Happy Belated Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it. It’s not a tradition we have here in New Zealand, but I have actually attended a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner while I lived in Japan, and while that was probably non-traditional, it was a lot of fun. Thanksgiving this year would have felt very different if you’re used to celebrating with friends and family. I can sort of relate. I’ve been sick for most of this week, so I’ve been unable to socialise and have found myself really missing my friends. What I’ve started doing which is making a big difference has been to watch live streaming videos of people doing pretty repetitive tasks on YouTube. Listening to them chat about their day or week while I work on catching up on my to-do list helps me feel connected to the world.
When I worked in Japan, Christmas, which in my family, tends to be a big deal, was not a public holiday, and usually ended up being the last day of term. I realised that if I wanted things to feel like Christmas, I had to make the effort, because there would be none of the usual Christmas things going on. So I made sure I did something special on Christmas Day, whether that was cooking a ridiculously over the top dinner just for me (and then having amazing leftovers for the next few days), saving a treat for myself, like a book I really wanted to read but wasn’t allowed to open, or organising a chat or Skyping with family and friends. Last year, I had to work Christmas Day, so decided to make a new tradition for myself: watching The Addams Family movie Christmas Eve. I’m already looking forward to watching it again this year!
The reason for this post was not to tell everyone to go and watch The Addams Family, although you totally should. It was to let you know that The Christmas Party, Read by Candlelight #14 is now live on Amazon.
The Christmas Party.
Tidings of comfort and—ghosts?
As the solitary inhabitant of a notoriously haunted house, Micah Evanovitch is braced for another miserable Christmas. He passes his days playing the piano, brooding on his failure to produce a sonata worthy of the woman he loved, and hiding from the world. When a wilful heiress decides his house is the perfect location for her spooky Christmas soiree, Micah’s very existence is threatened. Will the party provide Micah with the chance to put his past behind him—or further cement his failures?
Pippa Goodfellow has five thousand pounds a year and a simple wish: to scare the socks off her infuriatingly superior cousin Julian and his odious friend Bryant. But when her revenge threatens the professional reputation of her beloved Uncle, Pippa needs Micah’s help to ward off disaster. Can an eternal pessimist and hopeless optimist ever find common ground? Or will Pippa’s Christmas Party end in Christmas tragedy for all?
The Christmas Party is the fourteenth in the Read by Candlelight series of standalone novellas featuring an LGBTQIA+ cast. Pairs nicely with Christmas mince pies and ginger beer. Read now to help revive the tradition of ghost stories on Christmas Eve.