I am not talking about crafts. I am talking about books.
I never thought to write a book centering around a certain holiday or a certain season.
However, I recently received emails about a class marketed directly to writing a book (or novella) for “the holidays”. (And, of course now, I cannot find any of those emails. Whoever sent them to me is hosting the class to teach you how to do this. If you know who it is, please send me her information so I can include it for everyone else.)
The premise is, you write and publish books. You do your book launch. People buy your books. Then, basically, your book falls to the back of the list and no one thinks about it much afterwards.
But, if you write a book with a ‘holiday’ tie-in, every year when that holiday comes up, your book will come up.
I never thought of that.
I’ve made those seasonal book lists.
I have, literally, several stacks of books, each stack dedicated to a particular season.
Winter books? That stack there.
Winter Solstice books? In the corner.
Christmas? Stacked on the left of the Winter Solstice books.
Halloween, specifically? On top that bookcase there.
Today, in my email, I received a post about someone’s vacation TBR which centered around the theme of water. Lakes, rivers, oceans.
Yet, it has never crossed my mind to consciously add something, like a Winter theme, a holiday theme, to the books I myself write.
You can take any holiday and include it in your novel. It’s not only about Christmas, or Halloween. There is Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day. Spring, and so many other things. Books for the summertime. Vacation novels.
And so, as I am thinking about the series I am currently writing (the WIP name is The Prince Charming Chronicles), I already know that there are going to be certain thematic elements. There is the vacation cabin out far from civilization, or not that far from people, so there is the vacation part.
Could it be summer? Could it be winter? Is there a lake?
I could also insert (as I have already considered it before these emails hit my inbox) various holidays as my two main characters gallivant through the world. I had already considered Christmas for one of the novellas in this series, but maybe I could create more links if need be.
On the flip side, although it would be good marketing to toss holidays and whatnot into a series so that if you read one book, you might want to get the others in the series, I have also begun to ponder two stand-alone books/novellas.
Once upon a time, Christmas takes were ghost stories. This is how ‘The Christmas Carol” came to be. I have a slow flame licking up the inside of my skull, showing me s story wrought in the center of the December holidays. I am not currently sure where it wants to go, but it is bubbling along.
On the other side of my brain, where the deeper and darker things grow, I have an October-centric story beginning to stir. I am not poking at this one as much yet as I want to suss out the December story first.
I do not want to fight two different ghost stories at the same time. I will give them both time to percolate, pricking my thumb yonder to bring forth the loudest one first, the December one.
But after this? After the December one…and after the October one…what then? Do we go off to the sea? I am not the vacationing sort. Should I continue along these paths?
We shall have to see. But I can see a series of stand-alone holiday-centric books, with one coming out every few years.
If only I keep up with myself and draw them forth from my brain to the page.
What do you think?
Do you read with the seasons? Or do you simply read what you like?
Let me know in the comments.
Tabitha Low 