New Favorite Character Interviews to Enjoy!

Time for some pre-holiday Christmas fun! Two of my co-authors of the Christmas Treasures: A Collection of Christmas Short Stories,  Karen Wingate and Donna Hubbard Scofield, are introducing to us their favorite characters in their short stories, and I had the privilege of interviewing Jen Huckabee and Mary Ann Hopkins Hubbard this week.

The Christmas Gift by Karen Wingate    

Favorite character: Jen Huckabee

Karen Wingate, author

Please introduce us to your character with a little description of who they are: Jen is a frazzled pastor’s wife and mother of two preschool girls

 Tell us about your favorite Christmas, Jen. Why was it your favorite?

My favorite Christmas was the time my husband traveled out to Arizona to meet my entire family the year after we were married. All of us were there at my mom and dad’s house. The gifts were small but the family fun was wonderful and Mom had never cooked such a huge spread. Oh, we were more stuffed than the turkey. My family opened their arms wide to Keith and made him feel right at home – even when Uncle Jim tried to plant a fake tarantula in his hair. My heart aches – I wish I had family around now.

Do you have a Christmas tradition you look forward to every year?

Well, now that we are so far away from family – my husband is a minister you know – and our family is so young, we’re trying to establish new traditions, or at least borrow some from our childhood. I want to fix big lavish meals – just like my mom did. Keith says we’ll be eating turkey leftovers for weeks; after all, how much can two small preschool girls eat? My husband and I have already started one tradition – reading the Christmas story at the breakfast table Christmas morning.  What a wonderful way to set the tone for the rest of the day. And you should hear my husband read! Oh, what a deep rich voice. I never tire of hearing him speak.

Mary Ann's Gift by Donna Hubbard Scofield

 Favorite character: Mary Ann Hopkins Hubbard

Please introduce us to your character with a little description of who they are: 

Mary Ann Hopkins - a plain, shy girl who already knows she'll be the one left at home to care for the old folks, and help out when her sisters-in-law have babies. Because she wants a home and family of her own, she says yes when Henry proposes. She becomes the instant mama to the two children.

Please tell us about your favorite Christmas, Mary Ann. Why was it your favorite?

My favorite Christmas: Oh, for sure it would have to be that first Christmas I was Henry's wife and mama to the two little ones. The big smile on Angeline's little face, usually so serious, when she spied those dolly dresses I'd sewed to match her own, was precious. When Tommy ran to me and grabbed me around the legs and said, "Up, mama! Up, mama!" I thought my heart was going to burst with happiness. The knowledge that Henry was beginning to love me, and return to God, made me happier than I had ever been in my life.

Donna Hubbard Scofield, author

Do you have a Christmas tradition you look forward to every year?

A Christmas Tradition:  Every year I make honey cakes and gingerbread. I have to put them on top of the cupboard, because Tommy would eat enough of them to get a belly-ache. His pa would, too!

Henry always cuts a little cedar tree from our woods, and we put it on the kitchen table and decorate it with holly berries, feathers, yarn, tin-foil, and anything else we can find.

Most importantly, we always go to church on Christmas morning and listen to those precious words... together.

Leave a comment for a chance to win Christmas Treasures: A Collection of Christmas Short Stories. We love your comments!