A Kringle in the System by MK Mancos

When Samhain asked their authors to write special holiday themed stories to show their appreciation to the readers, I thought it was a hellova good idea. What better way to spread the love and good cheer of the holiday season than to give a little something extra. But what to write about? I was completely stuck - until an unemployed Christmas elf tapped me on the shoulder and told me her story of whoa. Problem was, did I have time to write something and have one of my writer friends give it the once over before the Nov. 28th deadline?

Lord only knows my plate is full enough as it is, what with writing about five or six books at once, tweaking and editing others and working a full-time job in the medical field. But I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to give my thanks to those who have bought and read my books over the past two years. I appreciate their support so much, that it really wasn't a question of doing it...but finding the time.

But sometimes a character just captures your attention so fully that the story tends to write itself. The author merely a conduit to put the details on paper - or in this case a computer program. Thus it was with A Kringle in the System. Emery Elfsbane and Zachariah Kringle shared a couple of mint martinis and their story with me. It's a light-hearted and rather tongue-in-cheek look at Santa's corporate workshop.

I invite everyone to come and join the fun on Dec. 11th at the Samhellion website when my holiday offering will be the new feature.

Here's a teaser for your reading fun:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It’s a cruel day when Emery Elfsbane needs the service of a matchmaker to find her a
date,” came the deep masculine voice in her ear.

With her head bowed down to see what she wrote in the dim light, she hadn’t noticed
Zachariah Kringle enter the bar, much less park his finely toned ass on the next barstool. But then he had a talent for moving like a silent night through the world.

Emery raised a brow and glared at him. “I don’t need assistance in finding a date. I am, however, in want of a job, thanks to your dear uncle.”

Zachariah frowned. “What?”

It took all her patience not to yell at him. As if he didn’t know what happened. She closed her eyes and counted to ten.

“Em, come on. What happened?”

She felt his knuckle graze her cheek. Her eyes popped open. There was something
about him. The man was hot enough to melt the entire Arctic zone. He was also the Pole’s biggest player.

Worse for her since she’d had a major crush on him for years.

Annoyance surged up to her mouth, loosening her tongue. “I got canned, all right?”

“Canned?”

“Like a tin of peppermints.”


Happy Holidays!!!

-Kat