Antoinette's Christmas Mantel: Season Three — Antoinette Stockenberg

If you've been to my Home Page, then you know I've converted my out-of-print novels into eBook format. A particular favorite of mine is KEEPSAKE, a novel of romantic suspense which opens with a village Christmas scene. I love that scene, and so I decided to recreate a version of it in my mantel village this year. More villagers -- those tiny tin figures that the Germans call "Zinnfiguren" -- have shown up, and so have the cardboard houses they live in. A gazebo figures prominently in my novel's opening Christmas scene, so I had to create one for my mantel. Scraps of cardboard, a strip of paper doily, a fence cut from gutter guard (!), snippets of wood dowel, bits of loofah ... and there you have it: a sweet little gazebo in keeping with the charming irregularities of the antique houses that surround it. It's as fragile as those nearly century-old Japanese cardboard houses, and I hope it will last as long for the generations after me.

Note: This pictorial eBook contains large images and is designed to be viewed on an actual tablet with the Kindle App installed or on a PC with Kindle for PC installed  or a Mac with Kindle for Mac installed. Viewing it in any of these ways will allow the images to be enlarged and explored.

Christmas in Keepsake

My novel is set in a Connecticut village called Keepsake. As in the novel's opening chapter, my mantel scene features an annual Christmas tree lighting, with the village center bustling with activity. Santa Claus is holding court in the town's gazebo, welcoming young ones and listening attentively to their wish lists. Children are everywhere -- waiting on benches, perched on fences, arriving by horse-drawn sled. Santa's deer (borrowed from a petting zoo for the evening) are waiting in a nearby pen for their next handful of feed from some eager child. People are chatting, shopping, skating, enjoying hot drink and food. The village just loves Christmas.

The cast of mantel characters returns. Old John Hooks is worried about losing the farm, and banker Max Schurster isn't very reassuring. Mayor Pittman, Attorney Pettifore, and Doctor Greene are deep in discussion about a proposed hospital. Lavinia Pittman, the mayor's wife, has a new social rival, and Clive and Margaret are celebrating their first anniversary with happy news. Harmony has splurged on heavy new curtains for the nursery, young Johnny Hooks can't seem to find Sonja, and the Woodcuts, as usual, have something to say about everyone. Their stories, and more, are all here for you to read and enjoy.

The best way to view this pictorial eBook is in landscape mode with two columns displayed. In a two column display the images are quite small initially, but can be expanded to full screen size by tapping on them. I recommend that you download Season One first, which is free, to make sure that this type of eBook works well on your eReader.