Jason and I are all bundled up for the holidays!
An exclusive new edition of our anthology Uncommon Holidays: A Different Side of the Season is part of the Good Cheer StoryBundle. What makes this bundle extra-special is it’s packed full of short stories for your winter reading pleasure (and summer reading in the Southern Hemisphere, of course).
Even if you only have a little while to relax, escape, and recharge, we've got you covered! But this great bundle is only available for a little while, so grab it while you can.
With amazing writers like our curator Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Dean Wesley Smith, Annie Reed, T. Thorn Coyle, Rebecca Cantrell, Robert Jeschonek, Ron Collins, a volume of WMG Publishing’s Holiday Spectacular, and an anthology from Lyn Worthen, you’re bound to discover a bunch of new favorite stories and writers!
As you might guess from the title, Uncommon Holidays includes eight stories that don’t fit into the traditional pattern you normally see during the final weeks of the year. We’ve both written plenty of those lovely seasonal stories, and we’ll both be writing more as 2023 draws to a close.
But this anthology explores a different side of the season.
As a special treat for our readers, this StoryBundle also includes WMG Publishing’s Holiday Spectacular volume Winter Holidays. Jason and I each have a story in that one, so this bundle includes ten of our stories!
Since Virginia’s Last Old Christmas Eve for me and A True Family Holiday for Jason were also included in the original version of Uncommon Holidays, we switched out two different stories to create a special edition that will only be available in this StoryBundle!
That means you’ll get five stories from each of us to go along with a pile of wonderful reading from the other great authors featured.
Both versions of our Uncommon Holidays anthology are full of unique perspectives on the usual festivities, and combined with dozens of short stories from some of the best writers working today, you're sure to discover many new seasonal escapes.
Jason gives a great rundown of his stories here, and read on for more about mine!
My stories start out with Pungent Justice, where you'll meet a high school kid struggling to deal with being uprooted from friends and family. Fitting into a new town in Ohio pales in comparison to the thoughtless crime Jennifer’s faced with on Christmas Eve Eve. She and her best friend Lynda set out to get revenge in a distinctly Midwestern way.
Then the setting shifts to southern Illinois for Finding Sanctuary, and the challenges of a different stage of life. June prepares to lead her congregation in a service to acknowledge losses and hardship with an eye toward moving forward into a better future, while facing an unwelcome change in her life. Ryan wants to support his little sister in her own recovery as he’s rebuilding himself. When the two of them meet, the idea of a fresh start takes on a whole new spark.
A jump just across the river to St. Louis brings us to Traditions Worth Keeping, and a newly blended family celebrating Thanksgiving for the first time together. Lucy’s ongoing adjustment to being part of a larger sibling group combined with visiting her family home for the first time since her father’s remarriage gives her plenty of change. But her worries about her little brother’s own life changes complicate everything.
My final story in this exclusive edition of Uncommon Holidays heads to our current home in Southwestern Virginia, and we jump to Christmas Eve at the always delightful Hidden Springs Inn and Spa. Henry volunteers to wait out a blizzard in the riot of decorations, hoping for a bit of peace and quiet with the inn’s sweet (and secretly magic) cat Zortea. Steve tries to brave the roads to get home to Tennessee, but takes refuge in Hidden Springs instead. The three of them settle down to an evening full of the unexpected.
For Virginia’s Last Old Christmas Eve, part of the Holiday Spectacular volume Winter Holidays also included in this StoryBundle, we stay in my native Appalachian Mountains to visit with the matriarch of a big, warm family celebrating Old Christmas Eve. Virginia treasures her memories of a long and happy life, and joining her loved ones in enjoying an old-fashioned holiday brings her joy. But the true celebration waits for a quieter time when she can finally share a story most dear to her heart.
This fabulous bundle will only be around for a limited time, so be sure to check it out soon. You can also give the 2023 Good Cheer StoryBundle as a gift and take care of holiday shopping for the readers in your life!
Even better, StoryBundle is teaming up with Toys4Tots, so you can donate to a great cause at the same time.
Happy Shopping, Happy Reading, and Happy Holidays!
