DEEP IN DECEMBER
By Kathleen Eagle
The weather outside hasn’t been frightful up here in the North Country lately, but in the last few days Jack Frost woke up and started sprinkling tiny ice stars on the grass. Right now I’m watching snow sift softly like powdered sugar from an angel’s donut, and tonight we’re promised our first white winter blanket. Because, baby, it’s cold outside.
It’s no accident that we celebrate our brightest holidays in the winter. It’s a dark time, and we need to brighten up our surroundings with fire and stars and smiling faces. It’s cold, and we need to wrap up and make a circle and share warmth. It’s quiet. It’s the perfect time to share food and gifts, songs and stories.
Romance comes from the heart, which is why so many holiday classics tug at the heartstrings. They’re love stories in the broadest sense. One of my favorites when I was very young was “The Little Match Girl.” The original Hans Christian Andersen story is pretty tragic, but the TV adaptation I remember had a happy ending. I cried every time the little girl stood outside in the cold, and when she was invited to come inside and stay, I sobbed. Family, friends, finding a soul mate—holiday stories celebrate people coming together, face to face, hand in hand.
What a joy it is to have THE LAST GOOD MAN chosen for Amazon’s holiday store for the month of December. The story was inspired by my beautiful, brave baby sister, who is a breast cancer survivor. This book is a good answer to the question, “Where do your stories come from?” The characters and events are completely fictitious, but the emotional experience is drawn from life. THE SHARING SPOON—my collection of three novellas with three very different settings and common holiday theme—is also specially priced this month. I can just see readers taking time for themselves with one of my stories during this busy season. A comfy corner, a cup of cheer, and a book. A gift for yourself. Read a good story and then pass it on to someone dear to you.
And speaking of holiday gifts, my daughter brought me something special on Thanksgiving. We mothers treasure the gifts our kids have made themselves, and my grown daughter—Lady Elizabeth’s Dreamwear Catalog from THE LAST GOOD MAN is a nod to her name—still makes many of her gifts for family and friends. And there’s always some special significance, not to mention imagination and skill involved. The coasters she made for me this year are covered with my words—pages scanned from one of my books. She chose THIS TIME FOREVER because she was there when I received the RITA award for that book. What a lovely memory. What a lovely daughter! And what a lovely time of year for heartwarming stories.
The Last Good Man by Kathleen Eagle is on sale the entire month of December for just $1.99! Click the cover below to purchase!
