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Saturday, December 03, 2016

Christmas Caring II


Last year, the first Christmas Caring began when Kirsten Osbourne told writers of a project where they could submit short stories for a Christmas anthology. They did not have to be romances. All proceeds would go to a Texas charity, which she knew did good work. 

The catch was the stories, 4000 words or less, had to be submitted by the end of that week-end in order to get it out in time for Christmas book buying. Amazingly, with 24 short stories, the anthology was out early in December. I wrote about my experience in a December 2015 blog: [Blue Mountain Christmas]. 

The anthology is still out there-- short stories don't get old. Surprising to me, when I put out my first Christmas novella (another out next week), they also sell year round.

For 2016, the announcement was made in August that there would be a second charity anthology with the proceeds going to a different charity-- Legacy Initiative of Utah. A September date was given for when short stories, of under 5000 words, had to be submitted. We would be informed if our stories were accepted. 

I've written in this blog about how I had one idea that led to a quickly written short story, which I equally quickly realized I wanted to be longer. I set it aside and worked on another idea for a contemporary short story of a 58 year old woman who made a huge change in her life. Writing went well, and I submitted Red Rock Christmas in plenty of time to beat the deadline. But then, I heard nothing back as to whether it was accepted. 

The more I thought about the middle-aged woman's journey, the more I realized it not only had the potential to be a novella but also the first of a new series of women starting over. Because I had no idea if my short story would even be in the anthology, I asked Kirsten if I could expand it and bring it out separately-- same heroine but with more information. She said since the contract for the short story was not exclusive, it would be fine. 

So I wrote a novella and titled it Red Hawk Christmas for the name of the heroine's RV and to keep it separate from the short story. The novella went 22,900 words and was published in late October when I still didn't know about the short story. 

Only this week did I learn that Red Rock Christmas is in the anthology. In some ways though, a short story is a different art form than the novella or full novel. Even having read Red Hawk Christmas, I think the short story could be enjoyed for that creative difference.

This time the anthology has 19 stories with a lot of very different looks at Christmas-- some sounding quite funny. Just to whet your appetite for buying Christmas Caring II, here are the titles, authors, and the order in which they appear in the book:   

A Christmas Masquerade by Kari Trumbo; All I Want for Christmas is a Zombie
by Steve Pantazis; A Matter of Kin by Jenna Eatough; Today I Am Santa Claus
by Martin L. Shoemaker; All the Swears by Alyson Peterson; Wings for Christmas by Kevin L Nielsen; Golden Moments by Linda Carroll-Bradd; A Bride for Christmas by Carra Copelin; Just in Time for Christmas by Annie Boone; Christmas Angels by C.S. Martin; Kaitlyn’s Christmas by CJ Samuels; Fireballs for Christmas by Lorena Dove; Merry Molasses Mayhem by Danni Roan; The Christmas Doll by Kay P. Dawson; Holly Jolly Courtship by Jacquie Rogers; His Christmas Rose by Peggy L. Henderson; Red Rock Christmas by Rain Trueax; 
A Cowboy's Christmas by Amanda McIntyre; Magical Memories by Kirsten Osbourne.

 So check it out with the link below; and if you haven't already read the first of these charity anthologies, the link for the first one is also below. With Christmas such a busy season, this is the perfect time for short stories to help get into a Christmas mood-- and help others while you do it. 




 

2 comments:

Brig said...

Sounds like an interesting book, thanks for the heads up. I have so many books in waiting on my Kindle, I need to set aside more time to read.

Rain Trueax said...

I know the feeling. I have a lot also that I have not gotten to because of limited time for pleasure reading. Perhaps soon :). I buy books whenever I find them interesting with the idea there'll be a perfect day when I'll want just that story. I do that with paper books also but now the Kindle makes it even easier to have a lot of them-- maybe too easy ;)