Alison Henderson Brings Us Ten Wonderful Christmas Tales

I can’t tell you how excited I am to have a wonderful writer and friend here on GLIAS today. Alison Henderson was in my Minnesota RWA chapter for many years but left us for the gorgeous California coast a few years ago. I miss her and kind and gracious personality. But I’m grateful we’re still in touch and we all have her wonderful, diverse stories to share.  Today she’s here to talk about her new self-published collection of short stories, just in time for Christmas! I hope you’ll check out Small Town Christmas Tales: Ten Short Holiday Romances.  And please welcome Alison to Get Lost in a Story!

MEET ALISON

I haven't always been a writer, but I have always embraced creativity and relished

new experiences. Seeking to expand my horizons beyond Kansas City, I chose a college in upstate New York. By the time I was twenty-one I had traveled the world from Tunisia to Japan. Little did I suspect I was collecting material for future characters and stories along the way.

I began writing when my daughter entered preschool (she's now a full-fledged adult) and became addicted to the challenge of translating the living, breathing images in my mind into words. I’ve published three novels, a novella, and a new collection of short stories. I write romance because that's what I like to read. The world provides more than enough drama and tragedy. I want to give my readers the happily-ever-after we all crave.

A LITTLE ABOUT THE COLLECTION

Light the fire, heat the cider, and lose yourself in this collection of ten short holiday romances. Each story is set in a different fictional small town, from coast to coast, Maine to California. 

Sometimes humorous, sometimes poignant, they're guaranteed to warm your heart and put you in a holiday mood.

EXCERPT

From the story “Mistletoe and Misdemeanors”:

     This was the last place she expected to spend Christmas. Callie Rayburn glanced around the puke-green cinder block cell in the basement of the Hawthorne Springs, Missouri police station. In jail for Christmas. It figured, given the downward spiral her life had taken during the past twenty-four hours.

     A tear slid down the side of her nose. She dashed it away with the back of her hand and snuffled. She didn’t even have a tissue because that jerk Billy Freeman had taken her purse. What kind of town let a pubescent little snot like Billy Freeman wear a badge and carry a gun? It seemed like just last week she’d babysat him and his obnoxious younger brother to earn enough money to buy her dream dress for the senior prom.

     Another tear followed the track of the first. If Billy Freeman was old enough to be a police officer, what did that make her? Ancient. Over the hill. Thirty years old with nothing to show for it. Two days ago she’d been living the high life in St. Louis with a job, a cute apartment she couldn’t afford, and a future. Today—zip, nada, bupkis. And now, to tie the whole thing up with a big fluffy bow, she’d been arrested by Billy Freeman for breaking and entering. Un-freaking-believable.

BUY or PURCHASE  Small Town Christmas Tales: Ten Short Holiday Romances

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Q&A WITH ALISON

LIZ: How often do you get lost in a story?

ALISON: As often as I can, but not nearly as often as I’d like. I’m always working on a personal writing project as well as reading a book by a favorite author, but there are never enough hours in the day, are there?

LIZ: What’s the first book you remember reading? 

ALISON: I’m such a book nut I still remember my first grade reader, pictures and all! The first books I remember avidly reading were the Nancy Drew books. Frocks, tearooms, and roadsters were a bit of a mystery to a third grader in Kansas, but I loved Nancy, Bess, and Ned.

LIZ: What’s your favorite “love” word?

ALISON: Cherish. For me, that says it all.

LIZ: What’s your favorite fairy tale?

ALISON: I have quibbles with most fairy tales, but I’m a classicist. I’ve always loved Cinderella. I think it’s the dress.

LIZ: What’s your favorite cartoon character?

ALISON: The Tazmanian Devil. Don’t ask. I can’t explain it.

LIZ: What sound or noise do you love?

ALISON: Now that we live near the coast, I love the sound of breakers on the beach. There’s so much power and majesty in that rhythmic roar.

   

LIZ: What will always make you smile, even on a bad day?

ALISON: Cats and small children. I have a Kitty-of-the-Day calendar on my desk so I always start the day off with a smile. And one of these days I may be lucky enough to have a grandchild.

LIZ: Who’s your favorite villain?

ALISON: Loki from the Avengers movies. He’s a complex and nuanced character, and Tom Hiddleston is irresistible!

LIZ: What is your biggest vice?

ALISON: Sugar, hands down. I don’t drink pop (soda to you non-Midwesterners), but desserts are my downfall. Cookies, cake, pie—mmm. I’m currently working on losing the weight I gained since I retired a couple of years ago. I finally have time to bake, and now I’m not supposed to eat anything yummy? There is no justice.

LIZ HAS GOTTA ASK: What’s the most personal thing you’ve ever put in one of your books?

ALISON: The hero in my second book, A Man Like That, is an angry man who has been scarred by life and doesn’t believe he deserves happiness. I wish I could say he was a figment of my imagination, but in truth that character was much too close for comfort, especially while I was writing the book. Ultimately, I was able to redeem him and give him the happy ending I knew he deserved. I hope he thanks me for it.

WHAT’S COMING NEXT:

I’m working on the sequel to Unwritten Rules, my romantic

suspense about an all-female bodyguard agency. In the new book Boiling Point, a former MP, who can barely tell a saucepan from a sieve, goes undercover as a personal chef in the household of an eccentric inventor and runs up against the disturbingly handsome chauffeur, who may also be more than he appears.

CONTACT ALISON:

E-mail: alsnhendersn@aol.com

Website: www.alisonhenderson.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alison.henderson.33

Twitter: @alsnhendersn

Blogs: http://alisonhenderson.blogspot.com

                                   

AND NOW A QUESTION AND GIVEAWAY FROM OUR GUEST! THANKS FOR SPENDING THE DAY WITH US ON GET LOST IN A STORY--ALISON HENDERSON!

Do you prefer to stick with traditions for the holidays, or do you like to shake things up? Callie, the heroine of “Mistletoe and Misdemeanors”, likes to wear loud socks. I’m giving away this cute pair of Christmas socks to one lucky commenter!