Wednesday's Writer - Nikki Lynn Barrett

One of the things I love to do to put me in the mood for Christmas is watch those colourful, sentimental films on TV (so what if they're mainly aimed at kids - aren't we all children at Christmas?) or curl up on the sofa in front of a blazing log fire, with the Christmas tree all lit up and read a heart-warming Christmas story.  Well, today's author has offered me exactly that and it's a story with great visual appeal that plays out in your head like a film as you read.  So I want to thank Nikki Lynn Barrett for putting me in the Christmas mood a little early and hand over to her so she can tell us all about herself and her magical new story.

About Nikki Lynn Barrett 

Hi! Thank you SO much for having me here today! I appreciate it.  My name is Nikki Lynn Barrett, and I'm an author. Wow, doesn't that sound a little too much like I'm at some kind of 'aholic' meeting? Well, maybe I am.....Though really, there's nothing wrong with being a write-aholic, is there?

I hope there's no blank empty stares to that as I continue on...

 Anyhow! Back to the subject at hand...which is apparently me! I live in Arizona with my husband and son, and I hate temperatures over 80 degrees. Yeah. I know. Wrong state then. But my hubby loves it here, so I'll just write myself a cool vacation paradise.   I just published my first book, The Secret Santa Wishing Well.  I've always been a writer. I penned my first 80 page book by the 5th grade, all hand written (horribly, mind you) in one of those spiral notebooks.  That's enough about me, though, how about I introduce you to my story?

The blurb:

    The magic of Christmas has been lost to Jacob Winston. At the suggestion of his ill sister, Jacob takes a job as a Secret Santa at the mall, hoping to restore his Christmas spirit. Even that doesn't seem to work, until a special little boy ambles up to make a very special wish...

Cheyenne Jensen is struggling to raise her two kids without the help of her ex-husband who refuses to acknowledge his daughter's existence and doesn't provide for the son he does. This Christmas is shaping up to be as heartbreaking as the last until her son, Ben's kind actions lead a stranger to them.

Ah, but it's Christmas time and the magic has begun.

When Jacob and Cheyenne meet, neither can deny their immediate attraction to one another. As situations arise that require they spend more time together, their feelings grow stronger and stronger.

With Christmas fast approaching, the pair learn what matters most in life. Now, if only they could ditch the ghost of Christmases past.  

Maybe this holiday will bring some wishes come true- for everyone after all.

  And here's an excerpt from The Secret Santa Wishing Well

“I'm sorry, Mommy.  I won't run off again.  I promise.”     

The sad face had to go.  Cheyenne grabbed the front of Ben’s pajama top and pulled him so he fell on the couch beside her.  Then she pounced.  “You promise?  You promise?”  She tickled him until his blue eyes shined and he called out between the bouts of giggles. 

  “Yes!  Yes!  I promise!"

Laughing, she said, “That’s what I thought.”  Cheyenne tugged him onto her lap and squeezed.  “I love you, Benjamin William Jenson, and don’t you ever forget it.  Now, how about a small cup of hot chocolate before bed and you can tell me all about this wish, okay?”  She only hoped she’d be able to afford whatever it was he wished for.  God knew her little man deserved at least one special present this year.

Hot on her heels, Ben said, “I can’t tell.  It was Santa’s secret wishing well."

“Secret, huh?”  That wasn’t going to help her find out what Ben wanted, Cheyenne thought.  Vaguely, if she remembered right, last year the mall’s setup around Santa also included a large Christmas tree with tags on it for those families who needed help.

“Mommy, can we go back?”

She turned from the cupboard.  “Why?”

“Mister Helper, cause he isn’t the real Santa, he said it couldn’t hurt.  He said I could wish again.  He gave me a penny to throw in the water.  He said sometimes that’s all we have.”

Maybe she'd go to the mall on her next day off.  If the same man was even there.

For the next half hour, while they drank their cocoa, she tried to make sense of what Ben had said.  All he kept talking about were wishes and Santa's helper.  Cheyenne was glad for the kind man.  Grateful in fact that he’d kept her son safe.  But her bed was calling.  It had been a long day.  “All done?”

She tucked Ben under the covers and kissed his forehead.  He hugged his teddy bear and said, “So, can we go back, pretty please?"

“I don’t know, Ben.  We have so much to do tomorrow."

Before she could walk away, Ben grabbed her hand.  “Mommy, it's important.”  At the door, as she turned off the light, Cheyenne made a wish of her own.

I wish for a meaningful Christmas this year for Ben and Desiree.

One far better than she believed it would be.

Well this sounds like a lovely story, Nikki, and it's going straight onto my Kindle for my Christmas reading line-up.  I have a feeling I'll need a box of Kleenex handy!

If you want to download this story, just click on one of the following links:

Amazon.com

Barnes & Noble

(Kobo, print, and other ebook retailers coming soon)

Find out more about Nikki Lynn Barrett at the following:

-http://www.facebook.com/NikkiLynnBarrettauthor 

http://www.nikkilynnbarrett.blogspot.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Nikki-Lynn-Barrett/e/B00A9UDX0K/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6583655.Nikki_Lynn_Barrett

Twitter:  @Stormgoddess925