Christmas is Coming

Well, it is done and dusted. My latest Christmas novella is now available on Amazon as an ebook and in paperback. It has been a lot of fun writing it. I became so attached to the character of Aunt Kitt that when the novel was finished, I backtracked and changed a few things in the story.
I must admit that I do get attached to the characters I write about. Sitting down to write is like opening a door into someone's living room and hearing them talk. Writers occasionally talk about "writers' block" or how much hard work it is to finish a novel. It is never easy, some days everything just flows and other days you're floundering around, wondering where you want to go with this plot line or that character. That is why I love writing Christmas novellas, I think. First of all, they are not as long as novels and secondly, the characters show up and practically write themselves. I often change things about when the story is almost finished and then have to go back and make sure it all matches. But that is part of the fun. I suppose it is the only time that I can control how things work out for everyone.
I get asked sometimes if I base my stories on real people. The answer is no, I do not. But I most likely based them on "bits" of real people. They are a patchwork of people I have known down through all the years and I doubt very much if they would recognize themselves even if I knew myself which bit was vaguely based on which person. As some clever person once wrote "everything is grist to the writer's mill" or words to that effect. By the way, I wonder if anyone knows any more what "grist" means? A lot of words get lost in our automated world. I'll be reading Pride and Prejudice again some time around Christmas and I am always struck by the change in the meaning of "nice" today and in Jane Austen's day - in the late 18th century and the early 19th century, apparently "nice" meant fussy or choosy. 
For now, though, A CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER is out there with all the other Christmas novels. I hope readers enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.