Thursday, December 15, 2011

When Christmas Comes Early with Kelly Hunter


I make NO SECRET of the fact Kelly Hunter is one of my favourite authors!! So, I was so excited when I heard she had a Christmas novella out and even MORE excited when she agreed to come and do a post on my blog...

But before I hand over to Kelly, I'm stoked to announce the winner of Candis Terry's gorgeous books. CONGRATS to Squenn! If you could contact Candis via her website (http://candisterry.com/contact/) or me on Rachaeljohns077 at gmail dot com, then we'll organize to get your prize to you :)

Now without further ado, KELLY HUNTER...

As a kid I loved the torturous lead up to Christmas – the tree going up, a few presents appearing, and then a few more, and then on Christmas day, a few more again. We had a no touching the pretties rule, because – frankly – I was the best present sleuth in the business. Also, my mother knew that the guessing games we played about each present were delicious. ‘Is it soft? Is it breakable? Is it a big flat piece of metal? I played similar guessing games with my own children during those nights before Christmas – and loved every minute of them. But every now and then Christmas came early in the form of something that couldn’t be wrapped and tucked beneath the Christmas tree. A kitten. A puppy. This year it’s two belted Galloway heifers (hereafter named Eb n Em – this is Em).

This year I wrote a Christmas novella called Wish, and in it single mother Billie Temple wants to give her son, Cal, a puppy for Christmas. A dog to replace a borrowed Blue Cattle Dog that the hero might someday want back. A dog a boy could call his own:

‘Which one’s the puppy?’ asked Cal.

‘The one standing in the middle of the yard Si’s trying to drive those s


The puppy in question was looking their way.
heep into,’ said Adam with a smile - a genuine Kincaid grin that widened when Cal smiled back. ‘Play your cards right, kid, and Si’ll pay you to take that fool pup away.’

‘What’s his name?’ asked Cal as he clambered out of the cab behind Adam.

‘Henry.’

Billie joined them by the side of the ute just as Cal put his hands to his knees and called the pup’s name and then sweet and leggy Henry was at Cal’s feet with the speed of a bullet, all legs and too-big ears as he planted his butt in the dirt and then tried to wriggle closer, and closer, until finally he was sitting on Cal’s shoe before collapsing in a squirming mass of ecstasy when Cal bent down to pat him.

‘What? You don’t pat your dogs around here?’ she murmured.

‘Of course we do,’ said Adam as Blue dog looked down on both pup and boy from the lofty height of the tray of the ute and barked a short sharp reprimand at the boy, the pup, or both – at which point Henry promptly peed himself.


‘This isn’t a done deal,’ she said.

I can think of a few other Christmas gifts that might come early for one reason or another. Big things. Breathing things. A loved one back from yonder.

As for Christmas gifts for my hero and heroine, I gave them each other (and I gave it to them early). No Scrooges here.

Leave a comment for a chance to win an e-copy of Wish. And if you’ve ever had ‘The Best Early Christmas Present Ever!’ I’d love to hear about it.

And congratulations Rach! on your Carina Christmas release and your latest new sale!

I've read Kelly's gorgeous novella and it's worth leaving a comment!!

15 comments:

beck nicholas said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
beck nicholas said...

I love the sound of your novella! A lad and a pup and a romance... sigh...

My best early Chrissy pressie was Princess nearly-three who was due on Christmas Day and came in a hurry on Christmas Eve. We were able to come home just before the clock struck midnight and her older sister and brother were thrilled to find a baby sister under the tree at home when they woke on Christmas morning.
=)

Sorry about the double post.

Kelly Hunter said...

Beck, what a gorgeous Christmas pressie! Thanks for sharing.

Catherine said...

I've just downloaded Wish. So I'm looking forward to reading it now :) A pup for Christmas sounds perfect for a child.

My best early Christmas present was a few years ago when my husband bought me a horse. It didn't matter that by Christmas the horse had broken my finger...I loved the thought of him buying me my dream present.

Cath

Catherine said...

And I forgot to say how gorgeous your Beltie is, Kelly. Eb and Em are very cute names for very cure cows!! Hope they look gorgeous on Christmas morning against stunning green patsures :)

Cath

Kelly Hunter said...

Catherine, thank yo so much for trying Wish. Appreciated. It's set close to home so I really hope you enjoy the setting. I'm a big fan ;).

I used to ride trackwork for a local stable (long, long ago in my teens - let's not even try and do the sums). Horses now conjure images of 4:30am starts and frozen hands and cinders. Lovely, lovely beasties, horses. But hard work.

Kelly Hunter said...

Catherine, I forgot to say how happy I am with the Belties. They're friendly, curious, small, funny and very efficient grass-eaters. Fingers crossed they're also in calf.

test said...

Kelly, your novella sounds perfect for Christmas.

My daughter is pleading for an early Christmas present (by some miracle this year the presents are already wrapped and under the tree) but we're making her wait. Isn't that mean!

Janette Radevski said...

Congrats on the novella!

LOL, Beck has already posted re a pre christmas delivery. I had one too and Miss Madeline (aka Miss Madd) and she will be 4 on Monday. She also (rather strangely) reminds us of our jack russell Scooter that hubby and I had years back. Sometimes we refer to her as Scootie and she has started calling herself that too.

Kelly Hunter said...

Colleen, I have a 17yo and a 19yo at the moment, and I'm lost as to what to get them. It was so much easier when there was a Lego option.

Kelly Hunter said...

Hi Janette,
Gorgeous Chrissy present. Love the name Madeline, and Scootie too.

Scarlet Wilson said...

Love the title and the cover of your Christmas novella Kelly! We've just had our Christmas early, just back from Eurodisney with the kids - boy do Disney do Christmas well!

Rachael Johns said...

Loving some of these early Christmas pressies - especially the Christmas babies.

My best early present was going to England to meet my dad and brother and sisters when I was 17!!

Jackie Ashenden said...

Sounds like a great novella. My best Christmas present as a kid was a pair of basketball boot roller skates. No more strap-on ones! With giant green stoppers!! Awesome. :-) These days I cherish the iphone hubby gave me a couple of years ago. He hid it in a huge box with a wrapped iron bar on the top to put me off the scent. ;-) Luckily the iron bar did not crush the iPhone.

Kelly Hunter said...

Scarlet, the cover is my fault. I should never be left alone with photoshop - all of a sudden I think I'm a graphic designer. But I do like the title ;).

Rach!, I had a Banff Christmas once. It involved a sweet English lad, a snowy mountaintop, a bottle of red wine and a moose.

Jackie, I remember those roller skates. Or at least, I remember the size of the stoppers. Was there a disco skirt involved?