and mince pies (not apple) and a good Charles Dickens ghost story (not Frosty and Rudolph). Of course this all played out in my imagination as a child, because I had no control over the Christmas experience. I was determined to have it my way when I was a "grown-up" but to no avail. Family demands dictated their tradition, not my imaginary one, so I had to be satisfied with the Dickens Village atop my fireplace hearth and my annual reading of "A Christmas Carol", the ghost story that for me, epitomized the true transformative powers of the Christmas Miracle. Published 167 years ago today, "A Christmas Carol" has remained in print for all these years.
There have been dozens of film versions of "A Christmas Carol" from Scrooge McDuck to Sir Patrick Stewart to a digitized Jim Carrey but I like the 1951 Alastair Sims version - maybe because it was the first one I saw.
I think he got the transformation from mean, contracted old Scrooge to a gleeful, childlike Christmas groupie the best of them all.
I've always wanted to write a Christmas ghost story, so I set to work and combined my English side with my Irish side and included a Banshee in the mix.
"Miracle on Massachusetts Avenue", a tale about a little depression era girl who gets a very special Christmas present from beyond is my contribution to the genre of Christmas ghost story and has been published this month in Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, a magazine of speculative fiction that's well worth a look.
So hop in bed tonight with your laptop or iPad and head on over to the "Show"for a couple of good Christmas stories, the other one, "Wise Men" by the award winning Sci-Fi and Fantasy writer Orson Scott Card (author of "Ender's War" and his latest - "Pathfinder") and have a very magical Christmas on us.
3 comments:
Thank you for writing this beautiful Christmas story. I read it just after it came out in IGM, and then again today. Even better the second time around! Wonderful characters in plot that is intellectually, emotionally and spiritually engaging and inspiring.
Thank you so much, Rosalie! I appreciate the comments. Your info really intrigues me. I love to travel and have always wanted to live in another country. Where have you lived?
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