Sheep Among Wolves Publishing

FREE Today—A Blue Coat

By Courtenay July 1, 2024 Fiction, SAWPublications, Short Stories, The Bookshelf

“Celinda’s going to wear her blue coat.” But is that enough information to walk into an airport and meet a soon-to-be-relative coming off an overseas flight? If you enjoy sweet Christmas flash fiction, A Blue Coat is a title you won’t want to miss!Ready for a dose of Christmas in July?

Last weekend I let my sister talk me into watching a Christmas episode from one of my favourite shows. I was reminded (at totally the wrong time of year!) just how much I love Christmas.

Thankfully, somebody came up with the idea of Christmas in July—so now we’ve all got an excuse for releasing a Christmas story in the middle of a heat wave.

And that’s exactly what I’m going to do today!

Okay, to be honest there was also a practicality-driven reason for releasing this one over the summer instead of waiting till December. But we will get to that presently! First, may I introduce you to . . .

“Celinda’s going to wear her blue coat.” But is that enough information to walk into an airport and meet a soon-to-be-relative coming off an overseas flight? If you enjoy sweet Christmas flash fiction, A Blue Coat is a title you won’t want to miss!

A Blue Coat

by Courtenay Burden

“Celinda’s going to wear her blue coat.”

As you can see at a glance, that is NOT enough information to walk into an airport and meet a soon-to-be-relative coming off an overseas flight.

When Andrew’s out-of-state business trip takes longer than he anticipated, the task of picking up his fiancé at the airport devolves on his reluctant cousin.

Apprehensive about meeting a new family member in the first place, disgruntled about driving fifty minutes on a snowy highway to do it, and increasingly frustrated by her cousin’s colossal inability to describe the girl he’s engaged to—does a step of faith still hold the power to redeem her Christmas Eve?

And if it does—how high are the odds that she can actually recognize this stranger in the blue coat after all?

If you enjoy sweet Christmas flash fiction with a healthy dose of humour and a thread of deeper meaning, then this next title in the Sheep Among Wolves Short Stories collection is one you won’t want to miss!

The Story Behind A Blue Coat

If you’ve ever glanced at the acknowledgements page of a work of fiction, you’ve likely read the remark that without the contributions of friends or family, this story would never have existed.

That’s always true with fiction.

It’s doubly true when the fiction came from a writing prompt!

In the case of A Blue Coat, I have to thank Rebekah Morris for the prompt that inspired the story:

Use a name that you’ve never used before and create a character who is around your age. Write a paragraph or two describing this person, their looks, personality, and maybe throw in a quirk or two. Write the description as though your reader had to find and pick up this person at a busy airport and needed to know who and what to look for.

The name was Celinda. And the description—well, you’ll have to read the story. Because getting somebody to describe Celinda wasn’t as easy as it sounds.

And the Best News of All—It’s FREE Today!

As always with our short story releases, A Blue Coat launches as a three-day freebie.

(Try saying that last phrase ten times fast, next time you need a laugh.)

Anyhow, joking apart, A Blue Coat is on sale July 1-3 for $0.00. You can grab your copy right below!

Why July?

Wow, we are on a roll for tongue twisters today! But why July is a valid question. Five months of patience, and I could be releasing this story as a Christmas special.

The answer is, our Christmas specials spot is already taken.

In fact, starting October 2024, I am super excited to be introducing you to my new short story series, Library Blitz—following the adventures of an enthusiastic librarian and a WW2 air warden as they battle to trace God’s hand through a year of 1940s London.

And guess what? It includes a Christmas story. (Two Christmas stories, actually—due to the incorrigible bargaining skills of one of my alpha readers!)

I can’t wait to share Library Blitz with all of you this fall.

And I’m so excited to be sharing A Blue Coat as a Christmas-in-July present for you today!

 

“Celinda’s going to wear her blue coat.” But is that enough information to walk into an airport and meet a soon-to-be-relative coming off an overseas flight? If you enjoy sweet Christmas flash fiction, A Blue Coat is a title you won’t want to miss!

You might also enjoy:

Ashlyn is a self-conscious teenager who’s firmly convinced that music is not her gift. The chance to attend a week-long singing camp sounds more like a nightmare than a dream-come-true. Has she actually promised to embrace anything God sends her way?

Ashlyn is a self-conscious teenager who’s firmly convinced that music is not her gift. The chance to attend a week-long singing camp sounds more like a nightmare than a dream-come-true. Has she actually promised to embrace anything God sends her way?