, the winter of despair." Maybe we have "everything before us, nothing before us. . . ."

Then my Grinch reads this:

The world is not beyond repair. There is hope. That spark of love, that potential in the human soul, maybe it is enough to light the way in the utter dark of the universe.

Maybe we can find and augment that precious, holy spark and pass it on before it sputters. 

I join all the Stiletto Gang members to wish you a season of deep joy and giving and a New Year that ignites all our sparks into a steady flame against the Darkness.

T.K. Thorne is a retired police captain who writes books, which, like this blog, go wherever her curiosity and imagination take her. 

Holiday Books & Movies

 by Sparkle Abbey

It's hard to believe that it's December but here we are. Some of us are looking forward to big family gatherings for the first time and a while and others are planning something much more low key for the holidays. Some of us have Christmas shopping done and others have not even begun. Some of us love holiday books and movies and others are...meh.

What's your view? 

We love holiday movies but we both lean toward classic movies. And actually we share the same favorite of the season - "It's a Wonderful Life."

 We simply can't let the holidays go by without at least one viewing. (Maybe more than one because we're certain our families need to see it again, too.)

And then there are other great classics. 

Here are some that top our list: 

• Miracle on 34th Street
• A Christmas Carol 
• Holiday Inn
• Christmas in Connecticut
• A Christmas Story
• White Christmas
• The Preacher's Wife

And more recently films such as "The Man Who Invented Christmas" and "The Holiday" also make the list. 

We also love holiday-themed books though our taste there runs a bit more to crime. Mary Higgins Clark comes to mind as favorites over the years. Her website has a list of MHC Christmas Books. 

There are several resources if you're looking for ideas.  Bibliofile provided this list of the 50 Best Christmas Mysteries and our go-to is always Janet Rudolph's Mystery Fanfare for recommendations and the most complete listings. Here's the recent list of Hanukah Crime Fiction. 

Just like movies we all have different tastes in books and just like you all, we're always looking for new recommendations. So we'd like to hear from you. 

What's your favorite holiday movie and your (most recent) favorite holiday-themed book?

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don't tell the other neighbors.) 

They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook,and Twitter their favorite social media sites. Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website.

Are You Really Reading this on Christmas?—T. K. Thorne

 

 

Writer, humanist,
          dog-mom, horse servant and cat-slave,
       Lover of solitude
          and the company of good friends,
        New places, new ideas
           and old wisdom.

 

 

Are you really reading this on Christmas?

The better question might be: Am I really writing this on Christmas? Me, a nice Jewish girl? LOL!
But I guess it's time to come out of the holiday closet.

I’ve been so relieved to learn that I am not the only Jewish person who grew up celebrating a (nonreligious) Christmas. It started with my grandmother who grew up in the little town of Maysville, Kentucky. Hers was the only Jewish family there. She felt seriously left out at Christmas. Not just the gifts the morning of, but all the preparations, excitement and sharing that went with it.

. . . Bummer.

 

She made up her mind that she would not do that to her children, and so, the family tradition began. I grew up celebrating/observing all of the Jewish holy days and holidays, including Hanukah, which usually  lands in the month of December, but we also brought a (real) tree and the pungent smell of pine into the living room and made homemade decorations for it that began with glue and glitter on paper and proceeded to sophisticated, hollowed-out egg shells. (Mom made the  shells; we decorated with glue and glitter). She also made origami figures (which we decorated with glue and glitter.) My favorite were the delicate pink and blue and yellow swans.

In the days before Christmas, I would squeeze behind the tree into my own private fairyland world of blinking red, green, and blue lights nestled in the tinsel-draped branches to make up complex stories involving the figures and ornaments. We also left cookies and a Coca-Cola for “Santa Claus,” but that was a facade for my younger siblings.

 I, alas, had learned the truth too early. . . .

When I was 6 or 7 years old, an older friend ridiculed my explanation about the tooth fairy leaving me a quarter in exchange for my tooth. I marched home with the friend in tow and told my mother that I was not believed, and would she please inform my smarty friend here of the TRUTH?

 Caught, my mother confessed the Tooth Fairy was not real. In shock, I desperately demanded, “But what about Santa Claus? He’s real, isn’t he?”

That was the first time my world crumbled. (Sadly, it would not be the last or the worst. But those are not tales for Christmas Day.) And it did not stop me from squeezing behind the blinking, shimmering tree and creating my own worlds . . . and eventually writing them down.

Whatever Christmas means to you, I know all the The Stiletto Gang authors join me in wishing you MM (Much Merry) and dreams come true!

 

 T.K. is a retired police captain who writes books, which, like this blog, go wherever her interest and imagination take her.  More at TKThorne.com

 

 

 

 

It's a Dickens Christmas Y'all!--by T.K. Thorne

Writer, humanist,
          dog-mom, horse servant and cat-slave,
       Lover of solitude
          and the company of good friends,
        New places, new ideas
           and old wisdom.

It's a Dickens Christmas Y'all!

 
Every December, I hide. This has nothing to do with the fact that it's Christmas and I'm Jewish. Like many Jewish families in the South, I was raised with a Christmas tree and presents in addition to Hanukkah traditions with beautiful menorah candles lit each night and (yea!) more presents.  What kid can complain about that?

No, my allergy to December has to do with my husband. He is a beyond-the-pale Dickens fan. Every iteration of the more than two dozen versions of A Christmas Carol plays on our television repetitively all December.  I head for the hills . . . or at least another room.

But last year at the Left Coast Crime Conference (that's crime writers, just so you know), someone mentioned a Dickens festival in California.  My ears pricked. (Okay, I wish my ears could prick because it's so expressive, and I've always wanted a fluffy tail too––can't you just imagine having it drape saucily over your shoulder?  But I digress).

This year is hubby's 60th birthday and our 30th wedding anniversary.  Seemed like going to a Dicken's festival would be a great surprise gift. The problem was we live in Alabama and the festival was in California.  I angsted for months about how to plan a secret trip to California. Finally I broke down and told him what I had up my sleeve.

"I'll arrange the whole thing, if you want to go."

"I would," he says, "but why don't we just go to the one in Tuscumbia, Alabama (2.5 hours away)?

"What?"

He pulls out a brochure he had put in his drawer (thinking the last thing I would ever want to do was have a Dickens-immersion experience) with info about Tuscumbia's 9th annual "It's a Dickens Christmas Y'all!" (And I thought it was just the birthplace of Helen Keller.)

Yes!

A few days later, he shows me a dapper Victorian costume of Ebenezer Scrooge online. It was so spiffy!  Hubby communicates in code, and it  dawned on me that maybe he was feeling out what I thought about him actually getting it and wearing it to the festival.

If he is going to dress in a top hat, vest, and coat, I am all in. What girl does not want to be Cinderella? Found a red and black gown with black lace sleeves, foo-foo hat, lace white gloves, and a bustle (as close to a tail as I am likely to ever get) and we are going to the ball . . . or 1843 London in Tuscumbia!

Christmas Present, Christmas To Come, Christmas Past, Mr. and Mrs. Scrooge, and Marley's Ghost

Festivities began Friday night with a feast, a reading from A Christmas Carol, music, and a chef-prepared dinner. Saturday, the streets were closed to traffic, sporting gift venders, snow machines, and horse drawn carriage rides. Scones and hot chocolate (or coffee) awaited with the spirits of Christmas and Marley's ghost at "Scones and Moans," poetry readings and song at a mid-19th Century church, a high tea, and cookies with Tiny Tim at the beautiful Cold Water Bookstore.

Such a charming town and charming, warm folks!  We had the best time meeting people and couldn't walk but a few steps without being asked to pose for a picture with someone.  Paparazzi! 

"There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast."––Dickens

Ironically, sometimes this is a very difficult time of year. Whatever your faith, whatever your situation, I wish you peace and joy now and in the coming year.

––TK

T.K. Thorne’s childhood passion for storytelling deepened when she became a police officer in Birmingham, Alabama.  “It was a crash course in life and what motivated and mattered to people.” In her newest novel, HOUSE OF ROSE, murder and mayhem mix with a little magic when a police officer discovers she’s a witch.


Both her award-winning debut historical novels, NOAH’S WIFE and ANGELS AT THE GATE, tell the stories of unknown women in famous biblical tales—the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot. Her first non-fiction book, LAST CHANCE FOR JUSTICE, the inside story of the investigation and trials of the 1963 Birmingham church bombing, was featured on the New York Post’s “Books You Should Be Reading” list.


T.K. loves traveling and speaking about her books and life lessons. She writes at her mountaintop home near Birmingham, often with a dog and a cat vying for her lap.


More info at TKThorne.com

Join her private newsletter email list and receive a two free short stories at “TK’s Korner.”





Merry Christmas!

by Bethany Maines

Some years I'm more into the Christmas spirit than others.  This year I started listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving. I've squeezed in my favorite Christmas movies - White Christmas and Die Hard. I have decorated the mantle with every single Christmas card, including the one from the distant family friends that came with a two page letter (who has the time for that??).  And I have wrapped all the presents and bought all the stuffs. Christmas is happening at my place. 

But not all years are filled with the Yuletide joy.  And I do remember a few seasons in which I wanted to stab the eye out of the next bell ringer and I deeply resonated with Hans Gruber.  Well, I mean to be honest, I still resonate with Hans Gruber.  Who doesn't want 600 million in bearer bonds and who wouldn't get mad about some stupid NYC cop ruining a perfectly good heist?  I mean, really.

But whether you're feeling like curling up away from everyone with a good book (ahem, here's a few you might like - Bethany Maines on Amazon) or you're going to be rocking it with family and friends - I wish you a Merry Christmas and a restful vacation.  And as Hans once said, "It's Christmas, Theo — it's the time of miracles." So maybe this year we'll all get our Christmas wishes (and 600 million in bearer bonds).

**

Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of the Carrie Mae Mysteries, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she's not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

Time to Get Serial

by Bethany Maines

This week (12/9 – 12/13) one of my short stories, Oh, Holy Night, is being serialized on Frolic – the site for all things romance.  Oh, Holy Night is a Christmas romance involving bank robbery, coffee, and best friends. And while I’m always ecstatic to sell and share one of my stories, I have to say that I’m a little more over the moon about this story because of the significance of serialized stories in the history of writing.

Most people think of Charles Dickens when they think of serialized stories.  And although A Christmas Carol was not serialized, his Pickwick Papers (1836) was written and shared in nineteen installments, each costing a shilling.  Partially, the success was due to the format of bite-size, cliff-hanger segments sold in a time when people couldn’t dash off and find entertainment on their phones.  But, let’s think about that for just a moment.  Now that we can dash off and find entertainment at any moment of the day, wouldn’t now be the perfect time for bite-size, cliff-hanger segments of a story?  The old adventure movies captured this idea in the early days of film with short movies that were meant to keep you coming back next Saturday or at the least for the next reel. Have you ever wondered why some movies (ex: James Bond) will give you a 15 minute opening adventure before cutting to the credits? Thank the early days of film when complete reels were 15 minutes long and the projectionist needed to hustle to change reels. Current television has captured this format with long story lines and cliff-hanger episodes and then broken the mold by allowing everyone to binge watch all the episodes at once. The idea of writing extended stories that leave the reader wanting more with each chapter is a unique skill that is hard to master. One that I’m sure I haven’t mastered it yet, but one that I’m excited to work on. 

If you Pop over to Frolic to read Oh, Holy Night for free and check out my effort at a serialized story!

GO TO>> Frolic.media

**

Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of the Carrie Mae Mysteries, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she's not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

'Tis the Season

By AB Plum

A few weeks ago, a friend told me jubilantly, "The date's set."

December 3—the date for her husband's hip-replacement surgery.

They'd waited for over six weeks for a definite date …  because of Thanksgiving and the approaching year's end. A scheduled time was still up in the air.

And that detail was driving her husband crazy. He was fretting over every possibility.

• ·        What if the hospital set the time and then changed it?
• ·        What if they had to arrive at oh-dark-thirty?
• ·        What if the time got postponed after they arrived at the hospital?
• ·        Why couldn't the surgeons change their routine practice of epidurals and put him under?
• ·        What if he became nauseated after the anesthesia?
• ·        What if he couldn't manage the post-surgical pain?
• ·        How would she get him from the car into their ground-floor apartment?
• ·        What if they couldn't manage the shower without help?
• ·        What if his adult kids didn't understand why they couldn't travel for Christmas?
• ·        What if he was totally immobile during the holiday?
• ·        How would he get his Christmas shopping done?
• ·        How disappointed would everyone be because he couldn't smoke the turkey?

      Somehow, the fretting didn't drive my friend nuts. (Her patience borders on saintly). She said part of what helped her stay centered was avoiding the non-stop Christmas ads and parties and implied demands that Christmas required a nine-course dinner with twenty guests and a house decorated by Martha and a new BMW or Lincoln or Range Rover parked in the driveway as the gift du jour.

My friend's husband came through the surgery with no problems. He's exceeding expectations with the physical therapist who comes to their home twice a week. He manages the pain with a third of what his surgeon allowed.

His fretting about Christmas gifts and the Christmas dinner and decorating the apartment takes center stage fewer and fewer hours of every day. To keep my friend's stress manageable, they've agreed on thirty minutes or so of fretting-debrief after she comes home each evening. She'll unpack a few ornaments this weekend while he makes eggnog and queues up Miracle on 34^th Street.

'Tis the season to fret because social and mainstream media never let us think we can finish everything that needs to be done. Stress—the noun equivalent of fret—piles up as we struggle to be perfect. Running faster and faster blocks the question: WHY?

This year I'm downshifting. I'm a reluctant shopper at best, but I'm boycotting Amazon.  Too easy to succumb to buying more stuff. I've contributed to favorite charities to honor the people on my list who really don't need more stuff.

And, I've decided on a unique gift for a couple of family members and friends. I got the idea from Through Rose-Colored Glasses, the February release of my second Ryn Davis mystery. Check out the book if you're interested.

Here's wishing one and all a fret-free season—or as close as you can get to fret free.

*******  

AB Plum lives, writes, and plays just off the fast-lane in Silicon Valley. A broken hand in October caused a bit of fretting about getting her second Ryn Davis mystery to market, but she's ready to hand [pun intended] off the ARC and feeling light as snowflake and ready to enjoy the holidays.

Meet The Queen of Christmas

For the past few months, I’ve been working on a secret project – a Christmas short story called "The Queen of Christmas."

I’m a huge fan of short stories at this busy time of the year. What better to read when there are so many demands on our time but also an increased need to recharge our batteries by taking a few moments to enjoy some fun holiday reading? 

Several readers have asked me to do a holiday story with the characters from my Lobster Shack mystery series. I started wondering -- what do Allie, Aunt Gully, Verity, and all the other characters from the Lazy Mermaid lobster shack do at Christmas?

A visit to a holiday show house tour last December sparked ideas. A Christmas crazy friend of my mom has collected ornaments and decorations for decades. Over time, her single decorated tree became two trees, then three, and after several years this lady had a decorated tree for every room in her house and crowds clamoring to visit. Her Fantasy of Trees was born.

What if I moved this festival of trees to Mystic Bay? What if a desperate criminal was determined to cause holiday mischief instead of holiday merriment?

Writing a short story comes with challenges. The story has to be tighter. Every word has to work harder. Which characters will be in the story? How to keep the story to a length that is perfect to enjoy during the holiday crush?

I hope you’ll check out my new mystery short story, "The Queen of Christmas." I hope it will provide you with a fun escape from the hustle and bustle of the holidays. The story also includes a recipe for hot toddy, because what’s nicer than curling up with a good story and a warm drink on a frosty winter night?

The story is available exclusively on Amazon for Kindle. Enjoy!

Boxing Day

by Bethany Maines

I had a friend who was extremely disappointed to learn that the day after Christmas had NOTHING to do with boxing. I don't know if she was hoping for some sort of tale of a historical rumble at Five Points or Canadians engaging in fisticuffs, but she was quite put out to learn that it was about literal boxes and tipping.  I cannot help the history, but the tradition in our family is to loll about the house and stuff our faces while watching an entire days worth action movies selected by my brother.  And action movies frequently involve some sort of hand to hand pummelling, so, there... Boxing Day accomplished.

Watching movies at my brothers house has gotten more complicated due to babies and competing in-laws, but this year's movie theme is Time Travel.  So in no particular order we are all invited to watch the following:

• Back to the Future - Michael J. Fox
• Frequency - Jim Caviezel
• Time Cop - Jean Claucde Van Damme
• Looper - Joseph Gorden Levitt
• 12 Monkeys - Bruce Willis
• The Terminator - Arnold Schwarzenegger
• Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure - Keanu Reeves
• The Final Countdown - Martin Sheen

Merry Christmas, happy Boxing Day, and a wonderful New Years to all!

**

Blue Christmas - Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Kobo - iTunes - ¢.99

Drunken TV news cameraman Jake Garner thought he was tackling an intruder. But no, Jake just took out the fantastically attractive dog sitter. Mortified, Jake does what any man would who has just been dumped right before Christmas would do—give the offended party all his ex's things. Meanwhile, Blue Jones is determined to do whatever it takes to get her grandmother the best cancer treatment possible, even if that means some high-rise burglary from one of her worst dog-sitting clients, the failure to walk, feed or book a pet-sitter for a three day weekend, Grace Lorra. But Blue didn't count on Grace's ex, Jake, showing up and drunkenly handing over all of Grace's belongings— including her adorable French Bulldog, Jacques. It takes no time at all for Blue to fall in love with Jacques, but Blue also finds herself wondering if it would be so bad to return to the scene of the crime to reconnect with Jake. But as Christmas draws closer, Grace pressures Jake to return the dog and Blue is targeted by mysterious assailants. Can Jake find Blue and Jacques before her stalkers do? And can Jake and Blue stop these mystery men without also getting Blue arrested for theft? For Blue, Christmas has never been quite so dangerous. For Jake, Christmas has never been quite so Blue.

**

Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she's not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her fourth degree black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

Bad Poetry for the Holidays!

Writing in a Mystery Wonderland
by Shari Randall

In the spirit of the holidays I thought I'd share this poem I wrote last year for Writers Who Kill. Twas the week before Christmas and all through my house, I was tearing my hair out trying to finish a Christmas novella. (sorry!) I was knee deep in a new story and after a night tossing and turning and trying out different plot twists, my mind turned to one of my favorite Christmas songs....and this happened.

To the tune of "Walking in a Winter Wonderland"

with apologies to Felix Bertand and Richard B. Smith

Slay-bells ring! Are you listening?
In the lane, blood is glistening.
A criminal sight, we're sleuthing tonight
Writing in a mystery wonderland.

Gone away is the body,
Here to stay is the bobby
As we start the chase
To solve a tough case
Writing in a mystery wonderland.

In the story we will solve a murder
And pretend that we are Sheriff Brown.
They'll say "Are you guilty?" We'll say "No, man!"
But you can arrest my evil twin when you're in town.

Later on, we'll conspire
As we dream by the fire
To face unafraid
The plot that we made
Writing in a mystery wonderland!

  Wishing you all the joys of the season!
Shari Randall is the author of the Lobster Shack Mysteries from St. Martin's Press.

Joy to My World

by Bethany Maines

As the year draws to a close, I find myself doing the usual assessment of what I did this year and what I’ll be doing next year.  But this year, I’m trying to concentrate on evaluating more through the lens of not just financial success, but emotional success.  What was fun for me?  Because if a creative project doesn’t bring me joy, why am I spending valuable emotional time on it?

One of the joyful projects of my year was Blue Christmas. I like romantic adventures that find characters swept up in dangerous events.  And I liked turning a Christmas Carol into something that’s not quite so sweet and sugary.  I also find myself already pondering what Christmas carol I can do next year.  Santa Baby?  Sleigh Ride?  Mele Kalikimaka?  Gabriel’s Message?  What message could Gabriel be getting and how could it upend his life? Or what message is he sending?  Who is this Gabe guy anyway?  A struggling coffee shop owner soured on love by the barista who left him cold?  A photographer who just cannot take one more fake happy family photo for the holidays? The possibilities are endless and so are the Christmas Carols. 

Another project that made me happy this year was the SharkSantoyo series.  This action packed five book series follows the ups and downs of Peregrine Hays and Shark Santoyo as they try to outwit the mob, the FBI and Peri’s private investigator uncle.  I loved creating the overarching storyline, the quirky characters, the bad guys with hearts of gold, and the bad guys that were just plain bad.  I loved the characters and I’m hoping that people will enjoy the roller-coaster ride along with them.  (Book #3 comes out in April 2019!)

2018 was a great year for exploring the characters I love and what I want to write. Next up in my pondering: the best way to pursue what I love in 2019! 

PS. Have a suggestion for which Christmas carol I should turn into a story next?  Comment below!

**

Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she's not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her fourth degree black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

Peace to one and all

By Barbara Plum aka AB Plum

At this time of year, my cul-de-sac hops with holiday celebrations:

• ·         Dewali (November 7)
• ·         Hanukkah (December 2-10)
• ·         Yule (December 21-January 21)
• ·         Christmas (December 24-25)
• ·         Kwanzaa (December 26-January 1)

I’m aware many people don’t celebrate at this time of year—for a variety of reasons. But. For family, friends, strangers, and non-celebrants, I send out a personal hope for peace to shine—if for only a moment—in your lives wherever you are.

**** Barbara Plum aka AB Plum lives off the Silicon Valley fast lane but in the shadow of Google. She writes light, funny paranormal romances and dark, gripping psychological thrillers. Both genres provide escape on long winter nights. Find her books here on Amazon and here.

Tales of Christmas

by Bethany Maines

In 2017 a Romance novelist friend of mine invited me to be part of an anthology of holiday novellas as part of a marketing event.  I said, “Of course!” Did I have a holiday novella?  No, I did not.  Was it September when she asked and all content was due in November?  Yes, yes it was.  The result of my feverish typing and carpal tunnel syndrome was Oh, Holy Night.  This fun romance about a freelance graphic designer and the cute guy she keeps meeting at her local Starbucks somehow managed to end up also being about a bank robbery, friendship and recovering from grief.  But despite the record breaking pace I actually enjoyed my little holiday story and I decided that I wanted to do it again. Just… not quite so fast.

So this year I’m releasing Blue Christmas.  This Suspense Romance novella also features a  teeny bit of crime, a helping of romance, and a dog.  Because I like dogs. This time our intrepid heroine is a college student Blue Jones and the square jawed hero is local TV news cameraman Jake Garner.  And the dog is an adorable French Bulldog named Jacques who disapproves of almost everything.  If you’re looking for some Christmas adventures please feel free to indulge in these holiday treats.  They’re calorie free. 

Blue Christmas - ¢.99 – available 12/4 -Blue Jones just stole Jake Garner’s dog. And his heart. But technically the French Bulldog, Jacques, belongs to Jake’s ex-girlfriend. And soon Jake is being pressured to return the dog and Blue is being targeted by mysterious attackers. Can Jake find Blue and Jacques before her stalkers do? For Blue, Christmas has never been quite so dangerous.  For Jake, Christmas has never been quite so Blue.

Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Kobo • iTunes • Smashwords

Oh, Holy Night - ¢.99 – available now - Christmas is a lot more dangerous than it used to be. Graphic designer Violet Harper is usually found at her local Starbucks. Handsome Roman Knox is usually carrying a gun. But tonight they’re both in a bank and there’s a body on the floor. It’s a mess, a robbery and almost the worst day ever, but maybe a Christmas miracle can get them out of the bank and into love. Join Violet and Roman as they try to figure out the rules to modern dating and bank robbery.

Barnes & Noble • Kobo • iTunes • Smashwords

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And for more holiday humor and adventure with a touch of romance, check out fellow Stiletto Gang sister J.M. Phillippe’s A Christmas Spirit – The recently deceased Charlene Dickenson is stuck in a place where the Christmas music never ends and the holiday treats will never make you full. Charlene is going to have to figure out how to let go of her mortal life and embrace the Christmas Spirit.

Available in print and e-formats on 12/4.  Pre-order on: Amazon

---

Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she's not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her fourth degree black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

Time for Christmas and Holiday Shorts!

by Paula Gail Benson

On the day before Thanksgiving, Dru’s Book Musings featured Sleigh Bells and Sleuthing, an anthology of 16 cozy mystery novellas to celebrate the season. Here’s a link to Dru’s post. One hundred percent of the proceeds from sales of the anthology will benefit Good Fortune Farm Refuge, a non-profit ranch located in Semmes, Alabama, which rehabilitates abused and abandoned animals and finds homes for rescued animals.

Dru’s post reminded me that this is the time for reading seasonal shorts, so here are a few anthologies you might wish to consider:

Murder Under the Christmas Tree: Ten Classic Crime Stories for the Festive Season, edited by Cecily Gayford, has stories by Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy L. Sayers, Edmund Crispin, G.K. Chesteron, Ngaio Marsh, Carter Dickson, Margery Allingham, and Ellis Peters.

Otto Penzler’s The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries contains 60 stories divided into categories like traditional, funny, Sherlockian, pulpy, uncanny, scary, surprising, modern, puzzling, and classic. It features authors like Mary Higgins Clark, Sara Paretsky, Max Allan Collins, Edward D. Hoch, John D. McDonald, and O. Henry.

Mistletoe Mysteries, Tales of Yuletide Murder were compiled by Charlotte McLeod. It contains 16 stories by McLeod, Mary Higgins Clark, Sharon McCrumb, Marcia Muller, Bill Pronzini, Peter Lovesey, and others.

Last year, I discovered and was completely charmed by The Usual Santas. It includes stories by Helene Tursten, Mick Herron, Martin Limón, Timothy Hallinan, Teresa Dovalpage, Mette Ivie Harrison, Colin Cotterill, Ed Lin, Stuart Neville, Tod Goldberg, Henry Chang, James R. Benn, Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis, Sujata Massey, Gary Corby, Cara Black, Stephanie Barron and a Foreword and story by Peter Lovesey.

In 2013, my December post for Writers Who Kill was the final installment of a series about writing short stories and compared the story structures of three excellent holiday short stories:

B.K. Stevens’ “Little Dumber Boy” (individually published under the Fingerprints imprint by Untreed Reads, December, 2010) (available on Amazon).

Barb Goffman’s “Christmas Surprise” in the collection Don’t Get Mad, Get Even: 15 Tales of Revenge and More (Wildside Press April, 2013).

Earl Staggs’ “Caught on Christmas Eve” in the collection Short Stories of Earl Staggs: 16 Tales of Mystery from Hard Boiled to Humor (Amazon Digital Services, Inc. 2011).

At the end of the post, I listed the following holiday anthologies:

Lori Avocato, Dana Cameron, Mary Daheim, Cait London, Suzanne Macpherson, Kerrelyn Sparks, Sugarplums and Scandal (HarperCollins Publishers 2010).

Carols and Crimes, Gifts and Grifters (Wolfmont Press 2009) (Authors Tony Burton, Austin S. Camacho, Thomas H. Cook, Herschel Cozine, Gail Farrelly, Margaret Fenton, Chris Grabenstein, Sue Ann Jaffarian, Frank Zafiro, and others).

John M. Floyd, editor, The Gift of Murder (Wolfmont Press 2009) (Authors Austin S. Camacho, Hershel Cozine, Bill Crider, Kris Neri, Randy Rawls, Carolyn J. Rose, Elizabeth Zelvin). 

Steve Hockensmith, Naughty: Nine Tales of Christmas Crime (an e-book collection of stories that previously appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine or Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine).

Stuart MacBride, 12 Days of Winter: Crime at Christmas (HarperCollins Publishers 2011).

Margaret Maron, Five Christmas Gifts (Maron & Company; Ebook edition December, 2012).

John Mortimer, A Rumpole Christmas (Penguin Books, 2009).

May all your holiday reading be merry, bright, and only a little murderous!