First,
I am totally ga-ga for vintage Christmas stuff. Ornaments, graphics,
tablecloths, crafts, knick-knacks, the kitsch-ier, the better! I shop
antique mals and flea markets for them al year long. And you don't want
to hear about the year I decided to recreate "atomic" decorations
using styrofoam balls, tooth picks and glitter. To say it was a bit
messy would be like saying my caroling is a bit, um, inventive (did
y'all know when you sing with a group they kinda want you to use the
regular words, not ones you made up?).
Anyway, that was years ago and I'll tell you that this season when we
get out the decorations there will still be trails of garnet and
emerald glitter on things, not to mention having to watch out for the
stray spangled tooth pick!
Imagine my delight to find a perfectly preserved suburban home straight
out of the 1950s all decked out for the perfect Christmas celebration.
Pretty young women met us at the door dressed in skirts with rustling
taffeta petticoats under them and wearing the cutest holiday hostess
aprons. They walked us through and showed us every appliance, every
modern convenience, every nuance of the up-to-date 1950s lifestyle.
Everywhere I looked, I saw romance. I could just picture what great
predicametns I could put characters in if they had to forsake life in
the twenty-first century for a time when Hi-Fi, not Wi-Fi was the
newest rage.
The trouble was that idea really wasn't enough for a whole book so when
my brilliant editor, Emily, asked if I had any thoughts about writing a
Christmas novella, I jumped on the chance faster than a bargain shopper
on a Black Friday two-for-one special!
I am so glad I did. I had been carrying that idea for so long,
though, I worried that I wouldn't be able to flesh it out - then I
started meeting a writer friend for lunch in Georgetown Kentucky and
the moment I drove into the quaint downtown, I knew I had found my
setting. Now I just needed my characters - that came slowly but once I
began to think about who would agree to spend their days on display? I
was instantly struck by the faith lesson, because in reality when we
call ourselves Christian, we are stepping into a window for the world
to see and through us, see the Lord, we pray That gave me Abbie and
Nate. Add some quirky secondary characters, and an adorable red headed
boy who wants a family for Christmas and there you have it - The
Holiday Husband.
May all your days be merry and bright, and may you know the real joy
of the coming season being a part of the family of God, through Christ,