"'It was Christmas Eve, that magical time of the year when hope for a better tomorrow can be found in the promise of a shining star; that time during December when the smallest amount of generosity possesses the power to enter and soften the hardest of hearts.
Snow began to fall from the starlit sky over the Yorkshire village of Marfield Dell, transforming the harsh, rugged landscape of the mining village below into a picture postcard of seasonal delight.
The soft, white snowflakes fell to the ground like small pieces of compassionate Christmas sky, bringing with it a message of goodwill that reminded the occupants of one house and the next that the time had come to strengthen fragile relationships and to heal any old wounds that still festered.
Inside the village houses, poor parents placed their gifts of love beneath the Christmas tree while their children were wrapped up snugly in bed, too hungry to relax and far too excited to sleep.'
The above paragraphs are the opening passages to my Christmas novel, 'Tales from the Allotments', a story which opens on Christmas Eve and is designed to bring out that Christmas spirit in all of us. It is a must for any adult who has a connection with miners, allotments or Christmas magic and it is one of my favourite stories.The book is available in e-book format, kindle or hard copy from www.lulu.com or www.amazon.co.uk. All profits go to charity.
http://www.lulu.com/…/tales…/paperback/product-21906867.html
Hold fast to the Christmas message that unless we make Christ's birth an occasion to share our love and spread blessings to family, friends and neighbours, all the snow in Alaska and the North Pole won't make it white." William Forde: December 11th, 2015.