A Sweet Christmas Story For Holiday Cheer

Today is the release day for Christmas at Hembry Castle. Hurrah! The lighthearted Victorian Christmas tale, with shades of A Christmas Carol and Downton Abbey, is now available in ebook and paperback formats at major online retailers.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned this year is that if you are determined to do something then you are likely to get it done. That was my experience with Christmas at Hembry Castle.

A Homage To A Christmas Carol

Toward the end of 2019, as I was deciding what my artistic goals were for 2020, I decided that Autumn 2020 would be the perfect time to release the newest Hembry Castle story, which I had already decided would be a Christmas tale in homage to A Christmas Carol.

The publication date for Christmas at Hembry Castle was set for October 25, 2020. In addition to writing Christmas at Hembry Castle, I was going to revise and edit my first nonfiction book about, what else, writing historical fiction.

Also, 2020 was the 20th anniversary of The Copperfield Review, a literary journal for readers and writers of historical fiction that I founded in 2000. I had so many ways I wanted to celebrate that extraordinary milestone. I had my entire writing and editing year for 2020 scheduled. And then.

What a Year It Has Been

We all know what 2020 has been. Suffice it to say, I found great joy in watching John Oliver blow 2020 to bits on his HBO show Last Week Tonight. Like other creative people, I spent the first months of the pandemic staring at the wall. I wrote nothing. I did as little as possible.

Finally, around May, I realized that this is what life is going to be right now and I made the decision to get back in the swing of things, at least as far as writing goes. Copperfield was still on the backburner, but I wrote the first draft of Christmas at Hembry Castle during the summer, which was something at least.

I had to make a decision. Do I finish Christmas at Hembry Castle this year and publish it by Christmas 2020, or do I hold onto it for a whole year and not release it until late 2021? I was sorely tempted to wait until next year. Not only was I so far behind on my writing schedule, but I had started to have trouble with my eyes and my vision had become blurry, like crazy blurry, like two cameras out of focus blurry.

On the positive side, I was writing in the world of Hembry Castle, a place I love, and I was writing about characters I adore, which made the writing process not only easier but far more enjoyable.

Something in me said I should put the Christmas novella out this year, if for no other reason than to prove to myself that I could. I’ve always considered myself a slow writer, which in itself is not a bad thing. Then I had two eye surgeries two weeks apart in November. I feel like those old-timey lyrics from my childhood, “I can see clearly now, the rain is gone…”

Determined Is As Determined Does

Despite everything, I finished Christmas at Hembry Castle, all edited and pretty-like, by the end of November, which is later than I hoped but better late than never. The novella is written as a stand-alone, so readers who have not read When It Rained at Hembry Castle can follow along just fine while fans of Edward, Daphne, and Frederick will enjoy seeing what happened after the curtains closed on When it Rained at Hembry Castle.

Whether you’re a devoted fan of the upstairs/downstairs folks at Hembry Castle or you’re looking for a lighthearted Victorian holiday celebration, I hope you enjoy Christmas at Hembry Castle. It was a joy for me to write, and I hope it is a joy for you to read.

Enjoy!

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