Writing Tips: Holidays (2)

It was Thanksgiving here in the United States yesterday, and I wanted to take a moment today to thank everyone for being part of such a wonderful supportive WordPress family. So…thank you 😀

Here’s a short update: it’s been a crazy good week for me. I received the final edits for Seconds Before Sunrise, and I sent out the cover to the blogs participating in the cover reveal on December 1. (If you want your blog to be involved, feel free to send me a message at shannonathompson@aol.com) I’m very excited for the cover reveal! But, speaking of December 1, don’t forget you could win a signed paperback of Minutes Before Sunset. The raffle ends on December 1–the day of the cover reveal! Enter the raffle here.

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I love holidays. I even wrote about how you can use holidays in writing. If you read Writing Tips: Holidays last July, then you know my two basic rules: (I would suggest reading the first piece before continuing below.)

1. Pick a Holiday Carefully

2. Consider Creating Your Own Holiday

In Minutes Before Sunset, I did both. Independence Day happens twice, and it holds special meaning for both the protagonist and the overall theme of the story. We also saw The Naming ceremony–a holiday of the Dark’s–and completely fictional. But today I’m discussing a new aspect of including holidays that I didn’t mention before while giving a little sneak peek into the upcoming novel, Seconds Before Sunrise. 

So you might be asking, “What holidays and celebrations will we see in the second book of The Timely Death Trilogy?”

Well, Thanksgiving, of course! I will say there is more than this celebration that takes place, but Thanksgiving is particularly important to Seconds Before Sunrise. Like the first novel, the holiday was chosen carefully. It came down to irony, symbolism, and timing–just like I wrote in Writing Tips: Holidays. But I think the most interesting part for me came down to how Eric and Jessica experienced this holiday differently. How they look at it, think about it, and interact with others during it differed for a reason, and this is why I’m talking about it today.

It might seem obvious: everyone celebrates (or doesn’t celebrate) holidays differently. But even if they are celebrating differently, they also feel and act differently–something they might not even be fully aware of. The others around them are the same way.

I know. I know. What am I getting at? I’m basically saying everyone is different. That’s obvious. But I think I want to change something about my original post Writing Tips: Holidays. Maybe those first two rules aren’t separate rules at all. Maybe they are one in the same.

Pick a Holiday Carefully & Consider Creating Your Own Holiday

My Thanksgiving isn’t the same as another person’s Thanksgiving and that goes for all holidays. In a way, each unique tradition is its own holiday. So using a holiday already known while combining it with special traditions–in a way–is creating your own holiday.

We all celebrate differently, after all.

~SAT

Dec. 1: Seconds Before Sunrise Cover Reveal

Dec. 3: Check Out These Blogs