Tis the Season

Silver/Steel was written in response to a call for holiday stories at Loose Id. As usual, there was a little twist to this particular call for submission. It had to begin at one holiday, and end on another. So it could be Thanksgiving and Kwanza or the Day of the Dead and New Year’s. I was already working on an Arcada story that was set in the winter and immediately began wracking my brain for the most fitting holidays for Travis and Dylan.

For some reason, I love the world of Arcada during the winter, and I give these two some of the most romantic elements the season has to offer. They get snowed in together. They make love in an ice maze and then go driving around looking at Christmas lights. Arcada just comes alive in the snow.

Dylan is old world fae. I imagined he’d be most familiar with the calendar based holidays of the Celts. Travis is a thoroughly modern young man and pagan holidays might resonate with him, but he’d be most comfortable with traditional celebrations. Thus, I chose Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Pretty mundane, I agree. But I had a specific reason for choosing these two holidays.

It’s no secret that depression and suicide rates spike during the winter holidays, and not just because of the weather. The holidays are hard on some people. The stress of spending money, elaborate preparations and the constant barrage of merchandising can tear almost anyone down. These are also family oriented holidays. I’ve spent enough holidays alone that I can relate to the isolation some people experience when they have no family or live far from them. 

Dylan and Travis first meet in a bar on Thanksgiving. Having been alone for so many years, Dylan just wants to have company. He’s not American, but he moves quietly through the landscape of the US and is acutely aware of being alone. He goes to the Roadhouse simply to surround himself with other people. He is also working a job, but that’s just an excuse to be out on Thanksgiving. He craves companionship.

Travis went to the bar to escape the pressures of his pack and family. He’s a lower ranked wolf in the pack and after a tough week, he ducks out on the family gathering to blow off steam. He wants to get away, seeking to lose himself around strangers.

While one character is a loner, the other feels alone within the confines of his extended family. They’re both at the bar on Thanksgiving, but for utterly different reasons. And yet at the core, their reason for being there is the same. They feel isolated and alone.

There’s little more than a month between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and the second holiday is a major contrast from the first. Both men are happy, they’re in love, and their innermost wishes are fulfilled. Dylan is in the heart of a family during the holiday. Because of the fae, Travis finally finds his place in the pack and the security that comes from knowing he’s loved and accepted. 

But the story doesn’t end there on Christmas Eve. That night crystalizes the strength of their love, and it also triggers the events that lead to crushing decisions the men face. When they wake up on Christmas day, their lives will be forever changed. 

Silver/Steel is available at http://www.loose-id.com/authors/a-f/belinda-mcbride.html

Please visit Belinda’s website at http://www.belindamcbride.com

And her blog at http://www.belindam.blogspot.com