My First Published Short Story

It's official. I'm a published author, along with my freelance writer status. I submitted my short story Home for the Holidays to XOXO Publishing back in October and it was used in their Christmas Anthology Volume II below:

I had written most of the story based on an idea my husband had in 2009, but I just didn't feel like it was going where I wanted it to. I saw XOXO's email asking for Christmas themed stories and decided to take another look at it. Within a few hours I had changed it to where the pieces were falling into place. I've always loved the holidays, and have written nonfiction articles about decorating, entertaining and cooking for many years, both offline and online. It was so much fun to create a holiday atmosphere from the thoughts in my head.

Story Summary: Ellie agrees to accompany her boyfriend Rory to his hometown for the holidays, despite her fear that his family will discover her secret. Rory needs to bring Ellie home so his family can help her discover her true self before it's too late. Will Christmas be the end of their relationship, or the beginning of something more?

This is an excerpt from the story after Ellie and Rory arrive at his parents home before the Christmas celebration:

Ellie turned to Rory, and slowly put her hands under his shirt. He felt so warm and incredibly sexy. He bent down and kissed her as she continued exploring his chest. He nibbled at her ear, slowly moving down her neck. She felt like her heart was going to pound out of her chest.

“Do you think perhaps you could sneak out of your room, and visit me later tonight in the guest room? “ whispered Ellie.

“Already had that planned out. Did you think I was going to be able to stay away from you? I’m having trouble not ripping your shirt to shreds right now, so sleeping in here while you’re in another room so close to mine is not an option, “ he said as his hands roamed a bit more.

“I think we should continue on our little tour before we get caught in an awkward situation by Princess Maggie, who I’m sure will be hunting us down any minute, “ said Ellie, as she reluctantly removed her hands from Rory’s body.

The Christmas Anthology is available on XOXO, and it includes short stories, recipes and holiday themed poetry.

~Brenda