Maybe it happens to you too, struggling writers. Just when you get on a roll for fiction, nonfiction comes knocking. In the past few months I’ve been invited to contribute to three non-fiction books and I’ve secured a nonfiction book contract. I was just getting back into fiction.
Last year I had four stories accepted for publication. The last one came out just this past week. “Christmas Wish” is a funny werewolf story. You can find it in Calliope 174 (Winter 2021/22). If you don’t read Calliope you should. They’ve got lots of worthwhile stuff there.
What’s so fun about a werewolf, did I hear you ask? Well, if you try to make one your pet you’ll find out.
The Christmas theme actually came from a story challenge I saw. They were looking for Christmas stories and this one was set around that time of year. Add a few words making it explicit and then you have a story.
Given the time of year, the story is set in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a place I’ve never been. I actually wrote an entire novel with a character from Bethlehem, imagining what it must’ve been like living there. I’ve been to Pittsburgh, so I can guess.
Bethlehem was actually founded on Christmas Eve by the Moravians. The local Lenape tribe probably understood what was happening differently. Nevertheless, Bethlehem styles itself the Christmas City.
Do they have werewolves around Bethlehem? I have no idea. I can imagine if they did, however. This story makes one flight of fancy supposing they do.
If you’ve been following The Space between Atoms, the story will be winding up in the next few weeks. The whole thing will have been posted on this blog and both of the characters appear in other stories I write. In the meantime, happy Christmas!
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