Time for another tantalising treat thanks to Teaser Tuesday, the series where I share snippets from my novels, old, new and in progress, and occasionally let author buddies take over.

Last week I finished tweaking the full-length romance I’ve been working on for most of this year (Rah!). Time to set the manuscript aside and let it stew for a while. I always try to do this if I have the chance. It’s amazing how much easier it is to pick up story and character issues after a break, and better all-round if I can identify and fix them before handing it to my publisher.

Which means I’m now free to work on what I hope will be my Christmas novella—Santa and the Saddler.

I need to get a wriggle on though. While I plan for Santa and the Saddler to be only novella-sized, there are still a lot of words to be written. Plus I need to get it edited, proof-read and formatted, and have a cover designed, preferably all before November. That’s tight!

I do have some rough first draft words though. Here’s a few I can share…

Danny tapped his fingers some more. Pretty bad manners to disturb someone this late but he needed to order the browband. Ebs would kill him if he failed to deliver on Christmas Day.

He stopped tapping and opened the ute door. If Saddlery Girl told him to piss off—which she had every right to—he’d cop it on the chin, but if she took the order then it was another thing he could quit worrying about.

He jogged across the road and slowed to a walk. Seeping from under the door was the unmistakable sound of 70s rockers Slade singing Merry Christmas Everybody. As the chorus came up, Slade was joined by another voice, out of tune but belted with gusto. He paused at the window and grinned as he spotted Saddlery Girl at the counter, singing loudly as she flicked through a loose pile of paper. Extracting a sheet, she belted out ‘It’s Christ-maaaaas’ at the top of her voice and disappeared into the rear workshop.

Danny laughed and went to rap on the door, only to stop as a burst of common sense assaulted him. It was quarter to one on a Friday night in a country town and he was a stranger dressed in a Santa suit. This could hardly end well.

©Cathryn Hein

In case you don’t know the song referred to above, you’ll find a video here. Slade are awesome. Luuuuurve them!

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