This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
When you think ahead to Christmas does it fill you with panic? Does dread creep over you whilst you ponder over your humongous to-do list? That's what happens to me. I think I have all the time in the world to bake, decorate, wrap, make things for the freezer, go shopping, and did I say bake? But I forget I have a day job. And children, a dog, a cat and chickens to look after. So I get tangled up in Christmas Induced Panic.
But then, something happens. It might be the scent of a Christmas tree wafting into your nostrils for the first time in the year. Or maybe you're walking down the street and hear gorgeous voices singing out carols. Or, possibly, you're in a cafe, ordering a restorative coffee after battling with the crowds and you plump for a gingerbread latte. You sit there, slightly shell shocked from the noise, the people, the shops that have the heating up to max whilst you're dressed in a hat, scarf and thick coat, and finally you take a sip.
Bam.
You suddenly remember Christmases gone by. Not the work, the stress or the sleepless nights. You remember carols, the school nativity play, waiting up for the Big Father C, family get-togethers, jigsaw puzzles with your siblings, hanging up the decorations, placing the fairy on top of the tree … and all this is captured, delightfully, in this paragraph by Lisa Dickenson in The Twelve Dates of Christmas: 
"She took a sip of her gingerbread latte, the spices and sweet smell igniting the memories of a thousand christmas moments: cooking with her mum, watching The Snowman with her dad, present shopping, tree decorating, light switch-ons, singing Band-Aid at full volume while trying to recreate these very drinks at home with Nick and Penny…"
You take a big, deep breath in. And out. Whoosh.
And all is calm. All is bright.
The Twelve Dates of Christmas, formerly published as a serial last year but now available in its entirety for your eReader (out in paperback next year) follows Claudia, who is determined to inject some romance into her long-term relationship with Seth. Only, it doesn't go to plan. So she turns to her best friends Penny and Nick (the latter who treats her to the restorative gingerbread latte). Soon her life on her own becomes extremely exciting.
Now this week I've not providing you with a recipe for gingerbread latte. Because frankly you could pop down to your local coffee shop and buy one. After all, who wants an extra job on the to-do list at this time of year? Get yourself this book on your Kindle and head on down to the cafe. Take some time out. Go on. Treat yourself.