A warm welcome and shout out to great friend and author, D.L. Finn.
Thank you for kicking off release day and the beginning of the blog tour, Sandra! You’re beyond appreciated!
Don’t miss the note at the end of this blog post.
Miracles and Ghosts: A Christmas Collection was going to be a single Christmas short story. I had a title and a time frame, but A Perfect Ghostly Christmas grew into a novelette and other stories kept coming. In the novelette, Julie inherited her grandparent’s house and property after being put into foster care at eight years old. An accident on Christmas day took them away from her, after already losing her parents. Julie, now a teacher, has returned to sell the house.
The story’s setting is in the Sierra Nevada foothills where I live. I dipped into our area’s lush history from the Gold Rush.
When we bought our house in Nevada City over 30-plus years ago, we found out we didn’t own the mineral rights to our property—only the top few feet. That was fine. There were absolutely no plans for mining on our part. However, our area is abundant with scattered mine shafts, and the Magical Trail has a large sunken hole. I like to think, it’s an old mine shaft, but it could be anything.
But what if Julie owned those mineral rights? What if there was gold at the end of the rainbow, she saw upon arriving at her old childhood home? I weaved that idea into the story. How could Julie be aware of this? That’s where a ghost comes in, but where there’s money, greed isn’t too far behind either. The heart of the story, though, is family and getting a second chance at Christmas.
Blurb:
Miracle and Ghosts: A Christmas Collection’s eight tales bring light in the darkest of circumstances. In the novelette, A Perfect Ghostly Christmas, Julie has survived the foster care system and finally comes home. She now owns her grandparents’ house and has received an offer that appears too good to be true. On top of that, the family she felt had abandoned her during her difficult times has reentered her life. But it’s the otherworldly experiences that lead her to something her grandparents left behind. This discovery changes everything and opens a door to danger. The seven short stories explore fractured families, a widower’s loneliness, a mall shooting, financial struggles, strained relationships, woodland kittens, and a woman haunted by a red truck. Whether it’s a ghost, an angel, or Santa, some unseen force is there to provide help when needed. A reminder in the busy holiday season or anytime we are never alone, and miracles are possible.
Excerpt:
A Perfect Ghostly Christmas Novelette
December 1986
Julie Sandals pulled in to the gravel driveway of the old ranch house where she used to live with her grandparents. It stood defiantly against the harsh winter elements of the Sierra Nevada foothills. Years had dulled the cheerful yellow paint. Someone had boarded up a broken window like slapping on a Band-Aid, and rusty moss had taken up residence on the roof. The landscape was slowly reclaiming what once was a loving family home.
She sighed, threw the old Chevy Nova into park, turned the key, and heard it shudder off.
“What am I supposed to do, Grams? I wish you could send me a sign or perhaps a—”
Julie leaned forward and wiped the dirty windshield with her lime-green fleece sleeve. A pristine rainbow had appeared, ending in the once-thriving apple orchard behind the house. “Wow! A perfect rainbow! I remember you loved them, Grams, and said seeing them meant something good was coming. Are you trying to tell me there’s a pot of gold waiting for me at the end?”
A hollow laugh escaped Julie’s lips, betraying her true feelings. Grams was dead and wasn’t sending her rainbows or anything else. Still, odd things always happened around her, like items vanishing and reappearing where she had just searched. It meant nothing and hadn’t changed her situation since the day her world shifted.
The memory of her last Christmas at this house kept Julie going through the dark years of foster care and the loneliness of college. Now she was a responsible, logical adult with a shiny new teaching degree and an old house she inherited last month on her twenty-fifth birthday. Only this building, the land, and $152 after the lawyers’ fees remained from those who had loved her. Her heart wanted to hang on to it, but how could she?
She longed to return to her innocent eight-year-old self, still believing that Santa existed and everything would be all right. But nothing was all right, and she had no power to alter it.
“If only that hadn’t happened. If only . . . ”
AMAZON LINK
https://www.amazon.com/Miracles-Ghosts-Collection-D-L-Finn-ebook/dp/B0DDWFNR1D/
Fun Finn Facts
1. I live in an area that was a part of the Gold Rush and includes Malakoff Diggins and Empire Mine. I enjoy hiking in both areas and taking in all the history.
2. I’m determined to find a gold nugget someday in the Yuba River. But, in the meantime, I enjoy collecting all the other pretty rocks.
D. L. Finn is an independent California local who encourages everyone to embrace their inner child. She was born and raised in the foggy Bay Area, but in 1990 she relocated with her husband, kids, dogs, and cats to Nevada City, in the Sierra foothills. She immersed herself in reading all types of books but especially loved romance, horror, and fantasy. She always treasured creating her own reality on paper. Finally, surrounded by towering pines, oaks, and cedars, her creativity was nurtured until it bloomed. Her creations include children’s books, adult fiction, and poetry. She continues on her adventure with an open invitation to all readers to join her.
Note: There’s a chance to win one of two $10 Amazon gift cards just by leaving a comment! I will randomly pick two winners from the comments during this blog tour. Good luck and thank you for stopping by.
