This week I turned in final grades for my day job — professor at a Big Ten University. I have to say the big exhale I felt as the last one was entered was fantastic. This summer I’ll do a little research and developing new classes, but I plan to read and write. A lot.
First up on the writing front is a Christmas novella for a collection with my friends Pepper Basham, Janine Rosche, and Teresa Tysinger. Don’t you just love this cover?
I’m excited to write with these gals. There is something so fun that happens when I get to collaborate with friends. And these ladies are so fun! I’m going to have to learn how to write funny. We’re creating a town in the Blue Ridge Mountains and I cannot wait to dig in. In fact today is the day I’m moving past photos of my hero and heroine and into motivations and what will happen (aka plotting). Brainstorm! Hmmm, I’m thinking the Inspired by Fiction ladies should do a collection together at some point!
So here’s a question for you (be sure to leave a comment and use the rafflecopter form to be entered for a giveaway as a thank you):
What do you love to see in a Christmas collection? Do you like reading Christmas books to get you in the mood for the season? Anything you don’t like? It’s always helpful to know what you as a reader love to see or are over in your books.
The other thing I’m excited about is that I’m FINALLY rereleasing my former Love Inspired Suspense novel Trial by Fire. It will release on June 11, and is on preorder special for $2.99 in ebook formats if you buy it before then. It will also be available in paperback.
I just finished rereading/editing it last week. I’d forgotten how much I loved this story and these characters. Here’s more about Trial by Fire:
Her mother’s house was first. Then her brother’s. County prosecutor Tricia Jamison is sure she’s next on the arsonist’s list. But who is after her family? And why does every fire throw her in Noah Brust’s path?
Noah can’t forgive Tricia. Her failure to protect him on the stand the previous year meant his father’s reputation was ruined. Yet every time the firefighter is near her, he’s drawn to her again. The vulnerability she hides under her confident veneer surprises and moves him. Torn between Tricia’s safety and his own bitterness, Noah belatedly remembers the first rule of firefighting: don’t get burned.
Finally I’m trying to decide what novel to write next while I wait on news of my latest proposal. I’m considering writing a WWII romantic suspense novel I plotted years ago that involve the WASP pilots. Or I could write the third book in the series that Trial by Fire is part of. Any thoughts on what you’d like to see? It’s been a while since I’ve written WWII, and I miss it. All my research books are calling out to me. So many options!
I’m eager to see what you love about Christmas stories. And if you have thoughts on whether I should write a WWII or a contemporary, I’d love to know that as well!
Latest posts by Cara Putman (see all)
- Six Books I’m Excited to Read - November 14, 2024
- AI and Managing Time - October 24, 2024
- The Juggling World of Writers - October 10, 2024
I love to read Christmas stories because they often fill me with hope, warmth, and fond memories.
I would like to see you write a contemporary story next.
I love the hope, wonder, and positivity vein throughout Christmas stories.
I love Christmas stories any time of year. Christmas is the season of perpetual hope, where everyone is just a little nicer, people have more of a cheerful outlook, and then there is all the warm, cozy drinks/food you get at Christmas… hot chocolate, mulled cider, fudge, Christmas candy. And the holiday music!! Let’s just say that I love Christmas enough to have it year round. Our family actually does put up our Christmas tree before Halloween and usually do not take it down until just before Valentine’s Day (sometimes later).
Good for you! It’s a shame to spend all the time decorating and then it all down so quickly. I usually keep my tree up until the second week in January. Maybe you will inspire me to have an extended Christmas season.
I love this, Carla. Th eseason of perpetual hope!
I love stories about small towns with main streets decorated with greenery and twinkling lights. Also visiting all the shops along that street, especially a bakery and a bookshop. Best of all would be a chance encounter between two hopeless people, making eye contact that says this could mean something…after all, it’s the season of miracles.
I love reading Christmas stories all year long, the best part is family time, decorating the tree, taking the grandkids to see Santa. I love reading about different family traditions. Thanks for this amazingly generous giveaway.
I have to admit that I haven’t read a lot of Christmas stories. But the ones I have read, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. Oddly, I’ve picked them up at various times of the year. It’s always a good reminder of what the holiday is all about. They seem to have an extra dose of hopefulness in them, too! I am definitely looking forward to this one. Teresa will be a new-to-me author but I’m excited. Reading new authors is such an adventure! And I already adore the rest of the authors so that’s going to be fun! I would say to write the story that has the loudest characters at the moment… who is jumping up and down screaming, “Pick me! Pick me!” LOL
I love Christmas books. I start the beginning of November and read to the Epiphany. I call it my Christmas Marathon. I usually get in about 9 or ten books read. It gets me in the spirit of Christmas. I love a variety of them. If its Christmas its for me.
Love, love, LOVE Christmas stories! Love reading them all year long, not just at the holiday itself. There’s nothing like reading about snow and the spirit of Christmas during the hot and humid southern summers.
I enjoy reading Christmas stories from all time periods. It gives us a glimpse of how it was during each period learning some of the traditions from that era and maybe adding them to the present day on for ourselves. I love how Christmas stories remind us of the what’s important like thinking of others, giving instead of taking so much and spreading love through all different ways to all those around us and even to those far away.
I also enjoy reading about the hardships of the holidays – not being with loved ones, the stress of finding that just perfect gift, fighting the crowds and sometimes just wanting to stay in a closed room and scream. Because in “real” life the holidays aren’t always sugar plums and elf’n’ magic. It lets us know we are “normal” just like everyone else when we can’t keep a smile plastered on our faces 24/7.
So all in all, I love getting lost in Christmas story and feeling like I’m right there with the characters in the book.
I LOVE Christmas stories and start reading them in October usually though I can read one at any time really. I don’t necessarily love the big exec breaking down in a backwards town, etc., but if it’s Christmas, I’m still in. 🙂 I really love people finding their love for the season after a tough time in their life and finding someone to share their love with.
I always read Christmas stories from Thanksgiving until the second week in January. There are two authors I read that always publish a Christmas book each year, and I look forward to them. They help to get me in the mood for Christmas and spread love, hooe, and joy.
Write the WWII book next. I love Where Treetops Glisten – your story brought back personal memories to me.
I enjoy Christmasy snow scenes with twinkling lights and the smells of the season including a quaint town square. I read Christmas stories all year long.
Oh, I love Christmas stories! In a quaint little town in the mountains? Perfect! I love coffee shops, bakeries, bookshops, historic inns, antiques, families, reconciliation, romance, getting forever homes, pets, creatives (people). My list goes on and on!
I think either WWII or the third in the series would be good. 🙂
In Christmas collections, I love to see some continuity amongst the collection–for instance, using the same location, some of the same characters, either the same time period or a continued thread through different time periods, or an object passed down from one person to the next in the different stories. Disjointed stories don’t seem to belong in the same collection unless they have some things in common.
One thing that I have found that I enjoy is a continuing story through generations, but all-in-all, I just love Christmas! As far as contemporary or WW2, I enjoy both, so just go with what makes the most sense with what the others are writing.
Christmas stories are perfect with snow. (I was raised just below the equator; we never had snow.) I also enjoy a small-town, contemporary setting – two people meet unexpectedly … the rest is history. I enjoy reading all genres of your work.
I love Christmas stories. I usually make myself wait until Dec. 1–or at least after Thanksgiving.
The key is to somehow combine the traditional things we expect with the holidays that everyone has mentioned with a plot that’s a twist on the usual. I’ve seen lots of Christmas stories where someone from a big city goes back to their home town to close down a factory or something and runs into his high school sweetheart who has stayed in the old town all this time and is a supervisor in the factory. Or a Scrooge-ish man gentled by a sweet woman. Those are kind of tired and predictable, unless there’s some way to make it a new and different. I’ve also seen a couple where a group of unlikely people gets stranded together during a Christmas blizzard. That can be interesting and done several ways, depending on the characters. I also like when the main characters aren’t young–when a middle-aged or older person finds love or meaning or purpose.
I like what someone said about having a common thread through the collection of stories rather than just random novellas grouped together. Like the Christmas Heirloom by Becky Wade, Karen Witemeyer, and Kristi Ann Hunter. Each story involved a brooch that had been handed down through generations.
I love to start reading Christmas stories in November! I’m not particular what they contain!
I read Christmas books year round! I enjoy children’s nativity scenes, caroling, surprise gifts, food & recipes,. pretty cards, snow & walks outdoors…
I love the coziness, the hope and faith of the Christmas season. Christmas books somehow seem to capture the anticipation and joy we all experience as Christians waiting for Christ’s birth. For that reason, I don’t like it when Christmas books are too fluffy, cheesy, or romance-centered: that’s not the reason for the season, nor are we reading a cheap Hallmark movie. I like more depth and richness in Christmas novels. 🙂
I enjoy Christmas themed stories year round. The sense of wonder and awe draws me in each time.
I love Christmas stories anytime as they make me feel warm inside like a cozy blanket. I would rather you write a WWII book. Blessings
I do like Christmas stories, but so often they follow the same pattern and are very predictable. You are so good at suspense. Perhaps you could work suspense into your Christmas story, maybe something like all of the town’s holiday decorations disappear.
WWII suspense or book three in a suspense series? Both please!!!
And congratulations on the recognition from Purdue University!
I love to read Christmas stories any time of the year. They are always hopeful and so encouraging. Especially when things like this pandemic tries to bring you down. I love Christmas stories that reflect the real reason for the season.
I enjoy reading Christmas stories, especially novellas since its a busy time of year. I will read them pretty much any time of the year, but try to wait until Sept. or Oct. to start, just so I can get more in the Christmas mood. I love Christmas stories that are set in small towns where maybe a character from the outside comes to the small town like a fish out of water and ends up discovering hope and love while there.
I love Christmas stories that are set in quaint, welcoming small towns. When several authors collaborate, I enjoy them even more when the storylines intersect with each other. I usually spend December reading Christmas stories and watching Christmas Hallmark-style movies. I would love either a WWII or contemporary novel!
I love reading Christmas books. They help get me into the spirit of the season!
I do read Christmas stories closer to Christmas for the Christmas spirit! Congratulations on your re-release and your next upcoming Christmas novella!
I only read Christmas books during the winter season. I love to see family get-togethers, kids excited about opening presents and the Christmas story in Luke read by the father or grandfather to the family ChrIstmas night in a fiction story.
Thank you for the giveaway Cara!
setting
I love reading Christmas stories year round (I’m not limiting myself to just a few short weeks!), and I love to see a bit of mystery/surprise in them. I don’t like to see everything end up being trite and overused, which is sometimes easy to find just because there are some elements that just remain timeless.
I love Christmas stories! In fact, I will be doing a Christmas in July reading bonanza and reading a pile of Christmas books during that month. Christmas stories are so full of hope and happiness that you can’t help wanting to read them. I would love to see you write a contemporary.
I love reading Christmas stories any time of the year. I like stories that are fun and encouraging but not over the top romantic. The holidays are not easy for some people. I think you should write a contemporary book next.