I’m very pleased with myself for managing to sneak goblins into a Christmas story… 🙂

J. R. R. Tolkien did this almost a hundred years ago in The Father Christmas Letters, so I can’t claim I’m the first – but it was fun to do nonetheless. My story is “The Mystery of the Missing Presents,” which will be in a new bundle curated by the ever festive Rebecca M. Senese.

I may have been thinking about goblins because my story “The Truth About Goblins” appears in the On Hallow’s Eve bundle, which was also curated by Rebecca. Here’s a snippet from my story.

Bean’s mouth watered as he passed a cluster of small children. He clenched his jaw and, as he’d practiced in the daily affirmations he repeated to himself during his morning yoga routine, he told himself that he was just hungry for the pizza he carried.

He knew this was a lie, but it was a practiced lie—one that required quick, rapid repetition when a three-foot-tall urchin dressed as a butterfly ran into him. She looked up at him, her big, brown eyes blinking up at his. She wore purple eye shadow, bright pink glitter sparkled on her cheeks, and she smelled like vanilla and sugar and sunshine. She grinned and then skipped away, an orange plastic pumpkin half full of candy swinging from her tiny hand.

I’ve got three more stories due within the next six weeks, and am working on the last few bits for a new bundle that’s scheduled to launch next week. I’m also gearing up for a business writing workshop that I’ve been looking forward to – I signed up last December, so that should tell you how excited I am. 🙂

And now I’m off to pack!