My
popular time-travel Regency romance, HAVE CHRISTMAS CARD... WILL TRAVEL first
started as a serial novel. The publisher envisioned twelve chapters total,
posting one chapter online per week for subscribers to their service. Since
twelve chapters were required, I came up with the idea of using the song: the
Twelve Days of Christmas, and then focused each chapter on a stanza of the
song. Thus, the first chapter, including the setup, dealt with a partridge in a
pear tree. The title of my book was rather bland: THE 12 DAYS OF REGENCY
CHRISTMAS.
Artist’s rendering of a possible cover
Unfortunately,
the publisher went out of business before the first installment could be
uploaded. Fortunately, Uncial Press
picked up this novel with only a few alterations. The repetitions that occurred
at the beginning of each chapter (to refresh the reader’s memory) were no
longer needed, AND, the book needed a catchier title.
Hmmn.
What to pick? I had a difficult time with this one. Nothing seemed to fit, so I
reviewed what the plot was about: each day, a contemporary young woman,
Meredith, receives a Christmas card featuring one of the stanzas of the beloved
song. Each night, she wakes up in the past in Regency England. Each morning she
wakes up back in her own bed in the present. Voilà! The title was born:
HAVE CHRISTMAS CARD... WILL TRAVEL.
Those
of you who remember vintage television will recognize the homage to CBS’ wildly
popular Western: Have Gun--Will Travel.
Christmas magic sends Meredith back to Regency times
to find true love. But what will happen when the twelve days of Christmas are
over?
HAVE CHRISTMAS CARD... WILL
TRAVEL is a wonderfully whimsical time travel story that’s perfect for the
holidays or any time of the year! This book has been a best-seller at Uncial Press and Fictionwise.com. Also,
my novel was an EPPIE Finalist for Best Historical Romance.
For
those of you who enjoy reading about real life tidbits woven into my novels,
here’s something from HAVE CHRISTMAS CARD... WILL TRAVEL. In this novel,
although Meredith believes her Regency experiences are only dreams, she goes
along with becoming engaged to one of the Larson brothers, William. After a few
nights, she realizes she prefers his older brother, Jeffrey. Way back when, I
dated a fellow who had an identical twin. Turns out, when I met the brother, I
had more in common with him than my date! Below is a short passage from the Six
Geese A-Laying chapter of the book. Meredith has just awakened in the morning.
Today, Meredith was so excited, surely she would
burst. Last night Jeffrey had kissed her. Just a brief kiss, true, but she’d
felt as if her soul was on fire. Was his taste still on her lips?
Running the tip of her tongue over her mouth, she
came away disappointed. Oh well, there was always tonight.
She closed her eyes to relive the moment, then
quickly blinked them open again. But she was engaged to William. She should’ve
been daydreaming about kissing him, not his brother!
“5
stars! I loved this book! It was a cute little love story with a Christmas bow
tied around it. It was a quick read and I didn't want the story to end.”
I
hope you enjoy Meredith and Jeffrey’s story, too!
Happy
reading,
Susanne
Marie Knight
Read
outside the box: award-winning Romance Writing With A Twist!
