I’ve never been one to do a lot of Christmas counting down. It’s not that I don’t love Christmas. I do. I’m just not one of those over the top, most wonderful time of the year kind of people. We decorate after Thanksgiving and it’s all usually put back away, with a happy sigh, just after New Year’s. And yet, as a writer, if you want to have a Christmas romance come out in a seasonally appropriate manner, you have to spend your summer (at the latest) thinking snow, angels, and Nativity scenes.
I did that this year.
It was horrible.
For me, at least, trying to think about winter and Christmas when it’s edging up on a hundred degrees outside with so much humidity that it’s possible you’d have an easier time breathing if you had gills, is hard. No matter the music on the stereo (and oh, I tried it all from Pentatonix to Celtic Woman and the amazing recording of Handel’s Messiah that we own…I just wasn’t getting there. Christmas in July is a nice idea but hard, for me, to internalize.
In the end, I finally managed to get in the groove, though I might have spent a little time standing in front of the freezer with the door open, remembering what it was like to be cold. And I’m pretty pleased with the novella that was the outcome. It’ll be part of a boxed set with several other lovely ladies, many of whom (maybe all of whom, now that I think about it) also blog here.
The side effect, though, has been difficult. See, usually I do my Christmas shopping in September and October. I like to be ahead of the curve and have it all wrapped up (pun…kind of intended) early. But I can’t bring myself to do it this year. I’m afraid I’m already suffering from a mild case of Christmas burnout.
So…what about you? Are you someone who could leave a tree up all year and revel in it? Or are you more on board with a shorter celebration? (Maybe somewhere in between?)
Elizabeth Maddrey is a semi-reformed computer geek and homeschooling mother of two who lives in the suburbs of Washington D.C. When she isn’t writing, Elizabeth is a voracious consumer of books. She loves to write about Christians who struggle through their lives, dealing with sin and receiving God’s grace on their way to their own romantic happily ever after.
Thank you for forcing yourself into the Christmas groove to write a novella! I enjoy reading about Christmas all year round, but I don’t actually celebrate for very long. Last year my family traveled, so I didn’t even put up a tree.
I’m one who always looks forward to decorating for Christmas, but should I be ashamed to admit that I’m even more anxious to get it down, and get back to normal? In recent years I’ve been known to take it down the day after Christmas. :-/
I can’t imagine trying to write a Christmas story in the middle of summer. I’m sure I would find it very difficult to get my mind to go there. As far as reading goes, I only read Christmas books during the late fall and into early January.
Hi, Elizabeth!!! I’m so glad you shoveled through and were able to write the story! Can’t wait to read it! I love Christmas, and snow, and snowballs, and decorating for Christmas. I would decorate before Halloween, if I could get away with it. I have snow stuff in my office usually from September to May. And, actually, now that I look around, my sign that says Woo Hoo It’s Winter! is still hanging here. Can’t take it home now! I’ll put the tree up Thanksgiving week, unless it’s a real one, then I have to wait until the first weekend in December. (My husband’s rule; something about a fire hazard as it gets closer to Christmas :)) I take it down after New Year’s though. Time to get the living room back to normal. I’ll leave other decorations up for a while though. I love Christmas, and snow, and snowballs!!
It wasn’t too torturous once I got into it :) I really like Gabe (the hero) quite a bit. :)
Traveling is good though! Where’d you go?
I’m like that (when I haven’t spent summer in Christmas mode.) Day after Thanksgiving, I’m ready! But by the day after Christmas, I’m good with taking it down.
That is absolutely the best time to read them, I think :) (our box set goes on preorder this week. And comes out 10/19, so mark your calendar.) :)
See, I’m all about winter and snow lasting outside (I do love the cold) but the decor and music have a limited time span in my world. :)
I love when November gets here and a local radio station starts playing Christmas music! I almost cry the day it stops…
Too funny.
Most years my tree goes up the day after Thanksgiving and comes down the day after Christmas. There have been exceptions though. :) I kind of dread getting out the tree and decorations this year because it always sets off my allergies, and it’s been a rough allergy year for me already. That being said, I love looking at the tree and decorations so I will suffer through the stuffy head and headaches that are sure to follow. :)
Glad you were able to finish your novella! I agree with you, writing a Christmas book in the summer is a challenge. I wrote mine in the Spring and finished by the end of June.
As I get older,Christmas decorating gets smaller.
I do love Christmas especially food and music.
I used to have my Christmas shopping knocked out before September even started. This year, though, I’ve only got one or two presents bought right now. I’m learning to appreciate each season in its own time and not get too far ahead of myself, even if Christmas is my favorite holiday of all.
Elizabeth, I happen to know that you did a stellar job getting into the Christmas spirit and writing a great novella! I give you dispensation to decorate less and put your feet up more during the actual Christmas season. ;)
Thank you for your sacrifice! Standing in front of the freezer – great “research”. :)
umm…. does the fact that I still have a little tree up on an end table (because I keep forgetting to take it down) count as reveling in Christmas all year long? Because then, yes :)
Do you get allergies even with a fake tree? Yikes!
Well now, I love food all the time. :) but Christmas does give a good excuse! As my boys get older, we’re doing more. But I know that’ll taper off as they hit their teens and move on. I’m trying to embrace it for now.
Yes. I’m allergic to Christmas trees. But the fake tree and decorations collect invisible dust through the season and when I take it back out of the box all that dust scatters and I have a hard time recovering from it. It’s a bummer, but doesn’t stop me from decorating. :)
Appreciating everything in its season is an important (and hard!) Lesson.
Aw, thanks Lee! I’ll say the same for you :)
It was ok until I spotted the ice cream :)
Ha! That totally counts :) I have friends who have a tree up all year – they decorate it differently for each holiday. I’ll admit it’s fun to see, but all that effort…I’m a decorate once and done girl.
Me too! So much so that I never take it down LOL
Oh the dust. Yeah…that’s definitely a problem. Thankfully I have a hubby who is a dusting fanatic, so he does a lot of pre-wiping down before it gets inside. :)
Christmas…. in an ideal world, I’d write my Christmas 2016 release right after Christmas 2015. I don’t think that’s gonna happen, though. Writing it in July/August did take some serious imagination to get into the mood!
Right??? If I only had an idea for what that’d be and how it’d fit with the rest of my 2016 books…
I like to put up my Christmas tree on Thanksgiving and leave it up until January 15th. I just enjoy watching the lights twinkle and sparkle every night. I would put Christmas lights up in my apartment all year long but my family frowns on that. Thank you for perservering this summer so we can enjoy the fruit of your labor.
I love to read Christmas stories. :-) We usually put our tree and decorations up early and leave them up longer than some people. I love Christmas.
I confess, I put our Christmas decorations up on November 1st. It’s a lot of work getting everything out of the attic and decorating, so I like to enjoy it for as long as we can. Of course, when my father comes to visit he asks, “What happened to Thanksgiving?” :) I love reading Christmas stories anytime of the year.
You know, I used to be like that. Then chasing kids out of the tree made is stressful. Now that they’re (hopefully) old enough to realize that they need to stay out, maybe this year I can enjoy it more. And possibly longer. (Though my eldest has an early January birthday and he always wants it down before his party. Which I totally get.)
We’ve got a great mix of long and short decorators here. It’s fun to see!
November 1st! Wow. Though I will say I think Christmas decorations at Thanksgiving are fine (ours usually go up the next day, so really, what’s a day either way?) :)
I shop all year for family gifts, Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, etc., but I tend to celebrate Christmas after Thanksgiving. I am baffled and overwhelmed with radio stations and stores that start playing Christmas music in October. Before Christmas arrives I’m already tired of it and it robs me of joy. So I do my shopping early, listen to audio books instead of the radio, and enjoy a Thanksgiving gathering with family and friends and then I start thinking about trading my pumpkins for a nativity and preparing my home for a Christmas celebration that honors the God I love. I’m probably in the minority, but I like to think of it as tradition.
Not in the minority at all! From this little sampling here. I’d say we’re split pretty evenly.
I can’t even begin to think about Christmas until after Thanksgiving….before that time I am a Bah Humbug kinda person….lol!! I’m not a real over-the-top, let’s decorate every single corner of my house green & red, Christmas music blaring for 2 months gal….I’m more of a mediocre *meh* maybe the tree might get up just before Christmas eve :-) I guess for me, it’s so commercialized lately & the real meaning of Christmas is lost on a lot of people… I mean you can’t even say “Merry Christmas” without offending someone ( I still say that anyway!). So, even though I still do like the Christmas season, we try to keep our minds on Christ, because after all, He is the reason for the season :-)
I read Christmas fiction (and non-fiction) year round, but I’m not a countdown-to-Christmas person. I enjoy sending out Christmas cards, decorating our house inside, hanging my Christmas wreath on the front door, and sewing up some fun gifts and ornaments for friends and acquaintances. I hardly do any shopping since I like to give handmade gifts. Oh, and I love listening to sacred and secular Christmas music and watching my favorite traditional Christmas movies like ‘The Nutcracker Ballet’, ‘A Christmas Carol’, and ‘White Christmas’. **Thank you for writing a fun holiday romance for us all to enjoy, Elizabeth! Best holiday wishes to you and the other InspyRomance authors and readers. Sincerely, June
I still say Merry Christmas as well – I’ve never had anyone look at me sideways about it. SO that’s at least something. :)
I decorate for autumn around the first of October, then switch to Christmas within a few days after Thanksgiving. My Christmas stuff comes down before the new year so I get my mind focused on what lies ahead. :)