A Collection of Cozy Christmas Stories

by Mona Hodgson

Can you believe it, December is here? That means Christmas is just a couple of weeks away. There's a chill in the air, songs of Christmas cheer, and yuletide stories to read in front of a warming fire.

I'm excited to say that I have a new read for you . . . my first Christmas story. Even better, there are eight stories in the collection.

I think it was in 1990, that I stood in my great aunt’s farm kitchen in Gardnerville, Nevada. Ellen Gansberg loved to cook and she was an avid reader. I’d been writing for publication for a couple of years, and I’d sold several devotionals and short articles to various publications. Of course, Aunt Ellen was excited for me. Even seemed proud to know there was a real writer in the Gansberg family.

But there was that one point in the conversation, that she turned to me, wiped her hands on her apron, and got down to business. “Have you written for Guideposts?”

That’s when I noticed the Guideposts Magazine stack at the end of the counter top.

Gulp.

It’s not that I hadn’t tried to sell a story or two to Guideposts Magazine. I’d submitted a couple of pieces to the editor at a recent writer’s conference.

“No, not yet.” Not yet. How’s that for positive thinking?

All these years later, Aunt Ellen is 98, and I have a Christmas story in a collection published by Guideposts Books.

A Cup of Christmas Cheer Volume 3
Excerpt from Guideposts Books website:

A Cup of Christmas Cheer is a collection of original fiction written just for Guideposts readers to make your Christmas merry and bright. Take a short break from your holiday planning and escape into an uplifting adventure. Everything you love in heartwarming Christmas fiction is in A Cup of Christmas Cheer — faith-based plots, captivating writing, lovable characters and hopeful endings that warm you from head to toe. You’ll love the way these stories whisk you away and how each has a heartwarming Christmas message of redemption, forgiveness, hope, and faith.”

My Story: THE FAMILY QUILT

If you’ve read my Colorado series, The Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek, you might be happy to know that we’re returning to the late 1890s and to Cripple Creek in my short novella, The Family Quilt.

An adult daughter is making a scrap quilt for Christmas to cheer her newly widowed mother and soon finds that the painful remnants in her own heart are being stitched together in love.  

Join Patsy Michaels for a cup of tea in the parlor at Miss Hattie’s Boardinghouse. She’s an 1890s stuck-in-the-middle mom to three children, two of them teenage girls, and daughter to a recently widowed and uprooted mother. Good chance Patsy’s not the only one who has found herself in difficult circumstances in the Christmas season. I know I’ve been there. Perhaps you have, too. Join me in the pages of The Family Quilt to see how God answers Patsy’s prayers, even the ones she didn’t realize had passed from her heart to His.

The Family Quilt is one of eight historical fiction stories included in A Cup of Christmas Cheer, Heartwarming Tales of Christmas Past. Other authors in the collection, include: Keli Gwyn, Liz Johnson, Jacqueline Wheelock, Susan Page Davis, Debbie Lynne Costello, Kae Noyce Tienstra, Pam Hanson & Barbara Andrews.

Click Here to Buy Your Copy Now!

BOOK GIVEAWAY

Comment on this post to enter the drawing to win a signed copy of A Cup of Christmas Cheer Volume 3, Heartwarming Tales of Christmas Past! The winner will be announced in next week's weekly wind-up post.

Is there a family quilt in your past, present, or future?

Mona Hodgson is the author of nearly 40 books, historical novels for adults and children’s books, including her popular Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek Series, The Quilted Heart novellas, and Prairie Song. Her children’s books include bestseller, Bedtime in the Southwest, Real Girls of the Bible: A 31-Day Devotional. six desert and princess Zonderkidz I Can Read books, six I Wonder books, and more. Mona’s writing credits also include several hundred articles, poems and short stories, which have appeared in 50 different publications. Mona is a speaker for women’s groups, book clubs and reading groups, schools, and conferences for writers and librarians. www.MonaHodgson.com

Interview & #BookGiveaway with Mona Hodgson

Howdy y'all! Crystal here. Look who's stopped by today for an interview and giveaway--my buddy and former Stitches Thru Time blogger, Mona Hodgson! The first time I met Mona in person was at an ACFW conference like the one I attended last week. I think you'll really enjoy hearing about her newest story, and those who comment this weekend will be entered in a drawing for a chance to win!

For those who haven't had the pleasure of meeting you, Mona, tell us a bit about yourself. (Love your new headshot by the way. :) )

I'm Mona from Arizona, where we dash into summer and tiptoe into Autumn, my favorite season. I write American Historical Fiction set in the 1800s. My stories feature family relationships, especially sisters and father-daughter. I love talking to women's groups about God's grace and His heart for second chances.

Congratulations on your newest release! What is The Family Quilt about?

Thank you! I'm super excited returning to the late 1890s and to Cripple Creek, Colorado, for The Family Quilt. But there are lots of firsts, too.

* My first Christmas story
* My first long short story (or short novella)
* My first story in a collection
* My first story with Guideposts Books

An adult daughter is making a scrap quilt for Christmas to cheer her newly widowed mother and soon finds that the painful remnants in her own heart are being stitched together in love.

Meet Patsy Michaels, an 1890s stuck-in-the-middle mom to three children, two of them teenage girls, and daughter to a recently widowed and uprooted mother. Good chance she's not the only one who has found herself in difficult circumstances in the Christmas season. I know I've been there. Perhaps you have, too. Join me in the pages of The Family Quilt to see how God answers Patsy's prayers, even the ones she didn't realized had passed from her heart to His.

If you've read my Colorado series, The Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek, you might be happy to know that we're returning to Cripple Creek in The Family Quilt AND we'll once again be having tea in the parlor at Miss Hattie's Boardinghouse.

This sounds like a very heart-touching story. Where did you get the inspiration for your novella?

I was the one at my mom's side when she was widowed at age 56. My two daughters were teenagers, at the time, so I knew what it felt like to be in the middle. My sister, Linda, is a quilter and made a memory quilt for her mother-in-law when her husband passed.

Do you have a favorite scene in the book? If so, can you tell us a bit about it?

The first scene because it features Miss Hattie from The Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek books and the scene where Patsy secretly huddles around her mother's trunk with her two daughters.

What do you plan to work on next?

I'm working on the edits for Keeper of My Heart, a novella in the Convenient Brides Romance Collection, available from Barbour Books, July 2015. This month, I begin writing Something Blue, a story that follows a controversial character from Two Brides Too Many as she returns to Cripple Creek.

You're a very busy gal. :) Where can readers connect with you? 

Website and Blog: www.monahodgson.com/blog
Please be sure to sign up for my quarterly newsletter at www.monahodgson.com
Facebook: Mona Hodgson Author Page https://www.facebook.com/Author.Mona?ref=hl
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MonaHodgson
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/602227.Mona_Hodgson

Last but not least, apart from writing, what is your favorite creative outlet?

Decorating my home. I've just given my office a complete makeover.

Ooo, that sounds like fun. Would love to see pictures of that. :) Thanks so much for visiting with us today, Mona. I hope The Family Quilt touches many hearts for God.

Thanks, folks, for taking the time to read this interview. Do you enjoy Christmas stories? Have you read other books by Mona? If so, which was your favorite?

Leave a comment and you'll be entered in a drawing for a copy of The Family Quilt. Check back at the beginning of next week for the winner announced here and on our Weekly Wind-Up post. If you're our winner, please go to our Contact Us page and let us know the snail mail address to send your book to. Thanks!

An Appetite for Cookbook Research

Hi, all! I’m delighted to be a Stitches Thru Time author and blogger. Thanks so much for joining me here.

You’re not likely to find me flipping channels looking for the Food Network. Fact is my hubby does most of the cooking and baking at our house. But don’t ask me to write about a new setting without a cookbook from the time period and location.

I turned to The Oregon Trail Cookbook, A Historical View of Cooking, Traveling, and Surviving on the Trail and Frontier Chuckwagon Cookin’ for culinary inspiration and cultural tidbits for my new Hearts Seeking Home Series.

Here’s a sample from The Oregon Trail Cookbook, A Historical View of Cooking, Traveling, and Surviving on the Trail:

“Originally called ‘The Emigrant Road’ by the early pioneers, the route commonly became known as ‘The Oregon Trail’ and later as ‘The Overland Trail.’ Regardless of its name, emigrants always referred to it as ‘the road’ and not a ‘trail.’”

Sourdough Griddle Cakes

2 c. sourdough starter
4 c. warm water
4 T. oil
1 tsp. salt
4 T. sugar
5 c. flour
2 eggs
½ c. condensed milk
2 tsp. baking soda

Mix starter, flour and warm water the night before. Reserve 2-3 cups to replenish starter. To what is left, add eggs, oil and milk; over dough and gently fold in. Let rise 3-4 minutes. Fry on hot griddle. Serve immediately.

I can almost smell the griddle cakes Caroline Milburn cooked over the coals of a campfire in Prairie Song.

And here's a sampling from Frontier Chuckwagon Cookin’ by L. Baxter Lane . . .

“Hiccough Cure for Children
Many children are subject to this distressing complaint. A lump of sugar saturated with vinegar and given to the little one to suck will relieve it instantly. This is the recipe of a French physician. “

I thought that last tidbit was especially fun because Dr. Le Beau, the physician on the trail in Prairie Song, is a Frenchman.

I also found a pie recipe that someone in the Boone’s Lick Wagon Train Company is sure to adapt and make in the next book in the series.

Chocolate Pecan Pie

2 squares unsweetened chocolate
3 tablespoons butter

1 cup light corn syrup

¾ cup sugar
3 eggs slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
 
Melt chocolate and butter over boiling water. Boil syrup and sugar together for 2 minutes, add chocolate mixture. Pour slowly over eggs, stirring constantly. Add vanilla and nuts. Turn into unbaked pie shell. Bake in 375 degree oven for 45-50 minutes. Cool. Top with whipped cream or ice cream.

Are you ready to hit the Oregon Trail with your covered wagon and a cooking-over-a-campfire cookbook? Do you have a favorite cookbook you’d take along for the journey?