For a little while now, I've been trying to up my game when it comes…
Need a Little Christmas?
Have you read Operation Mistletoe yet? The reviews that have come in so far have been positive (and a happy delight for me to read.) If you have read it…would you consider leaving a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads?
When I first sat down to start this novella, I had the basics of the story in mind and, as a writer who sits down and writes (vs. lots of extensive planning first) I just jumped right in. Only to discover that I’d started in the wrong place.
I’ve already shared an excerpt from the first chapter of the finished version of Operation Mistletoe, but I thought today I’d share with you my original start. It is, if nothing else, a fun glimpse of Gabe’s personality.
An off-key whistle escaped his lips as Gabe lugged the first tub of Christmas decorations down the rickety attic ladder. Didn’t matter that he wasn’t in tune, it was still, absolutely, the most wonderful time of the year. He slid the tub to the side of the garage and climbed back up the ladder for the next box. The finished attic space had been one of the major draws to the house. That and the fact that he could walk to the center of town in less than fifteen minutes. Quaint and historic, in Clifton, Virginia, you could completely escape the fact that you were smack dab in the middle of the massive suburban sprawl around Washington D.C. Even better? He had two acres to turn into a winter wonderland of lights.
The first year, it had been a kick meeting his neighbors as they slowed, then stopped, then turned into the driveway to ask what was going on. Last year, they’d brought friends along. This year, he’d already been stopped in the grocery store by people asking when he was going to be open. And it was barely the first week of November. Gabe grinned and started a new stack of tubs in front of the first.
“Knock knock.”
Gabe looked up and shook his head. “About time you got here. I thought you said you wanted to help.”
“Yeah, well. I got held up. What can I say?” Jake shrugged and hooked his thumbs in the pockets of his jeans. “Is this it?”
Gabe laughed. “Right.”
“It isn’t?” Jake’s gaze slid over the rows of rubber bins. “How much stuff do you have, exactly?”
“Dunno. Enough to turn two acres into a Winter Wonderland. That doesn’t exactly fit into two tiny shoeboxes. Why do you think I start as soon as Halloween is over?”
“I get it now. But when, exactly, did this obsession start?”
“After we moved our primary operations back state-side and I realized how blessed we are over here.”
Jake blew out a breath. “Hard to argue with that.”
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I really like that. I wish there was more for me to read. I currently don’t have time to be doing what I am doing because I’m supposed to be getting a bunch of other stuff done clearly I’m not getting done because I’m doing this.
Elizabeth I really did enjoy it and I would I mean I can’t wait to read book the really good story what I thought was I want to go see this to acres in is he married.
I am new to all of this kind of technologhy, i’m very excited about it.
Thank you so much for sharing at this time of year. I live in Minnesota and we are currently having a thunderstorm complete rain thunder lightning its not even cold enough to freeze. It helped put me into a Christmas spirit again thank you very much
Thanks for coming by! We’re going to hit 70 today and it is just not Christmas when it’s this warm, so I understand completely!
Fun. I’m thinking I’d rather go back to reading this book than doing my Advent Bible Study. I’m being naughty for Christmas!
Ha! Oh dear – I didn’t mean to get you on the naughty list 🙂 But I’m glad you enjoyed it!
I am currently reading Operation Mistletoe, and so far, just like all of your other books, I am loving it!
I read about Minnesota weather in the above comments, and see that you are in the 70’s today. Ohio has been the same way this year. Not an ounce of snow as of yet. I was walking my dog this afternoon, and found a dandelion! Go figure! 🙂
I’m so glad, Rachelle!
Ugh. I’m ready for Christmas weather! Though today at least was the low 50s. So that’s better, I guess.
I just finished Operation Mistletoe and I wanted to let you know how much I loved it!! I purchased the Love’s Gift collection b/c of the novella by Krista Phillips, but I am so excited to discover new authors like you who write just the way I like! I will certainly look for more of your work.
I especially enjoy that you live in my neck of the woods (the vast suburban sprawl that IS Northern Virginia!), and I could recognize all those places that Gabe took Tori, like Tysons. And my brother lives in Clifton! I was born and raised in Alexandria, right up the road from Springfield Mall, probably one of the few native Northern Virginians around.
Thank you for the gift of Operation Mistletoe!
Thanks so much, Ellen! I’m not only glad you enjoyed it but that you recognized the semi-fictionalized versions of the area. 🙂 I try to walk that line between recognizable and made up. I’m not native, but I’ve lived here more than I’ve lived elsewhere at this point, so …it’s a good place to be. 🙂