Christmas Eve and a New Story

Can you believe it? It is Christmas Eve. I suppose that means I’m building a fire so Santa will have a good hot seat, or something like that. I’m writing this post early so I don’t have to worry about the blog while I’m doing whatever I’m doing. But that also means that while I’ve been pushing hard to get a book published this month, I don’t know if I’m to that point or not. I’m really hoping I can pull it off, but with all the holiday stuff going on (don’t send me e-mails for calling Christmas a holiday) it is hard to fit everything in. It is quite possible that the book will come out next month instead. That’s okay too.


Well, it won’t hurt to talk about it anyway. I think I’m calling this book Mother Not Wanted. In this story, a woman, Amber, from St. Louis shows up on Fox Jacobs’ doorstep claiming that the girl, Lizi, she has with her is his granddaughter. The family has no knowledge of such a girl, but Amber drops some information and names that cause them to question whether she is more than just an opportunist looking for money. If the girl is who Amber says she is, it is the first good news the family has had since the accident that took the lives of the other grandchildren a year earlier, but the timing is unfortunate. They are in the midst of a merger of the family business and maybe even the family itself with that of another family. Fox is fearful that whatever Amber is up to will put an end to the merger. So Fox looks for a way to get rid of Amber. But when the merger goes sour, Amber may be the only one who can save Fox’s business.


This story is a rework of a manuscript I completed some time ago. The major change between what I had before and what I have now is the motives of the characters. In the original version, Amber showed up with the idea that she would blackmail Lizi’s father into marriage and she attempted to do that with Lizi’s help. Fox’s motive for getting rid of Amber was that she wasn’t his type of people. She was a con-artist and she wore clothes that were out of style. Amber is still a con-artist and she still wears clothes that are out of style, but this time Amber’s main motivation is to return Lizi to her family. Secondarily, she wants to remain a part of Lizi’s life, but she won’t force her way in by blackmailing Lizi’s father. Fox’s motive is to protect the family. He thinks that means going through with the merger and keeping the details of the accident hidden from them.


While I liked the story before, my fear was that readers would have a hard time getting it. Neither Amber nor Fox seemed particularly likeable. This version is better, I think. I’m sure it’ll sell about as well as Brussels sprouts, but it’s still a good story.

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