short story
Pull Here In Case of Grinch-iness
Readers are calling this short story, “A lovely reminder of the true meaning of Christmas.” I hope it will be a blessing to you, too.
(For those of you who’ve read You’re the Cream in My Coffee and Ain’t Misbehavin‘, “The Christmas Robe” features our beloved Marshall Field’s clerk, Marjorie Corrigan.)
A Christmas story from L. M. Montgomery
This week the Sparkling Vintage Life Ladies’ Reading Circle is reading and talking about “Christmas at Red Butte,” a short story by L. M. Montgomery, beloved author of Anne of Green Gables and many other stories. Come join us on Facebook if you like fiction featuring the early 20th century time period.
Marshall Field’s Ornament Giveaway!
Update 12/19/2016: We have a winner! Slayton.amitchell, I’ll be contacting you for your mailing address, and this little soldier will be on its way to you pronto. Thanks to everyone who participated!
“Say the word ‘Christmastime’ and most people think of manger scenes and jingle bells, the glow of colored lights and the flutter of angels’ wings. But at the great Marshall Field & Company, Chicago’s premier department store, Christmastime meant all that and more, along with enough crowds, clanging, and clatter to shatter a sales clerk’s nerves. I know this because that clerk was me.” (Marjorie Corrigan in The Christmas Robe)
Readers of You’re the Cream in My Coffee and The Christmas Robe know that the heroine, Marjorie, works at Chicago’s world-class department store, Marshall Field & Co., in the 1920s. While this sweet toy-soldier ornament does not date back to the 1920s (alas!), it is a genuine Marshall Field’s commemorative ornament, complete with the original gift box. It’s in excellent condition, gold-finish metal filigree with a silky cord, about 4 inches tall. And I’m giving him away to a Sparkling Vintage community member! To enter the drawing, do one of two things:
- If you’re not already signed up to receive my e-newsletter, sign up by entering your e-mail in the box at right. All new sign-ups between now and December 18 will be automatically entered in the drawing.
- If you’re already part of the e-newsletter community and you’d like a chance to win, say so in the comment section below, or drop me a line on Facebook and I’ll add you to the drawing.
That’s it! A winner will be chosen at random on the evening of Sunday, Dec. 18, and the ornament mailed out to the winner on Dec. 19 (U.S. and Canada only, please.)
Merry Christmas!
Jennifer
“The Christmas Robe”: A free short story, and a request
Big crazy news…I just taught myself how to upload a book to Amazon! My “practice” book is actually a short story, just in time for Christmas. Called “The Christmas Robe,” it’s set in the 1920s and features Marjorie Corrigan, heroine of my forthcoming novel.
I’d wanted to make it free on Amazon, but it turns out I can only do that if I agree to list it exclusively on Amazon, which I don’t want to do. So it costs 99 cents there. BUT, dear readers, if you simply swing your cursor over to the right-hand side of this here website and sign up for my quarterly newsletter, A Sparkling Vintage Life, you’ll get it for free! (I use the term “quarterly” loosely. It’s been more like “annual, more or less” up to now. But I vow to do better in 2016. Really I do. On the plus side, history shows I won’t be cluttering up your mailbox…).
If you read “The Christmas Robe” and enjoy it, if I will be forever in your debt if you then take a moment and zip over to Amazon and leave a review. Reviews are solid gold to unknown first-time authors like yours truly. Heck, you could even subscribe to the newsletter, download the free story, read it, write a review, and unsubscribe from the newsletter! No judgment here.
And if you read the story and prefer not to leave a review…well, that’s okay, too. I simply hope you enjoy “The Christmas Robe” as my gift to you.
And if you’re already a newsletter subscriber, you’ll automatically get a copy of the story, as soon as I figure out how to do that. 🙂 (Edited to add: I think I figured it out, so all current subscribers should have received it by now. If you haven’t–and you want it–send me an email at jenny (at) jenniferlamontleo (dot) com and I’ll look into the glitch.)
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Jennifer