Christmas Magic is Live!

This was one of those stories that demanded to be written. Set in the Eerie Side of the Tracks universe, Christmas Magic takes place between Witchfire Burning and Light Magic. It was fun to write because I really love Quinn and the other characters in the story. It is now available for download from Amazon.

Here’s a short snippet:

“Well, are you ready for Christmas yet?”

I looked to my left and smiled. Annie Caldwell, one of my oldest and dearest friends, walked down the sidewalk in my direction. As she neared, she greeted some of the other parents lined up, waiting for school to be dismissed. Her question could have been for any of them, but I knew better. I didn’t need to see the amusement sparkling in her blue eyes or the slight smile on her lips to know she meant me. After all, she’d asked me that very same question every day for the past week. My answer each time had been the same, just as it would be now.

“Nope.” I grinned and pushed away from the SUV I’d been leaning against. “I still have a week.”

Annie chuckled and shook her head. “You could get away with that when we were kids, Quinn, but I have a feeling Ali’s not going to put up with it now that school’s out for the holiday.”

Oh, she didn’t know the half of it. My six-year-old little girl had been pestering me and her grandmother almost to the end of our patience about Christmas. When were we going to put up the Christmas tree? Why hadn’t we decorated the house yet? Robbie’s house was already decorated and Miss Annie said she had all her Christmas shopping done. Why were we being so slow about it?

Then there was the crowning argument—how would Santa know to stop at our house if we didn’t decorate soon?

“Trust me, she’s well ahead of the game where that’s concerned.”

Before I could say anything else, the school bell rang. Moments later, the front doors opened and kids poured out. Their joy and excitement flowed out ahead of them. This was more than a normal Friday dismissal and those were exciting enough. No, today started their almost three-week-long winter break. All that time without school and homework. Better yet, Santa would soon arrive and that meant new toys and books and who knew what other wonderful things.

Christmas truly was a magical time, especially in Mossy Creek.

I hadn’t always felt that way. There had been a time when I couldn’t wait to leave town. After high school, I did exactly that. I went to college in Dallas, but that wasn’t far enough away from Mossy Creek. When I graduated, I accepted a job in Montana and didn’t look back. At least not until Ali called fire and wind. Then, let’s just say I couldn’t get back to Mossy Creek fast enough.

Now I looked forward to Ali’s first Christmas in my childhood home. I’d loved the white Christmases in Montana. There’s something special about waking on Christmas morning to a world blanketed in bright, clean snow. Fireplaces burning and hot cocoa, spiked or not, in front of the Christmas tree should have completed the perfect picture. But it all paled when compared to Christmas here, surrounded by family and friends. Even if those Christmases more often than not were spent in jeans and tee shirts and, occasionally, shorts. That I could now give all that to Ali meant the world to me.