Your Weekend Read: MIRACLES AND GHOSTS PAST

 Please welcome dear friend and fellow author D.L. Finn.

Thank you, Sandra, for having me on your beautiful blog today to share the release of Ghosts & Miracles Past: A Christmas Collection Two! I’m beyond grateful for your constant support and friendship.

“Christmas Rescue” was originally in my first Christmas Collection. I pulled it because it wasn’t going anywhere. When I came back to it later, it all came together. Opal’s had a bad year. Her mother died, and her boyfriend broke up with her, leaving her in heavy debt. The worst part was that he took their dog too. All she could do was quit school and start working to pay off the debt. Not feeling her usual Christmas spirit, she still plans to host her aunt, uncle, and cousins as her mother would have. She needs some supplies on Christmas Eve. A big storm is coming, and she finds people are already home, but in one dark parking lot, she isn’t alone.

 

BLURB:

Miracles saturate the sweet-scented Christmas season—a reminder we aren’t alone.

Miracles & Ghosts Past: A Christmas Collection brings eight stories from past holidays. Rita buys train tickets for her and Morris’s 30th anniversary in the novelette, “The Christmas Train Mystery.” She’s convinced this trip will bring her and Morris closer—if he can find the time. A murder mystery excursion will change Rita’s life in more ways than one, but will she go with her workaholic husband or by herself? In the first short story, “Christmas Rescue,” Opal trusts the wrong man and loses her mother in the same year, leaving her feeling lost. On a mission to get candles for the dinner table, she makes an unexpected find. “Is There a Santa?” goes back to the 1920s, where a widower is desperate to hold on to his farm and children. He doesn’t want charity, just a bit of luck or a miracle. In the final stories, you’ll meet an eleven-year-old who’s home alone, a family living in the aftermath of war, a girl who gets some shocking news, a widow with a warning from beyond, and a woman trapped on an elevator with Santa. Hope underlies these stories; it endures even in the direst of circumstances. Whether help comes from a ghost, Santa, or an angel, miracles are just within reach.

 

EXCERPT FROM: Christmas Rescue, 1975

This Christmas Day, she’d paste on a smile, but inside lurked the Grinch before his heart grew three sizes. If time could pause, she would have the chance to breathe and dream again, but time and bills continued to march forward, unfazed even by the world’s Grinches.

 

“Perhaps life is meant to be endured, not enjoyed.”

 

Opal immediately felt guilty, knowing her mom would disapprove of that statement. But Opal’s mom wasn’t there to hear it after her fatal heart attack. It was going to be her first Christmas without her mom, who had been her best friend.

 

Still, she attempted to be positive in memory of her mom. “I know I have this house and my bartending job. But if I sold the house and got an apartment, I could finish getting my teaching degree. Which means I’d leave my childhood home and all the memories that come with it.” Opal sighed and wiped away a single tear. “I miss you, Mom, and you were right about many things—including Sam.”

 

That name repulsed her like a gory horror movie. With a shudder, she thrust away thoughts of her ex. She picked up a silver bell that had fallen off the Christmas tree and put it on an empty branch. The silver bell swung and stilled. She turned her back to the colorful tree to prepare the house for her guests, but the small silver bell started ringing like it was atop a church.

 

“Either an angel got their wings, or my walking jiggled the bell.”

 

Opal leaned toward the latter. She placed her mom’s porcelain nativity scene on the fireplace mantel. Her youngest niece, Lisa, was obsessed with the nativity. Lisa was convinced the angel was real and was watching over them. The sweet girl was always on her best behavior around it.

 

Even surrounded by all this good cheer, regret wouldn’t allow her to forget. It overshadowed everything. Three months after her mom died, her ex-boyfriend moved across the country with her inheritance and Beauty, the sweet pup she still missed. All Sam left behind were maxed-out credit card bills. Unfortunately, she was the primary cardholder; he had been able to charge with no responsibility for any of the debt. This had alarmed her mom, but Opal was in love, or thought she was, and didn’t listen. After her mom passed, Opal continued with her bad decisions, which included adding Sam’s name to her savings account after he pointed out it made sense since they were getting married. She thought that was his proposal, but no ring followed, just a breakup.

 

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FUN FINN FACTS

1.      My favorite Christmas songs are: O Holy Night, Carol of the Bells, Silent Night, Happy Christmas (War is Over), Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow, Little Town of Bethlehem, Christmastime is Here, It’s beginning to look like Christmas, White Christmas, I’ll be Home for Christmas, The Christmas Song, Little Saint Nick, A Holly Jolly Christmas….I could go on. I couldn’t pick just one or two!

2.      I start Christmas shopping in July or August.

 

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.

 

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To celebrate the release, I will be giving away three Amazon Gift Cards: $5, $10, and $15. At the end of the tour, I will randomly pick the three winners from those who leave comments during the blog tour. Good Luck!