Christmas With Hover Hill by Fay Risner

One more Christmas book to tell you about. I always like adding humor to my stories, and this book has plenty of humor. One of my ideas for the book came from watching NBC Today years ago. A piece was on using robots to work as servants. Another idea I saved was one of many pictures I took at the Kalona Salebarn Carriage sale. They usually had one in the spring and one in the fall. I wanted a supply of horse-drawn pictures to use on my Nurse Hal book covers since I make the covers myself. The most usual horse-drawn item was a Cinderella Coach. I couldn't imagine what it was used for, but I had to have the picture to use someday. Lately, as much as possible, I set my stories in Iowa. So what this book consists of is a robot with an attitude that was a Christmas gift for a Northern Iowa College Professor. She loves her brother but hates the gift. So what caused her to change her mind when she takes off on a leave of absence to parts unknown with a very expensive robot after her brother says he will take the gift back. How does the Cinderella Coach fit into the story? You have to read the book to find out. Sold on Amazon and Barnes and Noble in paperback. Ebook in kindle, nook and smashwords.com

Synopsis Elizabeth Winston grew up not caring about Christmas. This Christmas is going to be much worse than the holidays she and her brother, Scott, shared with her divorced parents. Her former boyfriend, Steven Mitchell, showed up to pester her about renewing their relationship now that his marriage has ended, and Elizabeth vows that is not going to happen. She looks forward to sharing Christmas with her brother, Scott, but he says he won't be able to spend Christmas with her this year. He has a business trip. His present for her is an expensive and obnoxious robot house man by the name of Hover Hill that he says will make life easier for his sister. Just her luck to be stuck with a mechanical man to share the holidays with. To make matters worse, Elizabeth is fit to be tied when she figures out the robot was planted by ex-boyfriend Steven Mitchell to brainwash her into taking him back. Her brother, Scott, betrayed her when he helped Steven by saying the robot was his gift. She's so mad at both men she slips out of town, taking Steven's expensive robot with her and leaving her old life behind only to walk into a new set of problems. She just wanted to hide out for six months, but that isn't easy in small Wickenburg, Iowa. Gossip about her flies faster than the rumors that come out of the Silver Dollar Tavern. Susie, at the Maidrite Diner, bragged to her customers she got a good look at the handsome man that Elizabeth is shacking up with. The minster's wife complained local farmer, Bud Carter, hasn't been to church for a month of Sundays. She wondered what his problem was. Holly, from the Antique Store, said the reason why is Bud's spending more time at the pretty newcomer's house in the country than he is at his place. The grocery store checker said Elizabeth acts nervous like she's hiding out from someone. If Steven Mitchell or her brother comes to town looking for her, with all the attention Elizabeth is getting now, she fears all they have to do is ask, and they can get directions from anyone in town to the old Carter house before she makes it through Christmas With Hover Hill.

Christmas is near, and most of us are staying home looking for something to keep us busy. If you're looking for holiday stories, here is one I wrote. I save ideas just in case some day I might be able to write a whole story. I'd never paid much attention to the bucket list idea until I was in Walmart one day. I was in the restroom, trying to the the automatic soap dispenser to put soap in my hand. After several swipes under the dispenser, a shopper came up beside me and used the dispenser by her. I asked, "How did you get soap? I can't make this dispenser work." It tickled the woman. She swiped her hand again and said, "Just like this." She had a hand full of foamy soap, but the procedure she used looked to me about like what I had been doing. Oh, well, I'd try again. I swiped and had a handful of soap. The woman smiled. "There you go. You can take that off your bucket list." We both laughed, and she disappeared. Suddenly, I'm looking at myself in the mirror and wondering why I looked like I should have a bucket list. So when I wanted to write a story, I went through my saved ideas, came up with one and still mulling over I should have a bucket list, I came up with this story. The poem was a Christmas gift from a nephew that I had saved. I felt it went along with this story. You might find this book different than most Christmas stories, but I think you will like it. Paperback books are found at Amazon and Barnes and Noble in 12 font and large print. The ebooks are in Kindle, Nook, and smashwords.com.

When Leona Krebsbach found out just before Thanksgiving she didn't have long to live, she took charge of her life like she had always done since the doctor thought she might die in a month. She bought a small spiral notepad and titled it Christmas Bucket List. On each page of the notepad, Leona listed something she needed to get done while she still had time. Details like her funeral headed the list. She didn't want to leave anything for her daughters to have to worry about after she was gone. She kept her illness a secret until after Thanksgiving when she had all but one thing completed on her bucket list. Finally, she was as ready to die as she was ever going to get. She called her daughters and invited them to a tea party. Now was the time to tell them. At her age with a long life behind her, Leona Krebsbach wished she felt better prepared mentally for the end. She should have been ready to go, because she would be with her beloved Clarence. If only she had managed to atone for that one regretful time that happened so many years ago. If that didn't weigh on her, she knew her mind set would be different, but she couldn't change the past. Even if she wanted to, she didn't have enough time. She reasoned her bucket list wasn't designed to take care of that one regret unless a miracle happened to change Leona's Christmas Bucket List.