Christmas Favorites by Eleri Grace

 Though it seems impossible it can be that time of year again already, the calendar -- if not the weather here in Houston -- says we are indeed entering the festive season. 

Once again, I find myself a bit stumped by the prompt to share a favorite holiday story. With so much of the classic Christmas tunes we still sing today having been originally recorded in the WW2 era, there are surprisingly no true classic Christmas novels set in that same era. One would think that the times that gave us perennial favorites such as "White Christmas," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "The Christmas Song," and "Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow" would have yielded more novels. If *you* have a favorite Christmas story set in my beloved WW2 era, please do share in the comments!  

Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd, set in 1939, is close, though I think most of us are far more familiar with the 1983 movie than with the original novel. 

So in light of my inability once again to come up with a good recommendation set in my favorite era, this year I will share my favorite novels centered around the season when Charles Dickens penned what many regard as the best Christmas story of all time, "A Christmas Carol." 

In "A Midnight Carol," author Patricia Davis reimagines a financially-strapped Dickens in the fall of 1843, determined to write something "commercial" that will simultaneously save his growing family from ruin and reawaken the festive Christmas seasons of years gone by. It's a short, lively little novel that one can easily read in single sitting, perhaps while snuggled under a fuzzy Christmas blanket. 

Interweaving history and biography with a bit of mystery and a sprinkle of comedic relief, Davis does a masterful job of putting the reader in Victorian London. I always appreciate Davis's atmospheric touches, along with the closer look at the various motivations driving Dickens to create this beloved masterpiece. Readers will cheer for Dickens as he evades the trap his greedy publishers have set and reinvests his beloved London with festive cheer, hope, and Christmas spirit. 

While searching for the title of "Midnight Carol," which I re-read most every year, I came across this recently published novel centered around the same theme and can't wait to devour it this December. The reviews are glowing, and were it not for the balmy temperatures and sunny skies of November in Texas, I would be tempted to curl up with it in advance of the proper season! 

You can learn more about me on my website and connect with me through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. My Clubmobile Girls novels are available on Amazon. 

A Novel Notion: the Novelette by Eleri Grace

 One of our themes this month is "what's new in publishing." While it may not be new to publishing -- and if our dear friend Merriam-Webster is to be trusted, it's not a new concept generally -- the novelette is new to me. 

Since the pandemic has been a strain on my creativity, my editor suggested I pursue writing a short. "A short story?" I asked. "No, no. A short," she replied. "A novella?" I queried. She patiently explained the concept of a story that is longer than a typical short story, yet shorter than a traditional novella. She called it a "coffee cup read." It wasn't until I was musing about writing about this overall topic this month that my google searches revealed that I could be calling my latest release a novelette, which sounds so sweet and dainty. A novelette, I've learned, is often light and romantic or sentimental. And indeed the novelette I released in late October for the holiday season is both romantic and sentimental. It is meant to hearken back to a simpler time and provide readers with a cozy, nostalgic holiday story. 

I wasn't sure a shorter format narrative arc -- whether short story, novelette or novella -- would suit my style at all, as I tend to write long (read: verbose and prone to using complex sentence structures). To my happy surprise, it did. As it's set in Iceland in December 1944, it's also perhaps appropriate that I wrote the first draft during Texas's Winter Storm Uri (I thankfully never lost power, but did lose water for several days). They aren't yet written, but the other three novelettes in this series are generally plotted, and I'm ready to dive in with the next one. This will be my Arctic quartet in time -- each of the four Macalester sisters serves as a Red Cross Girl in a different Arctic location, with the story centered around a different holiday. In this first novelette, my heroine Elise is serving in Iceland at Christmas time in 1944. 

Elise Macalester is convinced her shy, girl-next-door personality prevents her from being the kind of Red Cross Girl that helps soldiers forget war and guarantees she’ll never be open enough to fall in love. In a moment of uncharacteristic boldness to reunite brothers torn apart by combat, she reconnects with a handsome stranger with whom she shared one enchanting dance months earlier. But self-doubt and unspeakable tragedy prove formidable enemies to the heart.

Tommy Towson believes his service as an Army radar technician at an Icelandic weather station is less noble than that of men serving in combat -- men like his beloved older brother, Mike. Their bittersweet reunion, along with a second-chance encounter that challenges him to hope, proves a bigger test of Tommy’s courage than anything on the battlefield.

The first in a planned quartet of Clubmobile Girls Shorts set in the Arctic, At His Side for Christmas transports the reader to an often-overlooked wartime locale, in an era that continues to exert a hold on our hearts during the holidays. Fans of “A Christmas Story,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Miracle on 34th Street” and old television favorites such as “The Waltons” will enjoy this nostalgic and festive step back in time.

You can find At His Side for Christmas, and my other Clubmobile Girls novels, on Amazon. You can learn more about me and my writing on my website or by following me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.