Evoking the Christmas Spirit

by Olley White

Hi, Blogger Girls. Thank you so much for having me on the blog today.

I wanted to talk about evoking the Christmas spirit today. Ha! That sounds like I’m going to have a séance, but I promise I’m not! What I actually want to talk about is the essence of Christmas that makes holiday books so comforting.

I don’t know about you guys, but I am addicted to seasonal stories (and films). I devour them as quickly as that huge tin of chocolates I’m going to get through over the Christmas break. The stories tend to leave me with more of a glowy happy feeling in my belly than the chocs do, even though the ingredients can be as sweet.

There are certain things that can be added into a story to sum up that seasonal feeling: snow, trees, Santa, mistletoe, gifts and roaring fires. Sleigh bells and carols. The scent of pine and cinnamon. Really though, it’s all about love; love of family, love of friends, love of a lover—this needs to be at the heart of Christmas stories, because it is what is at the heart of Christmas. Or at least, it is for me. I think that is why we strive so hard at this time of year to try and create a perfect scenario…

…except; love isn’t perfect. It’s messy and it hurts sometimes…and yet it’s the most beautiful thing on the planet. The downfall of real Christmas is often that refusal to accept that it doesn’t have to be perfect. If Uncle Jim is drunk, or the turkey is burnt, or Aunt Julie and mum are wearing the same outfit and not talking to each other again, those are the kinds of negatives that people can focus on. But to me, all of those things don’t matter, because humans are not robots. We are wonderfully flawed and unique. We have the capacity to love despite of, or because of, the imperfections. It’s so worth remembering this at Christmas and not having high expectations that cannot be reached.

That’s what I love about Christmas books… the story doesn’t run smoothly.  The characters accept or overcome their limitations or adapt the situation and they find their Happily Ever After. I’m pretty sure our Happily Ever After is there to find too, if only we’d just stop trying to reach perfection.

I will concede though that their tree might be just that bit more Hollywood…

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and that you enjoy reading about Rhys and Toby’s Christmas miracle as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Olley White x

About For Want of a Christmas Miracle

When one down-on-his-luck gardener and one garden centre owner meet, neither could predict the attraction they’d feel towards each other. Toby is just about turning round the business he’d inherited from his dad, and it’s all going well—until a risk he took looks like it might not pay off. Rhys’s employment at Toby’s garden centre is temporary, just to cover the Christmas sales, and frankly he’d much rather be outside gardening. And avoiding Christmas.

When an accident means Toby can’t be at work at a crucial time, it’s time for Rhys to step up to the mark. But can the Christmas Scrooge make the difference required for the man he’s starting to love?

Available at: NineStar Press

About Olley White

Olley White is the alter ego of Lori Powell. Her home is in England with her husband, children and animals. She uses the fenland where she lives as inspiration for her writing. She loves romance in stories – boy/girl, boy/boy, girl/girl…if they’re in love she loves them.

Find out more about Olley on her Website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads or email her at pglicp@googlemail.com. 

As part of this blog tour, Olley is giving away a $10 Amazon gift card & NineStar book credit!! To enter, just click the link below!

Rafflecopter Giveaway

Please be aware that the only way to enter the giveaway is to click the Rafflecopter link above. Any comments on this post will not count towards entering the giveaway unless otherwise stated but are still welcome anyway.

Don’t forget to check out Nikyta’s review of For Want of a Christmas Miracle to see what she thought of it!

Good luck!