A NANTUCKET CHRISTMAS
Where do my ideas come from?
Christmas and dogs are two of my favorite things, so when I decided to write a Christmas novel, the first face peering out of the fog of my imagination was that of a dog, because Nantucket is a dog-crazy island. We deck our dogs out for the Christmas Stroll.
Of course I thought of humans, too, and family. Nothing says holiday for me like family. Blended, sometimes in a Cuisinart, family.
I married at 20 and immediately had 2 stepchildren, one whom I loved, the other not so much. That inspired my first novel, Stepping.
We eventually divorced but when I married again, I was aware of my own children being stepchildren to the man I adored, who was now their stepfather. Charley was an only child, and I wanted very much to please my rather formal and very beautiful mother-in-law (who lived two blocks from our house), especially at Christmas.
One thing Martha and I had in common was that we loved dogs. She had a longhaired dachshund named Dali. She brought Dali to our wedding and also to all Christmas meals. If you look closely at the photo below, you’ll see Dali patiently waiting at our Christmas table for his portion of the buche de noel.
Sylvia Plath said: “Fiction is a lie that tells the truth.” For me, fiction is the truth mirrored, shuffled, and decorated.
I decided to write a Christmas novel about Nicole, a newcomer to the island and a new stepmother, who hosts Christmas with a hostile and pregnant stepdaughter, and a dog needing a home for Christmas, because Christmas is about home and family, even if it’s an imperfect blended family. I wanted the novel to include the longing for home, and the uncontrollable messiness of home, and the gift of grace when, just for a moment, it all comes right.
When I wrote A Nantucket Christmas, I had lived on Nantucket for 28 years. My son and daughter were grown and busy in their own lives. Everyone came home for Christmas. Neil proposed to our daughter Sam on Christmas morning while Josh’s husband David videotaped it.
Then, my daughter had a baby.
I knew I had to have a baby in my first Christmas book! In fiction and in real life, babies are the true happy ending—and the happy new beginning.
The hardback edition of A Nantucket Christmas
