Today I’m delighted to participate in the blog tour for The Mistletoe Mixtape anthology and present a guest post by the authors of this wonderful love story collection.
About the book:
The Mistletoe Mixtape
Snuggle up for the holidays with 12 very different tales of love that will have you dancing under the mistletoe!
The Mistletoe Mixtape, the second anthology from The Christmas Collective, is a diverse and inclusive mix of stories, with more swoon-worthy characters, second chances and happy endings.
Amongst these twelve Christmas music inspired stories you will discover long lost love, festive fantasy, LGBTQ+ love stories, witty one liners and holiday romances. There really is a story to capture every reader’s festive spirit. So grab yourself a hot chocolate, pop on your favourite festive tunes and immerse yourself in the magic of The Mistletoe Mixtape.
GUEST POST
by The Christmas Collective, the authors of The Mistletoe Mixtape
Who doesn’t love a Christmas song? If you’re anything like me, you’re not ready to start putting them on at home until December, but there’s no objection whatsoever to hearing them filter onto the radio and festive adverts and into supermarket aisles. It’s like an early promise of the excitement to come … the buildup to the buildup.
Today, I have one more way for you to enjoy a few early Christmas songs. The Mistletoe Mixtape by The Christmas Collective offers exactly what the title suggests: twelve stories of love, romance, and festive magic, each inspired by a classic Christmas song. I thought it would be fun to ask some of the authors which lyrics from their title songs inspired scenes from their stories. Get ready to hum, sing and dance your way through their lyrical responses.
Stay Another Day by Sarah Shard
“Baby if you got to go away, I don’t think I can take the pain, won’t you stay another day…”
I played the song over and over for hours whilst writing the story and I won’t give away the ending, but it had to have her asking him to stay… it couldn’t be just a normal happy ending this time because the song is so sad. I wanted a HEA and to do the song justice, so I think it worked out as it should…
Fairytale of New York by Michelle Harris
My whole story has links to my song. Kirsty thinks Daniel has taken her fairytale dreams of their life together away from her. I don’t want to include spoilers here but I really like this section of the song and I had it in mind when writing Daniel’s character.
“I kept them with me babe
I put them with my own
Can’t make it all alone
I’ve built my dreams around you.”
White Christmas by Marianne Calver
The song title White Christmas inspired my main character’s name: Bianca Natale (which is Italian for white Christmas). It also made me want to feature snow. There is a little scene with sleigh bells too, courtesy of Bianca’s dad:
“...children listen, to hear sleigh bells in the snow.”
Walking in a Winter Wonderland by S.L. Robinson
“In the meadow we can build a snowman, and pretend that he is Parson Brown”
Before doing a deep dive on the lyrics (which inspired all the line break titles in my story), I mistakenly thought the line was “and pretend that he is parsing round” which made perfect sense in my brain as I was also convinced that parsing round was a real term people used for larking about. I was so amused at this mistake of mine that it inspired me to think of fun ways to experiment with the direct lyrics of the song, without actually putting the direct lyrics into my piece.
There is a scene directly corresponding to these lyrics where my character and her R.I. build Parson Brown after he melts, and this activity brings them closer through good old fashioned play.
Wrapped in Red by Joe Burkett
“From Afar I’ve Loved You.”
The above lyric inspired my story in many ways. Sometimes we can be blinded by the bright lights of grand gestures but it’s the little things that go unnoticed where the truest of love stories begin. Can’t give anymore away! Spoilers!
Carol of the Bells by Karl King
My story was a mix of the lyrics. “Sweet Silver Bells” became the Christmas bell, and then the lines,
“On, on they send
On without end
Their joyful tone
To ev’ry home”
got me thinking as to why the sound would reach every house and what it could mean.
Twelve Days of Christmas by Cici Maxwell
The lyrics “five gold rings” inspired my main character’s name, Gemma, and occupation as a jeweller. There’s a scene where she is working on a commission. Someone has ordered five of her gold celestial rings but they’ve supplied her with the gemstones, and the someone is someone close to her heart… only you’ll need to read the story to find out who!
I don’t know about you, but I’m already itching to make this playlist and give it a listen as I read the stories they inspired!
Wishing you all a slightly early, very merry Christmas! Happy reading, Everyone!
Author Bio
The Christmas Collective is a group of twelve romance authors who came together when shortlisted for a festive romance competition. Together they have created two Christmas Romance anthologies, More Than Mistletoe (2021) and The Mistletoe Mixtape (2022).
The Christmas Collective authors are spread far and wide, across the UK, Ireland, Spain and South Korea, however, one thing connects them despite the distance: a love of romance and Christmas.
Website/ Facebook / Instagram / Twitter /TikTok
Purchase Links for some of the authors in The Christmas Collective
Michelle Harris /Jenny Bromham / Bláithlín O’Reilly Murphy /
Giveaway to Win a Paperback copy of The Mistletoe Mixtape (Open to UK and Ireland only)
*Terms and Conditions –UK and Ireland entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
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