The Twilight Before Christmas

by Christine Feehan

  Matt stood in the doorway with Damon and Jonas and Jackson, who had come in through the kitchen, and watched the seven women as they stood hand in hand circling the Christmas tree. The women looked beautiful and fey, with their heads thrown back and the sparks leaping around them like miniature fireworks.

  Jonas nudged him. "Welcome to the world of the Drake sisters, Matt. And Merry Christmas."

  Matt couldn't imagine a better one.

  Christine Feehan

  recently took time from her busy writing schedule to talk to us.

  Here are the highlights of that conversation.

  What inspired you to write a novella about a family of witches during the holiday season?

  I loved growing up in my family. I have ten sisters. And yes, they are all biological. We had an amazing childhood. Our friendships with one another were, and remain, very strong. Christmas was my favorite time of the year. My uncle was in a wheelchair, and he lived with us. He made Christmas an exciting and special holiday. We collected ornaments from around the world, and to this day I keep that tradition, as do my children. I think loving my sisters and feeling that when we are together there is a special magic, first brought the idea of writing about a family of very magical sisters into my head. All of us have different talents as well as different trials, and we're strong women... but when we're together, we're at our strongest. We see one another through every difficult time and every joyous occasion. And we all love to come together at Christmas!

  Kate Drake, the heroine of The Twilight Before Christmas, is a bestselling author. Readers can't help but wonder how much you modeled her after yourself. Any similarities?

  Maybe a few. Kate does things she doesn't think she can do and she doesn't consider herself courageous. I think I started out the same way, believing I couldn't do things, although martial arts definitely changed that in me. But Kate Drake and I share a love of books. My all-time favorite thing to do is curl up in a chair and read a book by my favorite author, or to read a great new find. I'm a reader, and I read everything. I love the written word, and if I could sit in the old mill coffee shop or down on the beach and read, I'd be very content. Kate is more of a composite of two of my sisters and a wonderful, bestselling author, Jayne Ann Krentz, who I thought of often as I wrote this story. I even pictured her in the role of Kate. I've often curled up with Jayne's book and escaped into another world, and it was easy to imagine her as Kate writing her wonderful books for me to read.

  Your martial art expertise is fascinating. Can you tell us how old you were when you started training, why you started training, and the level of your ability today?

  I started training when most women didn't do martial arts, so in the early years I trained mostly with men. I had always been interested in karate as an art form, the beautiful and powerful katas and, of course, I wanted the benefits of gaining more confidence in myself. I loved the discipline and philosophy of the various arts and studied many of them. I was lucky enough to train under a wonderful man in the Korean art of Tang Soo Do and I hold a third degree black belt in that art. I also hold rank in several other disciplines as well. I taught self-defense to women and martial arts to both men and women and helped with battered women seminars and various other projects to empower women. Martial arts became a way of life for me, one I believe in and highly recommend. I had to retire due to my health a few years ago, but the training I received has enabled me to write realistic action scenes and to develop real characters in difficult situations. My training allowed me to spend a great deal of time around a certain type of alpha male so I developed an understanding of how they act and react when they are attacked or encounter physical danger. And no, it is not always the way our society would prefer them to do so!

  No doubt there's a touch of magic in the Feehan household during the holiday season. Are the Feehan family's celebrations anything at all like the Drake sisters' holiday festivities?

  Yes, very much so. Christmas is one of the biggest events of the year for my family. Everyone comes home. It's a time we look forward to throughout the year. Our Christmas celebration is huge. My mother has a very large two-story house (and it is needed!) and we all gather there on Christmas Eve. My brothers and sisters are married and have children of their own. My parents have seventy-two grandchildren. The house has high ceilings, and the top of the tree touches the ceiling. My sisters have a traditional party just before Christmas to decorate, and the ornaments are blown glass from all over the world! You can imagine the number of gifts beneath the tree. There's always music and laughter, and my mom loves candles, so the scent is wonderful! Several sisters love to bake, so we have tons of wonderful desserts. Everyone brings an enormous amount of food. Wineglasses have been handed down from generation to generation and the glasses are brought out and we toast the coming seasons and any new babies in the family! Usually at some point a cat runs up the tree. Dogs mill around. We play Ping-Pong and cards and other games. We tell stories and open gifts. And we often attend midnight mass together.

  Do you have a favorite holiday tradition you perform every year?

  Yes, we always decorate a live Christmas tree. The children love decorating the tree, as I've collected ornaments over the years. I get teased about my ornaments because the children think I have too many! And my husband says I have too many lights to go with my too many ornaments. We spend hours decorating the tree. There's a lot of laughter, but mostly at my expense! The children spend hours playing "I spy" with the ornaments. When Christmas is over, we plant the tree in the yard. My family thinks I have a tree fetish as well as an ornament fetish. We always watch my husband's favorite Christmas film, It's a Wonderful Life together as well. Then the children all tease him instead of me!

  What is your favorite holiday tune?

  "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas."

  Okay, this is a "revealing" interview, so would you please tell us whether you and your family open presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?

  My father is a retired fireman and usually worked Christmas Day, so it became a tradition to always open the gifts Christmas Eve. We've continued that, going to my parents' house and spending Christmas Eve with them, and then opening gifts at the Feehan house very early the morning of Christmas Day. The floor is covered with paper, and there's a lot of laughter and teasing!

  And who cooks Christmas dinner?

  My husband Richard is a fabulous cook and he always cooks Christmas dinner. Some of the grown children bring side dishes, but for the most part, he plans, shops, and cooks the entire thing!

  Getting back to your professional life, what prompted you to become a writer?

  I believe I was born a writer. I honestly can't remember a time in my life when I didn't write. I used to make up stories as a child, and my sisters would have to listen. Once I could write my brilliant masterpieces down on paper (and they were truly awful) my sisters would read them all dutifully. Writing is a part of me, just like breathing. I can't imagine not writing. When the day comes that I am no longer published, I will still be writing!

  Critics and reviewers hail you as one of the most imaginative authors writing today. Where do you get your ideas? And why do you choose to write stories with Gothic elements and paranormal characters?

  I love action and very edge-of-the-seat creepy suspense, both in movies and in books. I wanted to be able to combine that with my love of romance and happy-ever-after endings. I also am very intrigued with the paranormal and with myths and legends that have persisted throughout the history of the world, in every country. What better way than to combine them all and write what I love to read? As for my ideas and where I get them--everywhere! Everything I see, or hear, newspaper articles on some strange happenings. It can be something small like the way a woman turns her head, or more intense, such as a freak fog moving into a town that never has fog! My imagination doesn't need much help to take flight.

  What was the biggest challenge in writing The Twilight Before Christmas?
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br />   In all honesty, it was finding the time. I had the town, the characters, and the legacy of the Drake sisters already firmly in my mind. I did research on symbols and settlers and even the history of Christmas, but I had wanted this story, all the Drake stories, to be incredibly magical. To do that, I had to find the time. I stayed in a wonderful little house on the coast and wandered up and down the coastal highway to really get the right feel before I began writing the actual story.

  You strongly evoke the atmosphere of a California coastal town in Twilight. Have you ever lived in a town like the fictional Sea Haven?

  I grew up in a small town very close to the California coast and have lived much of my life in or near a small coastal town. I love the atmosphere and have so many pleasant memories of my mom and my sisters and me walking along the wooden sidewalks and enjoying the year-round flowers growing wild. Herds of wild elk populate the area, and the beaches are wonderful. Seals are in the water, and you can whale watch during certain times of the year. I love the fishing villages and have favorite restaurants I enjoy.

  Will readers see more of the Drake sisters in the future?

  I certainly hope so! I love the Drake family. In fact I really enjoy all the characters in Sea Haven. Yes, I have plans to give each sister her own unique story.

  Finally, is there one special wish you would like to have come true this Christmas?

  It sounds sappy to say Peace on Earth, but it sure would be wonderful.

  And this interview wouldn't be complete if I didn't ask: How do Carpathians celebrate Christmas?

  The Carpathians have their own traditions, but as for Christmas, they only began celebrating that holiday recently. Raven Dubrinsky, lifemate to the Prince, was an American and loved Christmas very much. She invited her family and friends to the Dubrinsky home this year. Antoinetta Justicano agreed to make the trip with Byron to play the piano for everyone so they could all sing time-honored carols. Raven had fun insisting that Mikhail decorate the tree using human methods and he ended up wrapping the Christmas lights around the tree, around himself, and around the furniture. Each Carpathian made an ornament to adorn the first Carpathian Christmas tree and mark the occasion. They came from all over to sing and celebrate and join in the festivities. If they had one wish to make on the Drakes' snowglobe, it would be that their women could bring babies safely into the world to live and thrive!

  Merry Christmas from the Feehans, the Drakes, and all the Carpathians!

  Christine Feehan