It’s Holiday Story Time!
December 13, 2023 by Bethlehem Writers Group in category From a Cabin in the Woods by Members of Bethlehem Writers Group, Writing Contest
This time of year, wherever we turn, we encounter something that helps fill us with the holiday spirit. Whether it be decorations, music, TV movies, or maybe just a friendlier, lighter spirit among those we meet, there’s no escaping that we’re in the midst of the many popular holidays jammed into the last weeks of the year: Thanksgiving, Hannukah, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s Eve/Day, just to name a few. No wonder we’re exhausted by January!
Still, this is perhaps the easiest time of year to think about writing a holiday story. But what is it that makes a story a holiday story?
When I saw the movie Die Hard listed as one of the top Christmas stories, I was curious. I had never seen it, but with that kind of recommendation, I gave it a try. I was, frankly, disappointed. It’s a Bruce Willis action movie, exciting, and set at Christmas, but for me, it missed the mark for a true “Christmas story.” I’ve since learned that this is a long-standing debate among viewers.
That got me thinking about what elements would have made it seem more like a holiday story instead of just a story set at a holiday.
After some thought—and a lot of holiday story reading—I think there are four criteria that, working together, make a story a holiday story.
- The holiday that is anticipated, celebrated, and/or remembered during the story must be integral to the story. (Note that a “remembered” holiday often occurs during a subsequent celebration of that holiday and the memory has an impact on the current celebration.) Alas, Die Hard fails this test.
- It must include familiar events or traditions of the holiday celebrated or anticipated (even if those events or traditions are botched!) Hmm—the brief Christmas party scenes in Die Hard might be said to meet this requirement—or might not.
- More than one major character must be involved in the anticipation or celebration of the holiday, e.g. a family or community involved in the celebration. (Sometimes the other characters can be fantasy or non-human characters.) I don’t think you can count the Christmas Eve partygoers as “more than one major character” in Die Hard. Even Bruce Willis’s movie wife doesn’t fit that description.
- It leaves the reader with a sense unique to the holiday anticipated, celebrated, or remembered. Nope! I don’t think Die Hard can claim that. You leave that movie thinking about the action, not the warm fuzzies of the Christmas spirit.
This epiphany (another holiday!) comes at a good time. The Bethlehem Writers Roundtable is about to open its annual SHORT STORY AWARD competition on January 1. The theme for 2024 is . . . drumroll . . . HOLIDAY STORIES!
They are looking for short stories of 2000 words or fewer on any holiday between U.S. Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day to compete for:
- First prize—$250 and publication in the upcoming anthology, SEASON’S READINGS: MORE SWEET, FUNNY, AND STRANGE HOLIDAY TALES to be published in the Fall of 2024 or in Bethlehem Writers Roundtable, the literary journal of the Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC.
- Second prize—$100 and publication in Bethlehem Writers Roundtable.
- Third prize—$50 and publication in Bethlehem Writers Roundtable.
- Honorable Mentions (if any) may also be offered publication in Bethlehem Writers Roundtable.
For more information, see the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable site at: https://bwgwritersroundtable.com/short-story-award-2/
Best of luck to all who enter, and . . .
Happy Holidays!
Books by BWG
From Aspiring to Contracted, A Very Big Change
December 12, 2023 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as Contest Winner, Scrivenings Press, Under contractI bring good news and tidings this merry December, as I’ve gone from aspiring to contracted author and I have much to celebrate. And I wanted to share this very big change with all of you.
My word CHANGE was the perfect word for me this year.
From a writing perspective I chose this word because I wanted to change how I approached my writing. To not be afraid to change my opening or what my characters said. I wanted to be able to try new phrasing and change my manuscript for the better.
Besides being able to do all that, I can now add several additional changes that have happened this year!
- 1. I finaled in a contest and had to submit my entire manuscript
- 2. That entire manuscript won 1st place in a contest
- 3. And won the grand prize in a contest
- 4. And that grand prize includes a contract
- 5. And that contract has grown from 1 book to a 3-book series titled Best-laid Plans
- 6. And my first book will be published in 2024
From Aspiring to Contracted Author
I’m excited to share I won the grand prize in the Scrivenings Press #GetPubbed writing contest. My novel, When Plans Go Awry, won first place in the Historical Romance category, and then went on to win the grand prize. The grand prize includes a book contract. My novel is scheduled to be launched into the world on June 4, 2024. The contest results were announced on November 16. I think I will always remember this day. It is a pivotal turning point in my writing story. Where I went from aspiring to contracted.
What’s amazing is looking back over the past thirteen (yes, 13!) years of working on my stories, making friends, learning, and growing as both a person and as a writer. I’m so thankful for the journey. And yes, there has been a path for me getting here. Sometimes it’s been a lot of winding cross-backed, up and down, narrow dirt trails, and sometimes it’s been paved and flat. Just last month, I wrote a blog post of Attitude is Everything, which posted on Nov. 12. It was posted after reviewing results from another contest, where yet again, I didn’t final. Then, November 16, these contest results were announced, and everything changed.
Very Big Changes in My Personal Life, Too
Change has been up front and center in my personal life this year as well. With one college graduation and our youngest’s high school graduation, we are moving on from being booster presidents and weekly performances or activities to attend. Our middle son asked his sweetheart to marry him, and we are experiencing new things with being parents of the groom. We’ve been blessed with new responsiblities in our day jobs, and been able to travel quite a bit this year.
So in the month of June we will celebrate a book launch and a new marriage for my son. I’m so excited for 2024.
Contracted Means Changing and Adapting
I’m already feeling how going from aspiring to contracted is changing me. And as the year 2023 ends, it is the best change possible. I have a plan and I now have deadlines. And all this makes me excited about my word for 2024. You’ll have to wait till next post to find out what it is.
Denise M. Colby loves to write words to encourage, enrich, and engage with others. You can find similar encouraging posts on A Slice of Orange such as meeting writing goals or when your confidence wavers, and on her own website denisemcolby.com , including a blog post about Moments of Encouragement. Or you can scroll through all of her archived posts on A Slice Of Orange here. She also loves to write about her word of the year and share quotes that include that specific word in them. Each word builds a new layer in her writing journey (and her life). In 2022, her word was Work. This year, her word is change.
4 0 Read moreWriting ‘Sisters At War’: my personal journey by Jina Bacarr
December 11, 2023 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, sexual violence, Writing tagged as historcal, Paris, sexual violence, sisters, women, World War 2
For a date night back in graduate school when my life took a sharp right turn, I slipped on a pair of new red high heels, never dreaming I’d break them in by jumping out of a Mercedes and running away from the man who kidnapped me. I was the victim of sexual assault. For years afterward I blamed myself. Relived the night, asking, what did I do wrong to make him take advantage of me? What should I have done… why didn’t I fight back harder? I couldn’t, the man I dated was drinking heavily and bigger and stronger than me.
Questions and more questions, but no answers.
I kept the details of that night to myself, afraid to share my experience with anyone. Afraid I’d be judged. As if it were my fault.
I left the university and went off the grid for a year. I traveled throughout the US in a job that let me get lost… never staying for more than two days to two weeks in one town. I glammed myself up in a blonde wig and fashionable clothes to forget and pushed the old me into hiding. Then something cool happened. I found purpose in my cosmetics work, bringing a smile to ladies’ faces young and old when I did makeovers for them, traveling from the Big Apple to Amarillo. It was the era when the grande dame department stores ruled the downtowns. I was a language major in college, but I also studied art and costume design and I enjoyed creating color palettes and showing ladies how to look their best.
Until the old fear reared its ugly head.
I’d freeze if I saw someone who reminded me of him.
I couldn’t get into a car without checking to make sure the doors were unlocked.
I didn’t feel safe alone with a man.
To gain confidence in myself, I took self-defense classes, but it took me years before I could talk about what happened. The strange thing is, that came about because of my writing.
I’ve written four books about Occupied Paris and Berlin during World War 2. I’ve covered the concentrations camps, the Resistance, dealing with life under the Nazis, saving Jewish children. It wasn’t until I wrote Sisters At War that I attempted to write about the sexual violence women faced from the Nazis and the Gestapo… the horror and humiliation, not to mention the physical pain and degrading of their bodies.
War crimes against women.
I was appalled and shocked by the inhumane and horrific treatment I unearthed in my research against French and Jewish women.
I was even more disheartened when I discovered that rape wasn’t prosecuted as a war crime at the Nuremberg Trials. That haunted me and set me into motion to tell the story about the two Beaufort Sisters in Paris in 1940 when one of them is raped by an SS officer and the effect it has on both sisters.
Sisters At War is the hardest book I’ve ever written, reliving my own experience through the eyes of the Beaufort Sisters… but writing the sequel Sisters of the Resistance is just as hard because I’m dealing with the aftermath of sexual violence and how it affects the rest of their lives.
I went on with my life, but the mental and emotional anguish stayed with me until I started writing about it. Then I couldn’t type fast enough. I find there’s power in sharing, a healing of the soul and mind. And most of all—
I’m not afraid to talk about it anymore.
Who are the Beaufort Sisters?
They’re beautiful
They’re smart
They’re dangerous
They’re at war with the Nazis… and each other.
3 Steps to Planning Your Year by Kitty Bucholtz
December 9, 2023 by Kitty Bucholtz in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz, Writing tagged as Goal Setting, It's Worth It, Kitty Bucholtz, writing
There are a lot of ways to plan out your year. I’ve spent most of the last two decades doing very detailed planning that got right into what I’d end up doing each week. I decided on the big tasks and goals, and then broke them down into quarters, then months, then weeks. Then each week I would work on those smaller tasks on whatever days seemed to work best in the moment.
But sometimes you need to walk away from the granular so you can stay focused on the big picture. If that’s what you’re looking for, I can help you get your year planned in three easy steps.
- Do a brain dump of every single thing you can think of that you’d like to do this year. Add to it every single thing you can think of that you know is already going to be on your calendar. (Weddings, babies, vacations, writers conferences, everything.) Also, write down the things you need to do for yourself in order to make it through the year in a mentally and physically healthy way. (Yup, talking self-care here. Mental health day each month? Lunch with a friend on a regular basis? Exercise?)
- Now pick the #1 task/goal you really want to do even if nothing else gets accomplished. The very most important. After that one, pick one or two more that you really want to accomplish.
- Now break down those top 1-3 tasks into chunks. Look at your calendar to see where you have those other big life events, and plan around them. (Be sure to include “white space” for traveling, un/packing, planning, etc.) Write the first bits of what you need to do into your calendar for the first 1-3 months. As you get those smaller tasks done, add more as you go along. Now you won’t be overwhelmed with a year’s worth of stuff you want to do, but you can still stay on track to finish your top goals.
I hope this helps you get started on how you’d like to spend 2024. I’m getting more and more excited about the new year the closer it gets! See you on the other side! Happy New Year!
Some of Kitty’s Books
Featured Author: Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC
December 8, 2023 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Contests, Featured Author of the Month tagged as #TheBWG, 2024 Short Story Award, Bethlehem Writers Group, Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Award, Fur Feathers and Scales, new release, Short Story Award
About Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC
The Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC (BWG), is a community of mutually supportive fiction and nonfiction authors based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The members are as different from each other as their stories. BWG also publishes quality fiction through their online literary journal, Bethlehem Writers Roundtable, and their award-winning A Sweet, Funny, and Strange Anthology series.
Each anthology has an overall theme—broadly interpreted—but includes a variety of genres. All but the first anthology include stories from the winner(s) of The Bethlehem Writers Short Story Award.
Their first anthology, A Christmas Sampler: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Holiday Tales (2009), won two Next Generation Indie Book Awards: Best Anthology and Best Short Fiction.
An Element of Mystery: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Tales of Intrigue is the latest in A Sweet, Funny, and Strange Anthology. This anthology was a finalist in both the 2023 Next Generation Indie Book Award and the 2023 Killer Nashville’s Silver Falchion.
About An Element of Mystery
The Bethlehem Writers Group is pleased to present this collection of tales of mystery and intrigue—the latest in its award-winning series of Sweet, Funny, and Strange® anthologies. From classic whodunnits to tales of the unexplained, each of the twenty-three stories contained herein have an element of mystery that will keep you guessing and wanting to read just one more story.
We’re thrilled to have old friends, but new members of BWG, join us this year. Award-winning author Debra H. Goldstein favors us with a mystery set among volunteers at a synagogue entitled “Death in the Hand of the Tongue,” while “Sense Memory,” by the multi-talented Paula Gail Benson, brings a delightful mix of mystery and the paranormal that helps a young couple find their way to each other.
In addition, we are happy to bring you the winning stories from two of our annual Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Award competitions: “Good Cop/Bad Cop” by Trey Dowell (2021 winner) and “The Tabac Man” by Eleanor Ingbretson (2022 winner).
You’ll also find stories from your favorite BWG authors, including Courtney Annicchiarico, Jeff Baird, Peter J Barbour, A. E. Decker, Marianne H. Donley, Ralph Hieb, DT Krippene, Jerry McFadden, Emily P. W. Murphy, Christopher D. Ochs, Dianna Sinovic, Kidd Wadsworth, Paul Weidknecht, and Carol L. Wright.
So get ready to be mystified . . . or intrigued!
Next up for BWG
BWG is working on their eighth anthology, Season’s Readings: More, Sweet, Funny, and Strange Holiday Tales.
In connection with this anthology, they are hosting The Bethlehem Writers 2024 Short Story Award.
The 2024 Short Story Award opened on January 1, 2024. The theme will be Holiday Stories (broadly interpreted).
BWG is seeking never-published short stories of 2,000 words or fewer. First Place will receive $250 and publication in their upcoming anthology: Season’s Readings: More, Sweet, Funny, and Strange Holiday Tales or in Bethlehem Writers Roundtable.
The final judge of the 2024 Short Story Award is Marlo Berliner, the multi-award-winning, bestselling author of The Ghost Chronicles series.
Books from Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC
Featured Books
THE BAILEY DEVLIN TRILOGY: BOOK 1-3 (The Bailey Devlin Series)
Bailey Devlin believes in fate. . .and luck. . .and fortune telling.
More info →
ONCE UPON AN ENCHANTED FOREST
The autumnal equinox is a celestial event that brings together harvest and celebration, symbolizes magick and transformation, and welcomes a balance of light and darkness. It’s a time when those who honor the changing seasons rest and reflect.
Or reap what they’ve sown.
More info →
