Protection, Jury Duty, & A Christmas Caroler


I’m not usually one for sunshine and rainbows. I know that’s probably a shock considering I write and read so many M/M romances, but it’s true. Happy-Ever-Afters are something that I don’t typically buy into. Do they sometimes happen in real life? Of course. But life is so much more complex than that, and I like stories that reflect that fact: stories with some grit, some angst, some sadness, some realism. Just look at my two most recent releases: Protection is about a man who survives a horrific gay bashing and can only feel safe afterward when he’s shooting a gun, and Jury Duty is about a court bailiff who is forced to facedown a crazed man who’s opened fire at a courthouse. I’m interested in the way violence plays into our everyday lives, how we confront it, and how we are ultimately changed by it. However, there is an exception to this preference: Christmas.At Christmas time, I don’t want to think about the ways in which people inflict violence on each other. I don’t want to look depression in the face (Isn’t it bad enough that the days are short and the weather brutal?) while I’m reading. I want everything to be happy. Christmas is my favorite time of year, because everyone (well, mostly, I suppose) allows the joy and celebration of the otherwise-bleak season to take over. The darkness of winter is illuminated by brightly colored lights, and songs on the radio about heartbreak are replaced by ones about rejoicing. I love December because of it.With that in mind, I set out to write a story that would convey the happiness of the Christmas season. My previous publications this year have been dark, so I wanted to do something completely different; thus, A Christmas Caroler was born. It’s a bit outside my comfort zone: the characters are younger (high schoolers, in fact) than I usually write, it’s nonviolent, and most of the plot is based on my own experiences. All of this was done in an attempt to replicate in the story that feeling of innocence, wonder, and thankfulness that the holiday season still brings out in me. It’s the time of year I’m willing to forget that the world can suck and just surrender to the giddy merriment. Happy holidays, everyone!


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