I’ve
always thought if I was a bestselling author who didn’t have to worry about
time and money, I’d love to publish a book specifically for my devoted readers.
Then one Christmas, give it to them. Free of charge. Not an eBook but a special
signed and numbered book. To my biggest fans.

            I
still might get a chance to do that one day.

            For
this Christmas, I’m going to do a tiny version of that on this blog. For the
next five days starting tonight, I’m going to post parts of a Christmas short
story I’m writing. It’s a very small way of thanking all of you who read and enjoy my work.

            Some
backstory on “Christmas Lights.” Back in the blurry year of 2010, after having
written four novels leading up to the birth of our twins, I got the idea for
this story after hearing the Coldplay song “Christmas Lights.” I was still
working on edits for Paper Angels with
Jimmy Wayne and I was thinking of follow-up storylines. This song came out and
I loved it (still do).

            The
idea stuck with me, though it’s not really an idea to fill a whole novel or
even novella. I figured it would be fun to write it and share it on my blog.

            Something
else that’s cool: I asked some photographers I know and follow online to
provide some pics for this. I got a couple of takers which I’m appreciative of.

            So
this rough little short story is an idea I got a couple of years ago, and it’s
influenced by the past year of working on Home Run as well as my continued journey of writing novels based on songs.

            Merry
Christmas to all of you gracious readers. One day maybe, that exclusive signed
novel for select readers might arrive in your mailbox. You just never know. 
            (Click here for “Christmas Lights” Part One)