E is for Ethan Chase

Ethan is the hero in Debra's freebie Mistletoe and Folly.

Right after I signed with TWRP, they came up with a publicity promotion of sorts. Current authors could write short stories that would be offered in their catalog for free. The idea would be to give readers a small sampling in the hopes they'd like your style and buy books that actually cost money. I decided to get on board and pen a short Christmas story. I don't really know if the promotion part was successful in that it led to other sales, but I do know I still 'sell' copies of this story each Christmas...and it was a fun, quick story to write.

The idea came from a Toby Keith Christmas song called "Blame it on the Mistletoe". In the song, the two main characters meet in the checkout line while doing some last minute Christmas shopping. They wind up indulging in a Christmas romance.

I moved my opening scene from the store to a local coffee shop. Friends of friends run into each other again after first meeting at a Christmas party earlier in the season. Other than the details of how they met in a passing sentence, with such a short story (It clocks in at a 'whopping' seven pages.), I don't give much more of their backgrounds.

We know Chase and the other friend went to college together, but we don't know where or what he studied or what he does now.

We don't know anything about his family...are his parents still alive? Does he have any brothers and sisters?

We do know what Chase looks like. Dark hair and eyes. At the coffee house he's wearing a cream colored sweater.

But again, with such a short story, going into explicit, specific detail isn't really necessary. It's meant to be a quick, fun read.

We do get a little peek 'inside' of Ethan at the end of the story. The heroine is having second thoughts about their night together, wondering what he thinks of her. In the morning, Ethan reassures her in this scene.

"Mia." The husky sound of her name on his lips sent a fresh wave of desire through her. "Look at me." He exerted gentle pressure on her shoulders so she had to turn to face him, then placed a finger beneath her chin and tipped her head up until her eyes met his.

A look of warm contentment graced the brown orbs. But doubts assailed her. Words spilled out before she could stop them. "I never do this. I mean I don't usually sleep with someone on the first date, and we didn't even really have a date, and I--"

He pressed a finger to her lips. "What exactly do you think happened here last night?"

"We slept together."

He shook his head. "No," he whispered. He smiled, a lazy slow smile full of love and shared intimacies. "It was much more than that."

Her breath caught.

"I don't believe in one night stands," he said softly. The promise of forever shone in his eyes.

A glimmer of hope started deep inside her heart, chasing away the doubts. Could it really be that easy? Could love happen just like that? "What do you believe in?"

He drew her close. "Happily ever after."

So, even though we don't know a lot about Ethan, we know the most important thing. He's not a cad looking for an easy score. He's a guy who believes in commitment and forever.

If you're in the mood to think about Christmas in the middle of summer, Mistletoe and Folly is available for FREE from The Wild Rose Press.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com