I have said, over the past few years, that my writing has become somewhat focused on stories about parents and their children. It wasn’t deliberate on my part, but becoming a father seemed to make this a recurring theme in my stories. But as I’ve gone over this retrospective, I realize that’s not entirely true. Of the 23 previous Christmas stories I’ve shared, eight of them have been about parents and their kids in one way or another, four before my son was born and four after. On the other hand, the first four came about in 17 attempts, while since his birth I’ve gone four for six, so the frequency is definitely increasing. 

This year is gonna make it five out of seven, because this year’s story is not only about a parent and child, but it’s perhaps the most personal Christmas story I’ve ever written. The funny thing is that when I started this retrospective back on December 1, I had no idea what this year’s story would be, but after doing this for nearly a quarter of a century I had faith that something would occur to me. Then, about a week ago, while my son climbed into bed with us and cuddled me on a Saturday morning, the idea just came in all at once. It took me the weekend to write the first draft, and I haven’t had to make many changes. 

All of my stories mean something to me, but this one in particular is something special. Click the link to read.

Christmas 2023: Good Choices

Oh, a few quick things before I let you go. First of all, although we’ve now danced through 24 years of Christmas short stories, the fun isn’t over JUST yet. You see, in 2014, I had a little bonus holiday cheer running through my veins, so I wrote a NEW YEAR’S EVE story as well! Come back next week, and I’ll share “Baby New Year” with you!

Next, I really hope you’ve enjoyed this little retrospective. If you missed any of the stories, or if you just want to go back and read them again, I’ve created an archive page with links to all of the stories in the post where I introduced the project. You can find it right here.

And finally, if you’ve been hanging out with me all month or if you just came in today for the new stuff, I really appreciate it. If you’ve at all enjoyed what you’ve read, I’d like to ask you to help spread the word. Share the links, tell folks, and most importantly, go on over to my Amazon page and write a review for ANY of my work there that you may have read. Having reviews and ratings helps to kick certain algorithms into place, and it’s the algorithms that get to decide what content people see when they’re browsing. So if there’s any chance of spreading the word and putting my stories in front of more people, I’m going to need your help to do it. Consider it my Christmas present. 

Thanks, everyone. And Merry Christmas.