Nowhere for Christmas was originally published in 2013. It was a good year.
My debut novel was published that year, as were two novellas, two additional novels, and a short story.
The thing is, I didn’t know a lot about writing yet. Or publishing.
So none of those books/stories published that year were written in what writers refer to as Deep POV where we try to pull the reader more effectively into the mind of the character(s).
And I hadn’t learned to write with action beats yet. (That’s where we use action to show who is doing the talking rather than constantly using the word “said”.)
I still sometimes (um…maybe “often” is a more accurate word…) apologize to people when they tell me they’ve read one of those early books.
But…the publishing rights to Nowhere for Christmas were returned to me last year, and I was able to update and edit the book and put it into a box set. Now it’s ready to re-release as a solo title on April 10th.
Yay!
I’m excited. I love the story and the characters. And now I feel like the writing does them justice better than it did before. Here’s to hoping that’s true!
I know. April’s an odd month to release a Christmas book. That’s just how it turned out. April wasn’t my original plan. I can roll with it, though.
I’ll give you the back cover blurb and then an excerpt so you can check the book out. Be sure to scroll down, though. There’s a giveaway listed at the bottom.
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Two virtual strangers, one teen, and the worst rental car in the history of mankind…
Let the road trip begin.
Avery Weston is a journalist and mom to teenager Eli. Gavin Eastly is an enigmatic photographer.
A botched schedule lands them all in a rental car for Christmas. With everything that goes wrong, it’ll take a miracle to get them anywhere. But miracles come in surprising packages – like a bait shop owner moonlighting as a mechanic and a deputy whose family can’t agree on how to remove a skunk’s stink.
It’s the perfect recipe for romance.
Join Avery, Eli, and Gavin as they learn that reaching the destination doesn’t mean the journey’s over. God has so much more in store for them.
After all—anything can happen on the road to Nowhere.
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“Gavin’s traveling with you. This was a last-minute push by Corporate, and he hasn’t had a chance to get out there ahead of you. He’ll…” Mitchell cleared his throat. “He’ll be making the trip with you.”
A large stone dropped into her stomach with a loud kplunk.
Gavin Eastly had once been a rising star in photojournalism. He’d fallen off the radar a couple years back and had only recently started working again. The fact that he was doing work for the Albuquerque Times spoke to how far from grace he’d fallen. There was a story there. She could smell it. When someone as good at their job as he’d been, though, disappeared as suddenly as he had, the assumption tended to be a stint in rehab or a behavioral health hospital. Maybe both.
She bit her lip. “Mitchell, I’ve never met Gavin. The only things I know about him are the photos he takes… and his reputation. I’m not sure I want to be confined with him for such a long trip.”
Her editor watched her but didn’t speak.
Avery hated when he got all impassive on her. She always ended up saying more than she intended. “My teenage son will be with me. What if Gavin has… bad habits… that might influence Eli?”
His lips twitched, but his voice remained somber. “Gavin’s story is his own to tell.”
It was her turn to cross her arms and stare.
With a camaraderie built from years working together, Mitchell sat back as he looked her in the eye. “You don’t have to worry about Gavin being a bad influence on Eli.”
“I need more information. You ought to know that about me.”
Mitchell’s scowl lacked its usual bite. “Close the door.”
Eyebrows raised, Avery rose to shut the door then pulled her chair closer to the desk so she didn’t miss anything.
“Gavin is family.”
Avery’s stomach fluttered like it did when she was on the scent of a big story. “Family?”
“On my wife’s side. That’s all I can tell you, and you need to keep it quiet.”
“Why is it a secret?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Smoking, drinking, drugs? Anything I should watch for?”
“I wouldn’t be sending you anywhere with him if he had any dangerous issues. He’s clean, Avery. And a good guy. He’s having a hard time right now is all.”
“Mental breakdown? Do I need to make sure the knives are removed from the table whenever we stop to eat?”
His eyes narrowed and his voice grew deeper than usual. “He’s an amazing photographer. Good enough to make even the ugliest town look beautiful.” The easy posture was gone as Mitchell leaned forward. “Don’t give him any grief, and do your best not to ask questions. That’s all I’m willing to say about it.”
She wasn’t going to let it drop that easily. He should know that about her by now. “Fine. I’ll go. When do we leave, and whose car are we taking?”
Mitchell sat back, his brow wrinkling. “Uh, I’ve lined up a rental. It’s in your name, and they will come pick you up at your house tomorrow morning at ten. Gavin is supposed to text you in the A.M. to let you know where to pick him up.”
“Sounds like a plan.” She forced a wide smile. “Thanks for setting everything up!”
Avery breezed out of Mitchell’s office and resisted the urge to take a backward peek. She’d left him guessing, something she couldn’t often accomplish with her boss. He hadn’t been able to hide his surprise or suspicion, though, and she reveled in that.
As for the rest, she would drop her questions about Gavin when purple monkeys started dancing on the hood of the rental car Mitchell had reserved.
You can read another excerpt here if you’d like.
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Now it’s time for a giveaway! The winner will receive a $5 Amazon gift card.
In Nowhere for Christmas, the main characters are on a road trip to the teeny tiny town of Nowhere, Oklahoma.
To enter the giveaway, comment below and tell me about the strangest or most unique town name you’ve seen. Or, if you can’t think of any oddly named towns, tell me about a road trip you’ve been on.
***
A WINNER HAS BEEN SELECTED AND NOTIFIED.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO COMMENTED!!
Heather Gray loves coffee, God, her family, and laughter – not necessarily in that order! She writes approachable characters who, through the highs and lows of life, find a way to love God, embrace each day, and laugh out loud right along with her. And, yeah, her books almost always have someone who's a coffee addict. Some things just can't be helped. Despite their different lives and situations, Heather’s characters have something in common. They're all flawed...but loved anyway.
Loved the excerpts! I’m ready for Christmas in April.
I understand losing a child and the creativity it can bring along with a deeper understanding of God’s love and presence even in the darkest spaces. And the new beginnings with the ‘new normal’.
I’m not so good at remembering place names or funny signs or number plates.☹️
Hi Heather, thanks for sharing:) Funniest/oddest named town- we have loads here in Australia: Nowhere Else (on the Eyre Peninsula), Bing Bong, Broke and Dum Dum to name just a few.
Blessings:)
While researching where to stay on the Outer Banks I ran across a town called “Last Chance”. The name struct me as a great place for a book. Christmas in April doesn’t sound so far fetched here in upstate Vermont. Winter storm Stella dropped over 30 inches of snow and yesterday we received another 6 inches.
Thanks for sharing your new release with us, it looks great!
Thanks for sharing the excerpt, Heather and congratulations! Some of the most unique town names I’ve come across have been in West Virginia, where I was born. Names like “Otter Lick” and “Big Otter” always made me laugh as a child. They definitely had a thing for otters. :)
Hugs. New normal is a good way to put it. And that’s okay – sometimes our brains are too full of important stuff to remember the oddball stuff. (At least, that’s what I tell myself whenever I forget something I wanted to remember.) :)
I love those names! I wish I knew enough about Australia to be able to write a story there – just for the sake of the town names! ^_^
Oye! It sounds like you’ve had quite a winter. Brr. We’ve only had one decent snow storm all winter (it was melted within two days), but I was out of town when it happened, so I didn’t even get to enjoy it. I felt a bit cheated…until I remembered the winters where we had feet of snow. I’ll enjoy my nice, mild winter this year. Who knows what next year will bring? :)
Those are fabulous names Jill! I was doing some research on West Virginia yesterday and came across a story about the town of Mole Hill, WV. The citizens of the town petitioned to change the town’s name and ultimately succeeded. The town is now called Mountain, WV. They successfully turned a mole hill into a mountain… I still haven’t double-checked to see if that was a true story or if my leg was being pulled, but it has a certain West Virginia authenticity to it, don’t you think? :)
My sister was visiting yesterday and singing Christmas songs to my baby while rocking him to sleep. I must have given her an odd look because she just shrugged and told me she couldn’t come up with another soft song to sing. (So I’d guess she wouldn’t mind a Christmas story in April.)
There are a few interesting names in Upstate NY thought mostly indigenous names (that I can hardly spell) that always get my attention. One of the oddest thing to me was how names changed abruptly as we’d drive to a town name Taughannock next to the Village of Hercules and Ulysses. They seemed so out of place. Maybe not since they were all between rivers Cayuga and Seneca. So a mixture of ancient literature and indigenous cultures.
Ever hear of Husband, PA…wondering if they have wife and kid’s hidden in the burbs ;) This storyline looks great! How fun would it be to go on a road trip w a teen (not, been there done that) and add the random mystery guy in the mix! Oh, this should be great! Cant’ wait to check it out…yeah, Christmas in April…ah…who care’s…where there’s a great book no one care’s the season within! :) Best wishes on the growing of this book baby!
I think Scrooby, England where the Pilgrims came from is strange. My grandfather came from Buckfastleigh and my grandmother from Stalybridge.
I have family that lives in a small town called Pleasureville. It’s not incredibly unique or odd, but I still think it’s a great name.
We live about 25-30 miles from a little town (really it’s just a tiny little thing) named Tarzan, TX. BTW….I love your book Nowhere For Christmas! It’s just so funny and a great story!
I live in WV and I always thought the community of Droop was funny, as it’s on the top of a mountain and when I think of droop I think sagging. Just tickles me.
Blessings
Ha. I must live in a Civil War state (Virginia), because you said Ulysses, and my mind immediately went to Ulysses S. Grant (Union General during the Civil War and later President of the United States) instead of going to ancient literature. Even though you’d think “Hercules” would have clued me in to the literary nature of the name. ;) Incidentally, I have a friend whose husband whistles a lot and would apparently whistle Christmas music all year long, except that she banned it. He’s only allowed November and December for Christmas music. He can still whistle the rest of the year – just not Christmas music. ;)
I think I’ve read a book placed in Husband, PA! But never did it occur to me to wonder about the wife and kids… ;)
English names are SO fun! And, unfortunately, we Americans tend to butcher them. I studied medieval literature in college – mostly English lit – and it seemed like every single one of my professors had to give us a tutorial on the proper way to say certain names – both for towns and for characters. Like Gloucester is pronounced “Gloster” and Dartmouth is pronounced “Dartmth” (or “Dartmuth” if you can’t stand to not have vowel there). I’ve written a couple of regency romances, and I had a lot of fun studying the map of England as I looked for places for my characters to visit and for events to unfold.
They should totally market that town to tourists! “Looking for a place to spend a few leisure days to rest and relax? Come to Pleasureville where all your troubles are forgotten…” ^_^
Tarzan, TX – That’s LOL good. I’ll have to remember that one. And thank you – I’m really glad you enjoyed Nowhere for Christmas!
Congrats Heather on your single release. A fun read. Read it in the box set. Not really ready for Christmas in April. Received my fill of reading Christmas stories from October to January. So many great boxed sets = 100 novellas all together. While there are many Valentine stories. Which there were some for Easter and spring.
Living in Michigan. I have been to both HELL (town in the lower peninsula) and PARADISE (a town in the upper peninsula). We have many towns named after famous Indians or Indian tribes and French named towns. We even have CHRISTMAS, Michigan (in the UP). Being retired we enjoy back road trips and often wonder how certain towns received their names.
Best wishes and happy writing.
Lucy – that’s hysterical! I was in WV last week, and as I was driving through, I saw this road – and now I can’t remember the name of it – but it gave me this mental pictures of squirrels in Army combat gear. (I know it had “Squirrel” in the name – I just don’t remember the rest of it.) I have a feeling that West Virginia is FULL of fun and interesting names! :-)
Wish we had Spring and Easter, Mother’s Day, etc. stories.
That’s a LOT of novellas! I’m glad you enjoyed reading them. :) I was talking to someone about a box set yesterday. They’re planning a spring set for 2018 – so hopefully there will be some more of those coming for readers to enjoy. :)
Interestingly, when I first started planning Nowhere for Christmas, I was looking for a town called Christmas. Somehow, along the way of looking at different towns named Christmas, I came across the town of Nowhere, and it clicked right into place for me – I knew that was the story I needed to write. ^_^
Thanks for sharing the excerpt. I so enjoy reading your stories and look forward to this one as well.
Mother’s Day would be an interesting set. For that to work in romance, the heroines would likely need to be single moms.
Our worst/best road trip was in an old car with no air conditioning,in the summer, heading down 95 to Georgia. We had a toddler and two preteens at the time. We sat in traffic forever while road repairs were being done. We finally stopped for the night thinking it would be better the next morning. It was not. So…..we gave up on the direct route down 95 and headed into the mountains. The scenery was gorgeous. It was so much cooler and we got the best peaches from a road side stand!
My dad is from eastern Kentucky and there are a a few unusual names in that area but one of the best is Totz. Yes, it is really spelled with a z. There’s also an area called Crummies Meadow that used to be known as Crummies Creek. I’m not really sure how that change happened.
Congrats on your release!! I’m sitting here trying to think of odd names and do you think any could come to mind? Of course not. But I do remember going to my grandmothers house when I was growing up and we passed a town called Florida. We live in central NY so you can see why this made us chuckle. If only Florida were so close!!
We have a town in Missouri called Peculiar. I’m sure people make fun of their name. There’s a town in Iowa called Tenville. But they have more like 12 people now! Haha!
Loved Nowhere for Christmas! Congrats on the re-release.
I remember reading this story and loving it. There were some very interesting moments and suspense. Avery sure has a lot of questions doesn’t she?
I live in England and there so many villages with odd names here. Ugley, Hately, Pickling, Soggy Bottom Little Snoring… Those are just a few in our area!
LOL, the old version of Nowhere for Christmas is on my KIndle, still in my TBR list. One of the first Chirstian romance ebooks I bought, actually!
A few years ago we went on a road trip from Texas to Wyoming. As soon as we crossed the border into New Mexico, I started sneezing and I did not stop until we crossed the Colorado border. It was horrible! I dreaded the return trip, but thank goodness it rained the entire time, so that helped a little bit. I guess you could say I’m allergic to New Mexico, lol!
Mom used to pack us up in the car and head off w/us in tow to visit her Grandma, my great grandma. Along the way we always passed an exit for “Noodle Dome Rd”. She always said she wanted to take that exit someday, just to see where it led. She was always in too much of a hurry to get to Grandma’s–she never did explore that exit. I don’t travel that highway anymore, so I have no idea if that exit is still marked or if that road still exists. But what a thoroughly intriguing mystery that road name is. What exactly is a Noodle Dome anyway?
In northern California there are 2 towns 4 miles apart – Igo and Ono :-)
When I first read Nowhere for Christmas it was in July. I loved the book. I laughed so hard at the situations that happened in the rental car. I loved the creativity with the writing. This book has continued to be one that I really loved reading. With all the books I read, Some tend to be forgotten with time but this one still remains fresh on my mind.
Living in the Appalachian mountains I have seen many unusual name for streets, mountains and towns. One such is Chunky Gal the name of a mountain that is also what the locals call the area. Then there is a street named Bugskuffle that is going to be the name of a tiny town in my wip.
LOL! That’s hilarious, Heather. It sure sounds like a WV thing. :)
Thanks Heather for this blog & for the contest. :)
On my way to CT, just after my mom had passed last July… I went past a town (or maybe a road) called…. PROMISE LAND!!
The timing couldn’t have better to see that sign!! :)
Oh, I just looked it up… it’s a State Park in Pa!! LOL
That’s really funny. My first year in the US I was actually feeling a strong urge to sing Christmas songs all through the summer (probably for 2-3 weeks, which is how long the weather is actually warm here). I told my pastor about this and he mentioned I could probably coerce the music minister to play something because he loves Christmas church music and thinks we should sing/play it all year round. It didn’t happen unfortunately, thought it would have been fun. (I’m from Brazil and, just like our friends from Australia who post here, Christmas is during the summer for us.)
We were looking for the land my Greatgreatgrandfather used to own in west Tennessee and came upon a road called Frogjump-Brazil Road. It runs between two now disappeared towns, one of which was Frogjump.
We have a town in our valley named Paradise. Just over the mountain is a town called Eden. I haven’t been to Surprise, Arizona, but I’ve often wondered just what kind of surprise is there. :-D
One time I was on a road trip with 3 other friends to Tennessee, and we went through a small town with a sign that said, “Only, Tennessee Population 2”. There was 1 building there and it was a small Post Office, and I *think* there might have been a small house somewhere around there. It’s hard to remember, this was way back in the 70’s!
Oh wow! I can see how the warm summer weather would have put you in the mood for Christmas music! I wonder…when December rolled around and it was the dead of winter, did you feel in the Christmas mood or did the cold weather make a difference to that? Our church until recently had a music minister who would randomly play Christmas songs through the year. The song was usually themed to match the main point of the pastor’s sermon, but he had no qualms about Christmas songs in April, June, or any other time of the year. It was always a nice little surprise. ^_^
Thank you so much Julianne! We writers don’t need people to fawn over us or anything like that, but a simple “I read your book and liked it” sure does go a long way toward encouraging our hearts. Have a marvelous weekend!
Great story Diana! I remember a summer road trip from Montana into Idaho and down to Nevada when the forest fires in Montana forced us into a different route than we had planned. The new route added two hours to our drive PLUS pushed us right onto a two-lane highway that was under construction. We had a 7-month-old at the time. At one point, I asked if we could just pull over and look at the scenery for a minute because I was so tired of sitting on the road and not moving. So my husband pulled over where some other cars were pulled over. I ended up getting stung by a bee, and my knee swelled up to twice it’s normal size. We finally limped into Boise so late that night that we’d lost our hotel reservation, so we had to go from hotel to hotel until we could find one w/ a room. (No cell phone in those days!) But…on the bright side…we had air conditioning. :) Your drive in the mountains sounds so much better than the trek down 95. Actually – any drive sounds better than a trek down 95, but I’m 95-biased. It’s my least favorite road in the entire United States of America. :)
So I have to ask…do they grow taters in Totz? (Horrible pun, right?) As for Crummies Meadow – at least they made it plural. That’s better than if it was just plain ol’ Crummy Meadow. ^_^
We have a town here in Oregon named: Boring, Oregon.
I wonder if the snowbirds went to Florida, NY during the summer and the other Florida during the winter? ^_^ Thanks for visiting today!!
Hahahaha! I wonder if they’ll change their name to Dozenville? ^_^ And Peculiar…I’m sure there’s a story there somewhere!
Thanks Valerie! Glad you could stop by today. :)
Avery’s GREAT at asking questions…just like her son’s great at making awkward comments that embarrass his mom. ^_^
I love English names! I think I like Pickling the best, but Soggy Bottom is also awesome! ^_^ (But then, I like pickles…and don’t like soggy bottoms. Go figure.) And yay! I’m glad I can be one of your first Kindle memories…even if I’m still stranded in the TBR list. :D :D :D
That’s funny! I tell people I’m allergic to change – that it makes me break out in hives. But that’s not as funny as being allergic to New Mexico. ^_^
Love it! A quick online search says the exit for Noodle Dome Rd is still there…but no information about what a Noodle Dome is. The mystery continues… :)
Fabulous! Thanks for sharing Margaret! According to good ol’ Wikipedia, Igo got its name from the question, “I go?” that children would often ask their miner fathers because they wanted to go to work with them and Ono got it’s name from the, “Oh, no,” response that the miner dad gave his child(ren). Either that, or an unknown native language. Wikipedia isn’t entirely sure. ;)
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Chunky Gal, huh? I’m not sure I want to know how that town got its name. ;) Bugskuffle is a hoot for sure – I’m glad it’s going into your wip!
That’s awesome Becky! Don’t you love how God works those things out? Just when we need a little bit of a reminder of God’s promises to us, there it is.
Hm. I wonder if those jumping frogs were from Brazil…. ^_^
I love that – Paradise and Eden! As it happens, I’ve been to Surprise, Arizona several times. It’s not really much of a surprise, really. It’s just a part of the Phoenix metro area. I lived in Arizona for many years, and I have to admit – I never thought to question the name Surprise. I suppose when you’re used to something, it can become easy to miss the wonder of it. Hm… I think there’s a lesson in there somewhere.
Intriguing start to a book. Definitely grabs your attention.
Thanks for sharing the excerpt. Sounds like a fun book.
Ha! I just looked it up. Only is still there, but there’s no population listed online that I can find. I wonder if that means it’s down to zero? ^_^
Oh dear. I’d love to know what their town motto is. “Insomniac? Come to Boring. We’ll put you to sleep in no time.” ;)
Yay! I always go for a good start! (And hopefully a good middle and end, too!) ^_^ Thanks for stopping by today Rachael.
So glad you could stop by today Merrillee – thank you!!
Oh I love that. Did your friend who liked to whistle go to your church? He might really enjoy the random Christmas songs throughout the year.
And it took me a few years to appreciate a white Christmas. I ended up not even being in the mood for decorating and baking cookies in the first couple of years. I still like the warm weather Christmas better, but then I din’t actually learn to appreciate snow much.
Two of my favorite road names on the I-15 out of California are Yermo and Zzxyz :)
Thanks for the fun giveaway!
What great names! Thanks for sharing Heidi!!
I enjoyed this story. About October, I search for all the stories in both my Kindle & book apps for reading. Some are new; some are re-reads. This was a fun story.
I don’t mind Christmas stories in April. And I can’t remember any funny town names. But I did take a three week road trip cross country with my brother and cousin in the 70’s. That was a fun time.
Driving through Paradise, Nova Scotia always makes me smile (while NS is a beautiful province, Paradise is a “sneeze & you’ll miss it” small town). However, the most unique place name I ever saw was “Truth or Consequences”, New Mexico on one of our road trips from Michigan to Mexico.
Missouri has some great names! Licking, Tightwad, Bland, and Peculiar are all towns in my state!
I like my town–Lodi, CA! Like the song, “Stuck in Lodi Again” by Credence Clearwater Revival!!
Love all the yellow on the book cover! Yellow is my favorite color!!
Road trips are awesome! Or horrible… But either way, they make memories! :D
I’m glad you enjoyed the story Julie! I, too, have a secret stash of books that I like to re-read about once/year, too. And they delight me each and every time. :)
Oooh! Both of those are great names, but Truth or Consequence makes my imagination run wild! I’ll have to check that one out on a map… Thank you for sharing!!
LOL! You might have cornered the market in bizarre names in your home state! ^_^
So, basically, your town’s famous!!! ^_^ And thank you! A friend helped me put this book cover together, and I was pulling for a different color of tow truck, but she said that with a yellow car and a yellow house, I really needed a yellow tow truck to pull it all together – and she was right!
This story sounds like it’s going to be a laugh a minute!
I’m not good at remembering towns either and the only road trip I can remember is my honeymoon. My husband and I got the crazy idea to criss cross Oregon looking for covered bridges. We found quite a few, but soon tired of all that driving and wound up along the coast in southern Oregon before heading back up north that direction.
The Oregon coast is beautiful!! I’d have given up on the bridges after the second or third and just gone to the ocean. (Okay, I might have given up on the bridges before I got to the first one and headed straight for the ocean instead…) ^_^
lol, we should have, but since we would up in southern Oregon, we got to see lot of the coast.
How about Mayberry, North Carolina? I just love the Andy Griffith Show!
Actually my husband is from Gordo, Alabama. His nickname at his job was Gordoslim which is an oxymoron. Gordo means fat!
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Yep! Yellow really works!!
Ha! I have some friends who moved last July. My son and I went to visit them in August. The name of their street is Mulberry. We were at dinner one evening, and I said, “Every time I think of your address, I want to whistle the theme to the Andy Griffith Show.” The wife agreed with me. The husband looked at us both like we were nuts. “You know that’s Mayberry and not Mulberry, right?” Talk about funny!
Lots of interesting town names here in SC. Six Mile, and Due West are two that pop to mind immediately! I also recall seeing a highway sign somewhere in the state with the towns of Clinton and Prosperity on it with arrows pointing in opposite directions=)
Those are some fabulous names – I’m glad you could stop by to share them Patty! (What I want to know is if Due West was to the west…or the east…) ^_^