Sea Stars Christmas: A Stella Mare Story
About this ebook
Mackenzie wants to belong – to Declan, her boyfriend, and to Stella Mare, her new Canadian home. Putting on the village’s first-ever Sea Stars Festival at Christmas will help, but it must be perfect. She can’t risk making a mistake, but there's no way to get an entire village in line. Especially for somebody "from away," as she is. A city girl.
Declan can’t commit – except to his writing career. He loves Mackenzie and he loves teaching at the high school but holds tight to his dream of moving to the city as a successful novelist. In the meantime, he’s producing his play with the kids at his school. Maybe Broadway is his future.
Pulled in different directions, they both feel the distance, but can’t bridge it. In the meantime, his play and her festival create their own chaos. Twinkling lights, hot spiced cider, fluffy snowflakes, and sleighbells can’t cover up the flare of emotions as personalities clash, equipment fails, and people fall short. When the parade loses its focus, Mackenzie comes undone. She can't bear to disappoint everyone. If there is such a thing as a Christmas miracle, now would be a good time.
Crusty villagers with a past, problem principals, an errant Santa and the inevitable dog all do their part as Christmas spirit - the special Sea Stars spirit - blooms in the village. Come home to Stella Mare, as Mackenzie and Declan explore what it means to belong – to a village and to each other.
About the author
I write under the name Annie M. Ballard, and my women’s fiction is set in the Canadian Maritimes, where I have settled after growing up in New England and living all along the East Coast of the US, plus Louisiana. The history of each place I’ve lived has been a part of what fuels and inspires my writing. I’m interested in how the geography and culture of places influence the people and the stories they tell about themselves.
My first book – A Talisman of Home – introduced Mackenzie, an American who came to the Maritimes to find the father she never knew. It’s an exploration of place and the meaning of family, The Sisters of Stella Mare series is about four sisters from the same small fishing and tourist village, based on a real New Brunswick place. I capture realistic life experiences with an emphasis on how strong communities support us even in our most dire moments, and a focus on how everyday experience can be transcendent. Most of us live large lives within our own frame and that’s what I want to share.
When I’m not writing, reading or thinking about writing or reading, I garden, lift barbells, bake up a storm, and play the flute (I’m a rank amateur). Sign up for my newsletter for a chat a couple of times a month, and updates on the lifting, gardening, baking and, oh yes, the writing.
