Love at Christmas: A New Christmas Novella from Daryl Devore

One of my dear author friends has just released a very different, very special Christmas novella that I’m so happy to introduce you to today. Please welcome Daryl Devore with Christmas Notes.

Christmas Notes

 

Just released – Christmas Notes – a Christmas romance novella. Grab a hot chocolate, a cozy blanket, cuddle down on the couch and enjoy.

 

Writer’s Inspiration

One question writers get asked – a lot -, “Where do you get your inspiration from?”

Most of the time I’m stuck for an answer. Stories just come to me.

Another question is, “What was your playlist for this book?”

I don’t have playlists. I write in silence. Distractions distract me. I’m a bit ADD. Oh, look a chicken. Is there chocolate?

There was a suggestion for writing a seasonal novella – a short story that focused on the holiday season. I thought it sounded like a fun idea.

But it was mid-Oct and I couldn’t get into the Christmas spirit – heck it wasn’t even Canadian Thanksgiving yet. (I’m Canadian.) The grass was still green. The flowers were still in bloom. The Canada Geese hadn’t even flown south yet. How was I supposed to be feeling the Christmas spirit?

Without spending hours watching Christmas movies, or hauling out our Christmas tree weeks in advance, I decided to pop on my headphones and listened to Christmas music – not just any Christmas music – Trans Siberian Orchestra. If you’ve never listened to them – give it a go. Wow – their take on Christmas music is phenomenal. One song in particular – Carol of the Bells. (Technically, its name on the album cover is Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24.) To catch a listen – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6FhOb7-1dg

The story behind their version of the song – On Christmas Eve, a lone man challenges the war by playing music on the rubble of his war-ravaged city – Sarajevo. When you listen to this song, you can hear the beauty and then the destruction – the jarring rock music portraying the bombs and chaos.

In my story, Christmas Notes, the rock music represents Giselle’s life. It’s a mess. Not the life she’d planned and something she was truly embarrassed about.

Giselle, is you or I. No one special, but life kicked her down once too often. There by the grace of God go I – that line wasn’t the basis for the story – the music was – but it does help understanding.

The story follows the same structure of the song – calm – chaos – calm – chaos then resolution. All in under 10,000 words.

So for once, I can answer two interview questions –

“Where do you get your inspiration from?”

Trans Siberian Orchestra’s Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24

“What was your playlist for this book?”

Trans Siberian Orchestra’s Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24

Excerpt:

Rock bottom is hard. And I’d smashed up against it. Bruised not only my pride, but also my body. Guess that’s what happens when you haven’t eaten in a few days and pass out on the sidewalk in front of the largest department store witnessed by hundreds of Christmas shoppers. And all of them with cell phones recording another titillating moment in the biggest city in the country. Yeah, it just wasn’t my day.

Tears stung my eyes as I shifted to my hands and knees while watching feet scurry past. I didn’t look up. Didn’t want to see their faces. The judgmental disdain and embarrassment etched into their frosty red cheeks. Their sanctimonious scorn of myself and the condition to which I’d sunk. Their chagrin of not being willing to help and of desperately trying to pretend I was invisible.

Icy droplets fell from the sky, settling on my neck. It wasn’t quite snow, but was no longer rain. And it was raw cold. To my core. I pushed up to standing, brushing away the frigid sleet from my arms and legs. I pressed my scraped palm against my hip to stop the bleeding then checked my bag. It and its contents seemed all right. Yes, my existence has been reduced to having pretty much everything I own in a bag or two.

My life wasn’t always like this. How I got here doesn’t matter. Another sad sob story. A cruel twist of fate. A dream shattered. I could go on using a dozen more clichés, but I’m pretty sure you get the idea.

So again, I say, hitting rock bottom is hard. And, I might add, it sucks.

 

Blurb:

Can a slice of pizza and a flute erase the ravages of life and allow Giselle and Ethan to fall in love by Christmas?

Collapsing in front the biggest department store in the city on one of the busiest days of the holiday season was not how Giselle imagined her day. Cold and hungry, she trudged through her daily existence wondering if she’d ever find happiness again.

Teenagers. Ethan loved working with them and turning their raw musical talent into something beautiful and rewarding, but that didn’t fill the black void in his soul.

Like fate, the songwriters’ muse nudged Giselle and Ethan together. But can Giselle overcome her fears and can Ethan get past the darkness that surrounds him, so they can find love?

Buy Links

Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09L7954ST

Books2Read – https://books2read.com/u/3keqvO

Please note – this book will only be available in ebook form as it is too short to be printed in paperback form.

 

Bio and Social Media:

Two writers in one. Daryl Devoré writes hot romances with sexy heroes and strong heroines and sweet romances with little to no heat. She has several published books available on Amazon in ebook, print and audio. Also, available at other book retailers via Books2Read.

Daryl (@daryldevore) lives in an old farmhouse in Ontario, Canada, with her husband and 2 cats. Daryl loves to take long walks on her quiet country road or snowshoe across the back acres, and in the summer, kayak along the St. Lawrence River. She has touched a moon rock, a mammoth, and a meteorite. She’s been deep in the ocean in a submarine, flown high over Niagara Falls in a helicopter, and used the ladies room in a royal palace. Life’s an adventure and Daryl’s having fun living it.

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