Story notes for "Thirteen Christmas Traditions" by Resonant First posted to SXF in December 1999
First of all, I'm right quietly proud of having written a Christmas story whose first word was "goddamned."
Why did I write a Christmas story? I don't even like Christmas stories. Somehow I got the idea that Jim wouldn't own any tree ornaments, and the whole thing just ballooned from there.
Actually the fact that I don't like Christmas stories was part of the fun here. When I put in a scene where Blair asks Jim, "What were your Christmases like as a kid?" I was giggling while I pictured cliche-sensitive readers cowering back and cringeing and waiting for the flood of Tales of Jim's Lonely Childhood.
The only other thing that distinguishes "Thirteen Christmas Traditions" is that it's the first time I ever wrote a scene where a character says, "I love you." Funny how risky that felt.
Of course I was writing the story in late December and I wanted to post it before Christmas came and went. Livia did two detailed betas of it in, like, 48 hours. She rocks.
Holidays: Those are all real, and the similarities among them are astonishing. I learned about them, and about many, many other winter solstice traditions, at the beautiful and informative Candlegrove web site.
Rent-a-tree. I heard about this from a friend of mine in Berkeley, California. I wish someone would do it where I live.
Music: It's Vince Guaraldi's "A Charlie Brown Christmas," followed by "Yule Struttin': A Blue Note Christmas."