Born from Fire

When I hear the phrase “born from fire” I usually think of something dramatic, profound, and typically dark. I don’t think of a cozy Christmas romance with kink sprinkles on top, and yet…

SPANKED BY THE KRAMPUS has been out for a few days now, and I was reflecting on where I was this time last year. Maybe a few thousand words had been written and I had no idea that I was actually going to see this thing through. I had just returned from a week on Cape Cod, a gift from my in-laws, to give us some respite from the chaos of life. An electrical fire had destroyed our adorable apartment by a river a few months before, and we were struggling in every way possible.

So, to the Cape, I went. I did a full moon ritual on the beach and visited Edward Gorey’s Elephant House. I found a place that did gluten-free fish and chips and showed my husband the galleries in Wellfleet I loved to visit as a kid (yes, I was a weird kid). We bought Christmas cards from local artists and puttered around quaint shops. My husband took dozens of pictures of birds and got excited about seeing a cranberry bog for the first time.

And when we weren’t enjoying the idyllic quiet of the Cape in late fall, I watched Christmas movies and read romance novels.

The peace and calm were deeply restorative. I could barely think straight when we arrived, keeping my shit together with sheer force of will, and after a few days, inspiration tickled at my brain. I am, in addition to loving mushy cuddly stuff, a horror fan, and there are seventeen jillion low-budget Krampus horror movies with more added every year.

So that’s where the setting came from, but why all the psychology and therapy talk? The line about “struggling in every way possible” wasn’t a joke. Things were bad, but I knew from experience that they weren’t irrevocably broken. I just needed to do the work (I still do, healing isn’t linear) and find meaning and joy in small things, if that’s all I could do.

Writing gave me something to focus on, and I rediscovered my creativity, after a nearly two-decade-long absence. It’s been a weird and wild ride, but I’m enjoying myself quite a bit and don’t plan on stopping any time soon.

In writing news, I am working on my second novel, about grad programs and werewolves, and will have a Christmas freebie on my mailing list! I’ll be sending that out just before the holiday so, if you enjoyed Holly and Konrad’s chemistry, keep your eyes peeled!

I hope everyone has a happy holiday season!

With love,

Lizbet Castle