THE WRITE PATH with Anna J. Stewart

Anna J. Stewart

In my series The Write Path, my guests talk to me about their books. Today I welcome author Anna J. Stewart, who will be discussing her story The Christmas Wish in the anthology Christmas, Actually with me. Anna is a truly wonderful person and has had a stellar year. She’s also very generous, so don’t forget to check out her giveaway.

Let me hand over my mic. The next voice you’ll hear will be Anna’s.

Hi everyone–and a special shout out to Carmen for hosting me today. I’m so excited to be here and to “meet” all of you. The Christmas Wish (included in Christmas, Actually) is the culmination of a dream true for me…this is the story that made me a Harlequin author, a life-long ambition that’s finally here. Please comment, ask questions, do a little holiday dance if you want (I don’t judge!) and let’s have some fun!

1. So, Anna, what is your book about?

The Christmas Wish, which is part of Harlequin Heartwarming’s Christmas, Actually anthology, focuses on teacher Callie Banning, whose newest student has some serious issues with Christmas. As a perpetual people pleaser who loves the holiday season, Callie is determined to help little Eliza–and her widowed father–rediscover the magic of the season. This is the second story in the collection of novellas featuring the Banning siblings and while each story stands on its own (The Christmas Gift by Anna Adams and The Christmas Date by Melinda Curtis), all three stories are tied up in a big bow at the end.

2. What do you think attracts readers to your main characters?

I think (I hope) readers will connect to Callie through her desire to please everyone and not let anyone down–and teachers especially do this (it’s why they are truly the backbone of our society). Most women I know tend to put everyone ahead of ourselves and we want to think we can do it all, but at some point, something has to give and the word “no” has to be spoken. There’s an empowerment in that word that Callie comes to understand and it ends up opening more doors than it closes. As far as Dean Galloway, the Irish accent doesn’t hurt (ha!)–nor does his overwhelming love for his daughter. There’s nothing in the world he wants more than to see his little girl happy and there’s something incredibly sexy and appealing about that in a man.

For me, it was writing my way through Dean’s journey that struck a chord. His progression through grief and acceptance is something most everyone can identify with and it’s an experience that always makes us stronger. Callie’s gentle guiding hand, her willingness to work with him and Eliza in an effort to help them move on with their lives feels like a gift of a story I was given. Plus, writing a mischievous little girl was more than fun. Not that I have any experience with that at all.

3. What message do you hope the reader takes away from your book?

In this story, the message kind of presented itself about half-way through. I always head into a story thinking it’s one person’s story, only to discover it ends up being 50/50. As I said earlier, I’ve had my own issues with not saying “no” and putting my own life on the back burner and honestly, I thought that’s what the main theme of The Christmas Wish would be. But the deeper I delved into Dean’s character, learning that in a way, he had never taken the time to properly grieve and accept the loss of his wife and the true effect his decision to become nomadic had on his daughter, I think that’s the heartbeat of the story. Also, I think it’s important, especially for children, to know that they can love someone else without having to say goodbye completely to who they’ve lost. That goes for Dean as well and Callie embracing the memory of his wife, of letting him and Eliza know that she would always be a part of them, was like the final balm on an open wound.

4. What was it about your book that attracted your editor?

I’m about to be very annoying and say this book was a pretty easy sell. We came up with the concept as a team, and had everything locked down (yet open to suggestions of course) and knew the stories we wanted to tell. Not to read their minds, but I think Harlequin liked the mingling of three siblings into three separate stories that all come together in the end. The three of us (Melinda Curtis and Anna Adams and I) worked really hard to bring a feeling of community and continuity throughout the three novellas. Creating one town, where you see all the characters in each of the stories, knowing that town square and grounding the reader in Christmas Town, Maine early on, was something new and different for each of us. I can’t speak for my fellow authors, but it made the story (for me at least) fun to write. As writers, we’re often told to find a fresh spin on a tried and true idea and I think we did that and that made it an easier sell. Even better, they kept our title–I can’t tell you how happy that made us.

5. Comparing the ideas you had before writing the book with the finished product with where you are now, would you change anything if you could travel back in time?

Yet again, I’ll be irritating and say in all honesty, I don’t think there’s anything I’d change about it. This was one of the easiest stories I’ve ever written, which is ironic given I never thought I could write a novella. I tend to write very long books (I have one book–not published–that ended up being almost 700 pages). The idea of writing short was almost paralyzing yet it ended up being one of the best experiences of my writing life (as well as my first sale!). Once I got a handle on Callie and Dean (and Eliza, who was inclined to take over every scene she popped in to), it was just there–like a gift and I’m so grateful Melinda approached me about contributing to it. So no need to travel back in time and change anything.

However, if I could, I hear the Tardis is an excellent transportation device (I really need to start watching Doctor Who), but I think books are the magic device when it comes to time travel–we can go anywhere and anytime we want just by flipping (or clicking) a page. Which reminds me, I’ll be choosing one random commenter to receive a copy of Christmas, Actually (print or e, their choice). My first giveaway! So excited…and thanks, Carmen, for hosting me today. I’m thrilled to be here.

Anna’s bio:

Anna J. Stewart can’t remember a time she didn’t have a book in her hands or a story in her head.
Early obsessions with Star Wars, Star Trek and Wonder Woman set her on the path to creating fun, funny, and family rich stories with happy endings for her independent heroines. Anna lives in Northern California where she deals with a serious Supernatural & Sherlock addiction, surrounds herself with friends and family and tolerates an overly affectionate cat named Snickers (or perhaps it’s Snickers who tolerates her). Visit Anna online at www.authorannastewart.com, where you can find her links to Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and, if you like giveaways, sign up for her newsletter~you never know what you might win just by subscribing!

Buy links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K9ZZ9XE/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00K9ZZ9XE&linkCode=as2&tag=autannjste-20&linkId=N4FTQEBI5O7XUFEE

BN: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/christmas-actually-anna-adams/1119471837?ean=9781460342565

EHarlequin: http://www.harlequin.com/storeitem.html?iid=54438

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/christmas-actually/id894793893?mt=11

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/christmas-actually