There’s an old song that begins, “It only takes a spark, to get a fire going.”
So true! Unless you’re camping, in the rain.
If you are someone with a vivid imagination, you find you end up getting sparks of stories everywhere. You can watch a news clip or read an article, or hear a friend tell a story, and you might think to yourself one of two things: That would make a great story! Or, if you’re a writer: I must put this in a book.
My newest story isn’t a new one for me, but rather a freshened-up novella that sprung from a spark of an idea some years back.
With Christmas comes traditions, and one of my favorites is watching the tree lighting at Rockefeller Center in New York City. This usually takes place the week after Thanksgiving on a Wednesday evening and the event is televised live.
But for me, I like the story of how a magnificent tree is chosen every year. Usually the network televising the tree lighting also shares where the tree came from, and shows video clips of the tree being transported so carefully back to New York.
One year, I was watching the story of the family whose tree was chosen, how the officials measured it carefully, examined the trunk, and how the family glowed that their tree would be decorated and seen by millions of people around the world.
This started me thinking: What if a widow’s tree was selected to be the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and her children surprised her with a trip to New York City for the tree lighting?
Enter Gwynn Michaud, a stylish sixty-something grandma who’s discovered she’s ready for something new at Christmas time. She just doesn’t expect the trip—or a chance at love.
While she’s in New York, she gets to visit some of my favorite places I remember visiting when I was in college—the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Chinatown, the uptown shopping and delightful street vendors. Her love of art is reignited and when she decides to lengthen her stay in New York? Well, I’ll leave it at that. But one of her hosts, the father of her daughter’s old college roommate, finds it a bit challenging having an extra person in the household, disrupting his ordered routine.
When I was getting to know Gwynn, I certainly hadn’t imagined writing about a grandma who finds herself falling in love. Nor did I imagine an older hero with the dry dashing wit and a Sean Connery look about him.
Sometimes when a story sparks, you must sit back and watch to see what pops up. This is a dear story to me, and I hope you’ll check out Comfort And Joy. It’s currently part of the set Home for Christmas.
‘Tis almost the season for stories galore about love at Christmas time.
What are some of your favorite Christmas romances, new or old?
Lynette Sowell is the award-winning author of over 15 titles for Barbour Publishing, Harlequin, and Abingdon Press. Lynette was born in Western Massachusetts in the shadow of the Berkshire Mountains, raised on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, but makes her home on the doorstep of the Texas hill country. She loves reading, cooking, watching movies, and is always up for a Texas road trip. When she's not writing fiction, she works as a reporter for her city newspaper and has a weekly column called My Front Porch.
Lynette, I love an older hero and heroine! And New York at Christmas is a very romantic place. I think you may have started a new trend… there is a great “senior” love story in the new movie, The Intern.
This sounds like an awesome book. Can’t wait to read it! I like pretty much all of the Hallmark Christmas movies. Most of them are romances lol. Holiday in Handcuffs, Christmas Comes to Willow Creek, Elf (it’s a romance!), and too many more to name. Now if it would just snow, it would be even more romantic…
Lynnette–How cool to have been to New York for that event. I have yet to get to the city! But I will. I love older heroine/hero stories–and so do a lot of others. Thanks for sharing your story idea. :)
Comfort and Joy sounds like a sweet story, Lynette. I love forward to reading all of the stories in this collection. A movie I love to watch around the holidays is White Christmas. I’ve watched it at least forty times during my life, maybe more.
I love Holiday in Handcuffs, Sally!
Yes! And the Snowglobe one. And I can’t remember the name, but the girl who gets a job as Santa Claus, but has to hide that she’s a girl. I have that one at home. I’ll have to look up the name of it. Now I want to watch Christmas movies lol!
Sounds like a great story! My favorite Christmas movies are While You Were Sleeping, Muppet Christmas Carol, and White Christmas.
Aw, what a sweet sounding story! Love it!
Your novella sounds like something I would really enjoy. I just bought the home For Christmas e-book for my Kindle. Your Rockefeller Center Christmas tree remembrances reminded me of the National Christmas Tree in Washington DC. Having grown up in the Washington DC area I have many fond memories of seeing the National Christmas Tree in DC. It was part of our Christmas traditions to go downtown and look at all of the wonderful state trees and then the big National Christmas tree. What fond memories!
I thoroughly enjoyed Gwynn’s story in Comfort and Joy, Lynette!
Me too! I love all of them.
Hi Nancy, I grew up in the Washington DC area too. I always loved to see the National Christmas tree and all of the state trees. I miss that area.
Sally..I also enjoyed the Hallmark movie that you mentioned. I looked up the Hallmark Christmas movies and found the title. The title is Christmas at Cartwrights. Don’t think I have seen Christmas in Handcuffs. I will need to look it up.
Yes! Christmas at Cartwrights! A Very Merry Mix-Up is good too, and Hitched for the Holidays, Matchmaker Santa, and The Santa Suit with Kevin Sorbo.
One of my recent favorites is, The Christmas Ornament. I think it was on Hallmark Channel ….
Like that one as well!
Miracle on 34th Street, does that count as a Christmas romance? :-) I watched the entire movie for the first time two years ago & fell in love with it myself! It’s a must see movie now :-)
And “older hero with the dry dashing wit and a Sean Connery look about him”….now THAT I have to check out as Sean Connery is my “older” hero who puts a sparkle in my eye!
I think it’s fun when two older people can find love in the golden years of their lives, such a sweet romance :-)
I totally love Christmas romances. I could read them any time of the year and often watch the movies for the sheer joy of them. A story of romance with an older couple really appeals to me on so many levels, especially since they have lived through a lot and have a better sense of who they are and what real love is about.