It's Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas

OR the winter holiday of your choosing.

December 1st kicks off an annual tradition here at ye olde blog. The Annual Josh Lanyon Advent Calendar.

Now for those of you new to the blog, this is not a super traditional Advent Calendar.  How it works is like this: every day through the month of December I try to post something of interest or good cheer. Sometimes it's just a nice photograph, sometimes it's a giveaway like print books or audio codes or...well, who knows? Sometimes it's a holiday coda.

A coda, for those of you joining us for the first time, is an ending part of a piece of music or a work of literature or drama that is separate from the earlier parts. The fact that the coda is separate from earlier parts of the story is what makes it different from, say, an epilogue wherein all the story parts are pulled together and we have a final last word on what it all meant.

The codas are all bits and bobs from my existing stories -- in some cases they're bridges to new stories and in other cases they are a final glimpse of the characters. Sometimes they are really short -- just a couple of lines. Sometimes they're an actual vignette. Sadly, there will not be many codas from me this year because I'm working hard to finish The Ghost Had an Early Check-Out in time for Christmas. So while I hope to do a couple of codas, well, we'll just have to see.

BUT last year we opened the Advent Calendar to readers like you, inviting you to submit your own holiday offering--and it turned out to be brilliant. We got artwork, we got codas, we got games and giveaways. It worked so well that we're going to do it again. You are invited to submit to the 2017 Advent Calendar. Anything related to any of the stories is welcome.  (The idea being that no one better understands what a fan might enjoy than another fan!) So if you want to submit artwork or a snippet from a scene you wish I’d written or a poem or a song or anything at all really, send it to me through my website contact page and we’ll put those into the calendar as well. (All donations gratefully accepted!)

As for why I do the Advent Calendar? It's just a way of thanking you all for your kindness and support during the year. Yes, you buy the books because you like the stories, but there are lots of stories and lots of authors out there, so I appreciate the fact that so often you choose Josh Lanyon stories. Thank you very sincerely. I truly hope you enjoy this year's calendar.

Happy Holidays to each and every one of you.