Are you one of those people who dreads the holiday season, while everyone else around you is making merry? Do you look forward to New Year’s Eve most of all, because it means all this holiday nonsense and commercialism will finally be over?

You’re not alone.

How and why one chooses to celebrate or not celebrate the holidays is an intensely personal thing. It may be cultural, it could be religious, or it may simply be personal preference. But when something is as pervasive in society as is our annual ramp up to the grand finale of New Year’s Eve, and all the hectic activity in between, it can take a toll on a person’s attitude.

Holiday Overload

I must confess that as I’ve gotten older, I am less interested in the holiday hubbub. Decorating feels like a chore; shopping for gifts becomes a race against time. Endless holiday-themed commercials become even more annoying than pharmaceutical ads, and I swear if I hear “Winter Wonderland” one…more…time…

But then, when Christmas is almost here, a yearning comes from somewhere deep inside, and I find myself searching closets for that old DVD of Rudolph or the Grinch or Charlie Brown. I actually look forward to exchanging gifts, because the pressure to find and wrap them is over. Seeing little kids getting all excited over the lights or going to see Santa melts my irritation away, and I find myself enjoying the holidays once more.

So now I try every year to not let cynicism take over, and enjoy the little things.

Deep As Snow

But some people have more serious issues with the holidays, and that is what prompted me to write the short stories that comprise my novella, Running In Snow. Sometimes past trauma can make it difficult for some people to enjoy the holidays. I’ve had a few unpleasant holidays in my past, so I wondered what it would be like for someone who refused to celebrate, but was in a situation where they had to?

What on earth would make them go through with it?

That was the basis for Noelle’s Promise, the first short story. Noelle had some serious trauma around Christmas from her childhood, to the point where she would not participate at all. Not with friends, not at work, not in any way. She simply avoided it.  

But when she fell in love, her life changed. Should she continue to ignore the holidays, or try to join in her boyfriend Logan’s family celebrations? She makes a valiant effort to do so, but things don’t go as planned. Noelle discovers that sometimes the way past your fears is to go right through them.

Eve’s Hope, the second short holiday story, is about a woman who believes she is cursed. Every New Year’s Eve, something goes wrong. When her heater goes out in a rare Atlanta snowstorm, her handsome neighbor rescues her and invites her to his party. She makes the best of it, hoping to get through the night without her bad luck kicking in. Let’s just say there’s a few surprises in store before the clock strikes midnight.

I enjoyed writing these emotional holiday tales because I was able to explore those feelings of dread I get every year, but still end up on a happy note. Do you ever experience negative feelings around the holidays? How do you cope?

Running In Snow is available on Amazon, Nook, iTunes and Kobo for just .99. I hope you enjoy the holidays, however you choose to spend them!