Four Locally Authored Christmas Books You Can Buy Now

The days leading up to Christmas and beyond are perfect to snuggle into a warm blanket with a warm drink in one hand and a good Christmas story in the other.

Here are four locally authored Christmas book you can enjoy now.

All four are available on Amazon.

The first three are also available at The Book Market in Crest Hill.

The first two are also available for immediate reading on Kindle.

The last is only available in print on Amazon.

So although that fourth book may not arrive in time for Christmas, it's still sweet reading for the holiday season.

And if you'd like more local author suggestions, check out this list I assembled in late 2019.

And remember, even if you don't want to read the books yourself, you can make the holidays brighter for a child who does.

Happy reading!

Bertrand and the Christmas Surprise

It's Bertrand's first Christmas, and he can't wait to meet Santa. But instead of the man in the red suit, Bertrand comes face to face with a bit of Christmas magic.

Cornell Dyer and the Flu

It’s Christmas Eve and a very sick Cornell Dyer is stuck in the hospital, frustrated because he can’t find the vending machine and because he’s too sick to solve his latest supernatural mystery. Another patient tries to help Cornell, not with food and medicine, but with a journey into realms Cornell doesn’t want to go.

Write Where We Are: Holiday Edition: Stories, poems, and essays for the holiday season

Nearly everyone has traditions. For the last eight years, Write On Joliet has assembled an anthology of our members’ works, published and offered to the public as a way to share our passion with the community.

This year, we are offering a special holiday edition of Write Where We Are. We hope this collection of stories, essays, and poems that touch on many aspects of the holiday season, will become a new tradition for your family: a chance to lose yourself in a memory, take a break from the holiday hustle, and enjoy something a little different and home-grown.

Write On Joliet is comprised of writers from across the southern suburbs who share a passion for creative writing. In addition to publishing an annual anthology,

WriteOn Joliet produces a live theatrical reading performance each spring, and its members participate in other community arts events throughout the year.

Sarah's Christmas Wish

A heartwarming Christmas story about a seven year old girl living in an orphanage with her two best friends. Her dream is to find a home with parents for herself and her friends. The orphanage is not one of warmth or compassion but it doesn't stop Sarah's dreaming and good nature.

Playing Santa

A good acquaintance of mine put out a call for help on social media this weekend.

Twenty-five children living in a local motel were in need of Christmas cheer. Who could help?

I immediately asked Rebekah if we could afford to donate twenty-five of our BryonySeries children's books (Bertrand The Mouse, The Adventures of Cornell Dyer, Girls of the BryonySeries, etc.).

As Rebekah was figuring that out, we had a bit of a Christmas miracle.

Let's just say someone dropped in, heard about our plans, and offered to buy the books. And then the offer was modified. This person said the kids should get TWO books a piece.

Then that person called another person, who also offered to donate two books to each child, for a total of four books per child.

Then that social media was modified: Approximately sixteen adults were with the twenty-five children and in need of Christmas cheer, too.

So my two donors bought WriteOn Joliet's last fifteen Christmas anthologies, as well WriteOn Joliet's last two "Cheetah" anthologies, and even my copy of the Cheetah anthology, for a total of eighteen books (in case the count was wrong).

Now I had the challenge of wrapping all those books. I REALLY needed to finish the hard edits of the third book in Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara's third book in his BryonySeries Ruthless trilogy - and I wasn't sure if I could get those edits done if I spent every waking minute this weekend on them.

It's been that kind of autumn/2024, ya know? 

So Timothy and Daniel, on their way out the door for their Saturday morning bro-breakfast together, offered to help.

They came home a couple hours later with gift bags, lots of tape - and then Timothy custom-designed large gift tags that would hold all the important information: Gender, age, room number.

And then the boys got busy and started wrapping, making sure that rooms with multiple children didn't get "doubles" with the books.

You should know both boys just completed a busy week at work, along with finals week for their master degree programs. They submitted the final final on Friday night and REALLY looked forward to a quiet, relaxing Saturday.

Instead, they spent the day wrapping one hundred and eighteen books. And then they delivered them.

In the meantime, Rebekah had gone to Cindy's for a Christmas bakeoff since Cindy was making gift boxes of baked goods for presents this year.

Instead, the girls baked all day and then professionally wrapped an assortment of their goodies in individual packs to accompany the books.

That left Cindy without any baked goods for her gift boxes. And she was OK with that.

I should also add we do not even have our Christmas tree up. Heck, it's not even out of the garage yet.

We also have not celebrate St. Nicholas yet (that feast day was Dec. 6).

But I actually DID finish the hard edits on Ed's book late Sunday night.

And Timothy, Rebekah, and Daniel chilled on Sunday.

Most importantly, we brought a bit of Christmas to people who can't bring it to themselves this year. And they can enjoy stories written locally by writers who care about writing good stories and sharing them with the community.

I love the amount of good people can bring into the world when they work together. And social media, for all negativity sometimes associated with it, was the catalyst for it.

Besides we can always bring the Christmas tree out of the garage another day.

Happy Monday!

Win a Bertrand The Mouse Christmas Book

Good morning!

I will be giving away TEN "Bertrand the Christmas Surprise" books on Friday in the North Pole Christmas Market at Joliet's annual "Light Up the Holidays" event, which is held every year in several downtown locations the day after Thanksgiving.

For the first time, the North Pole Christmas Market will feature a story time event, and I was asked to select and read the Christmas stories.

I chose two, which I will read at 11 a.m., before the drawing.

Both books are beloved Christmas books from my childhood.

And both books reference mice, so Bertrand (of course) is thrilled. 

Yes, Bertrand will join me for story time since he exists in order to bring the joys of reading to children.

The books are softcover and will easily slide into a standard Christmas stocking, if you can hold off reading them for that long.

So I'm thankful for the opportunity to be a positive part of a holiday kickoff event.

What fills you with thankfulness today?

Two BryonySeries Christmas Books You Can Read Now

Do you need some last-minute Christmas cheer for you or the child in your life?

Here are two holiday-themed books for children of all ages that you can read on Kindle now. 

Or order print copies through the store on the BryonySeries website or Amazon and enjoy them through the holiday season (and beyond).

Bertrand and the Christmas Surprise: 

It's Bertrand's first Christmas, and he can't wait to meet Santa. But instead of the man in the red suit, #BertrandTheMouse comes face to face with a bit of Christmas magic.

Order the Kindle here.

Cornell Dyer and the Flu (a "Christmas Carol" parody):

Supernatural super sleuth Cornell Dyer is stuck in the hospital on Christmas Eve, frustrated because he can’t find the vending machine and because he’s too sick to solve his latest supernatural mystery. And now he must take a journey into realms he doesn't want to go.

Order the Kindle here.