Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I hope your holidays started wonderfully.

At Thanksgiving, my holiday season began slow and easy, yet this week turned hectic. How does that happen? I plan for low-stress, and then the busy-ness crowds into these last few days.

We have the 12 Days of Christmastide before us, which will end on Epiphany, January 6.

Let’s start your Christmastide with my annual gifts, three free stories for the three Wise Men who will appear on Epiphany.

The Newest ~ 1st Free Story

Here’s the short story I finished on Monday before life became busy-busy: “A Wintry Light.”

The story features the lockpick Vic, five years after his first entrance into my story world. The story captures him in London when he reaches 16 and an unexpected crossroad.

December 1819 disrupts Vic’s place with his chosen family.

For five years Vic has ignored his criminal past in Liverpool. Life in London offered family warmth and a hopeful future.

Then a drastic change in the Hoppack household disrupts his life. The only solution he can think of requires him to strike out on his own. He’ll need money for that.

Desperate, he offers his lock-picking skills to the boss of London’s underworld—only to discover the boss has been waiting for an opportunity to exploit Vic.

Here’s the Book Funnel link, right now the only place where you can access this story: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/fa7ra3paz7

The Earliest ~ 2nd Free Story

My earliest short story, written as a challenge for myself, is properly called a novelette. “The Lion’s Den” was intended to be 7,000 words; it finished at over 17,000. It surprised me and taught me and changed my view of short fiction.

Escaping the Lion’s den needs more than a warrior angel.

Jack Portman had never forgotten Filly Malvaise.

Then she walked into his local pub and into the clutches of a loan shark.

Can he rescue her before she falls victim to evil?

Find this story on Book Funnel: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/zjnmxoc3rb

A Favorite ~ 3rd Free Story

With “Three Yule Feasts for the Faeries” I’m hiding as a collaborator with my other pen name, Edie Roones. This short story is a historical fantasy in my Wild Sherwood series and is in my first collection of short stories, Into Wild Sherwood.

After all the cooking I’ve done this week, I thought I would share a Medieval cook with you. I hope the ending is a surprise.

Will the cook become the final dish?

Yule, the worst time of year for Ellen Best. Few buy her breads at Market. No one will hire her for their Winter Feast.

Then a Faerie knocks at her door. Two dinners, he proposes, and a final feast for his duchess. After each, she’ll receive three purses, copper and silver and gold.

What did the Faerie mean by final feast?

Find it on Book Funnel: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/vdrreau7sr

These links will be active throughout Christmastide.

Enjoy your Christmas gifts throughout the 12 Days of Christmastide.