I love the rhyme and the pun of these words: The Yuletide Bride by Michelle Ule.
What could be better than that?
How about a short novella story that features a young man working hard to save up the incredible sum of $70 to win the hand of his young sweetheart in 1874 Nebraska?
What if we mix in pan pipes, bagpipes, a fiddle and an unhappy teamster who could never understand mathematics? Click to Tweet
Barbour Publishing first approached a handful of writers about putting together this innovative collection around the infamous Christmas carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas. We were asked to choose one of those days, come up with an alternate title and write a story.
I figured most writers would aim for “five golden rings,” so I steered in a different direction, to one of the more obscure titles: 11 Pipers Piping. Click to Tweet
They’re in The Yuletide Bride.
You just have to look for them.
Music and Christmas
I’ve been a musician since I received a piano for Christmas when I was six. I studied piano all through school and eventually extended my love for music to the woodwinds. After a short detour into percussion, I’ve learned to play the flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, alto recorder and alto saxophone.
At our current church, I sing in the soprano section of the choir and play in a woodwind ensemble (clarinet–everyone’s favorite instrument!) once a month.
Since I also dance four days a week, you can say that music runs through my life all the time!
For this Christmas novella, I wanted to write a fun story that incorporated those eleven pipers and that also touched on a theme pertinent to many these days: making enough money to live on. Click to Tweet
Ewan faces the biggest challenge of his life when his longtime sweetheart’s father asks him to prove himself capable of supporting Kate. He has to earn $70 by her Christmas birthday, or he’ll give her hand in marr
iage to a local banker.
Kate, for her part, learns what it means to be a helpmeet as she watches and tries to help Ewan earn the money for their future.
And then there’s the bagpipes . . .
I didn’t do any particular research while working on this book other than an attempt to play the bagpipes owned by my friend Bill Cummings, former North America clan chief for the Cummings line. We’ve got a video of me attempting to be a gawk, er, sound out of the pipes and it was fun to try.
Christmas on the Prairie
In terms of Christmas celebration on the prairies of Nebraska–chosen because it was one place where reeds grew where it might snow at Christmastime–I relied on the stories told me by my grandmother of her family’s childhood, and also what I read in Laura Ingalls Wilder‘s Little House books. The striped candy Ewan associates with Christmas is a direct nod to young Laura.
I’m a genealogist and my massive family history (available in the Library of Congress and featuring more than 900 endnote citations) is suitably called Pioneer Stock. I love the stories I unearthed about my family as I wrote that book before Ancestry.com was invented–so I did all the library-visiting research myself. While my mother was born in Sicily, my father’s ancestors first arrived in north American in 1627 Maryland. I loved researching and writing about their lives set against American history.
I have an entire page on my website devoted to my genealogy. Check it out if you think you might be related to me!
The Yuletide Bride is the first of two parts of a story concerning the MacDougall family. In writing this first Christmas novella, I discovered one of the seemingly “throw away” characters, actually had more poignancy and heft to him than I realized. I’m delighted Malcolm will have a story of his own in next summer’s The Sunbonnet Bride.
The Sunbonnet Bride takes place six months after Christmas when a calamity affects a local town and Ewan and Malcolm ride to the rescue—while a fair maiden wonders who she’d rather wed: a bumbling et
hical man or a handsome banker who may not realize the implications of bending what’s right closer to wrong.
I hope you enjoy these Christmas novellas!
For quarterly information on Michelle’s writing and to keep tabs on what’s happening, subscribe to her email newsletter, by clicking here: newsletter subscription.
Who is Michelle Ule?
Michelle Ule is the author of five novellas and a Navy SEAL novel, including The Dogtrot Christmas which appeared in the New York Times best-selling A Log Cabin Christmas Collection (with Margaret Brownley) and last year’s best-selling A Pioneer Christmas Collection (co-authored with Vickie McDonough and Margaret Brownley!). A native of San Pedro, California, she played in the UCLA band and every year bakes a Ule log for her family’s Christmas celebration. She lives in northern California these days where she writes, reads and plans the next trip to an exotic location.
You can learn more about Michelle and read her twice-a-week blog at www.michelleule.com
You can also find her on
She has a Yuletide Bride Pinterest board, along with one about all the authors of The 12 Brides of Christmas.
You can buy The Yuletide Bride here: BUY
Got them all?
Dear Michelle, I have been following your newsletters for a long time and find your life as interesting as a book right off the shelf. I am one of those people who prefers paper. How can I find one of those select Walmarts that will be selling paper vs. ebook? I live about 55 miles east of Des Moines, Iowa, and 75 miles west of Iowa City. I realize my choices are probably slim to none so may have to go ebook. I know I am very old fashioned when it comes to books but I will always always prefer the feel of a book in my lap. Thanks for your help.
Ah, Gilda, thanks for your lovely comments.
The Walmart releases are only a couple copies in various stores. The whole 12 Brides of Christmas ebooks will release in one large actual paper-page volume next Christmas. For this year, they’re releasing them one a week as ebooks, for 99 cents.
If you can find White Christmas it’s $12 for four stories.
I imagine you could call your local Walmart and ask if they’ve got a copy on the shelf. My local store had three copies. I bought one for myself and the other two were gone by night time. It was a last minute addition to Walmart’s Christmas offerings and only a limited number were printed.
I’m so pleased you’ve enjoyed my stories. And you’re right; sometimes my life feels as wild as the fiction I write! But, it’s so much fun to see the things God does with the circumstances I find myself in–and I’m very thankful!
Blessings to you!.
OK, I give in! i am going to buy the 12 eBooks this year and will certainly buy the paper copy next year. Can’t wait that long to open a great Christmas present! I will let you know when I finish reading The Yuletide Bride. (It may take me a little while to get to it have an ARC to finish and comment on. But your story has gone to the top of my to read list.). BTW, whatever you have done with your hair, it looks great.
My daughter saw your comment, Gilda, and is currently combing the Walmarts in Los Angeles looking for a copy. Stay tuned. If we find one, we’ll send it to you!
Thanks for your comment on my hair–I’ll let Mary Moen, my hairdresser, know! You may be the first person who has ever said that. Maybe I’ll let all my relatives know, too! 🙂