Addicted to Holiday Stories with Seleste deLaney

Today I have another fellow Carina Press author, but she also writes for Decadent Publishing and Evernight Publishing. What a lady... Take it away Seleste deLaney!

A Few of My Favorite Reasons

Last year I wrote two holiday stories and swore I’d never do it again. After all, who has time to promo in December?

Then Evernight Publishing listed a call for their holiday anthology. I managed to ignore it since I was hard at work on other things at the time, but slowly this germ of an idea took hold in my brain and wouldn’t let go. If I re

The question remained though—why do this to myself at all? Why Christmas stories? For me, the answer is complex. Winter is my favorite season. I’m a total snow bunny. But beyond that, the holidays are such a turbulent time for me that I value the escape a good story provides. Don’t get me wrong, I love the season, but over the years the family has dealt with death, fights, emotional confessions and all sorts of bad things right around Christmas. More suicides happen in December than any other month. No matter how joyous the season is supposed to be, it’s also a time that a lot of people need to be somewhere else mentally. They need happily ever afters and they need hope.call the timeline correctly, I got Making the Naughty List (my follow-up to last year’s story) in just under the deadline. Right around then, the opportunity came up to have The Ghost of Vampire Present put in an anthology at Decadent Publishing. It wasn’t going to be new, so I figured it wouldn’t involve more promo and said yes. (More on this story in a bit.)

My Evernight stories (Yes, Alana, There Is a Santa Claus from last year as well as this year’s Making the Naughty List) are all about the happily ever after. They’re about finding love in times of pain and hardship and sadness. Okay, so they’re also about randy elves, but that’s not the point. They embrace the magic of the season and put it on display. They’re the lights and tinsel for people’s imaginations.

Then there’s The Ghost of Vampire Present. Like A Christmas Carol (where my story gets its strange little name from), it’s a story about fears and hope, and about closing your eyes and trusting your heart while you take a leap of faith. (Okay, and it’s also about a randy vampire, but again, that’s not the point.) While my Evernight stories might be the magic, for me, The Ghost of Vampire Present is the soul of the season. It’s all the stresses and joys and fears rolled up into one package.

For that, and other reasons, I was able to ignore the extra promotional pressure when Decadent asked if I wanted to make it the December Read for a Cure book. I will be promoting my butt off this month because all publisher proceeds for the sale of The Ghost of Vampire Present in December go

to the American Cancer Society (I will also be donating fifty cents for every copy sold to Relay for Life). And every second I spend telling people about this project is time well-spent.

So, why do I write holiday stories? Because I believe in magic, and I believe the only way people really get to feel the magic in the world around them is through hope. And I can’t think of a better time of the year to put those things together in the creation of a story.

I’m giving away a digital copy of last year’s Evernight anthology ‘Twas a Dark and Delicious Christmas to one commenter who tells me the emotion that the Christmas season most brings to mind for them.

Thanks so much Seleste for visiting and for your generous giveaway. I can't wait to read the comments. Seleste's draw will be announced on Saturday.