“Terrific writing and one of the very best holiday books I've ever read that doesn't have the name Dickens on the front. What a wonderful gift! I loved it."

— Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, and Dandelion Wine

"Four beautifully-told stories filled with love, humor, and spirit that will linger long after Winter. Each story is a gem. I loved this book. Not since Charles de Lint’s Newford collections have I read something so warming and joyous. These stories are perfect reading in front of the fire with snow on the sill, and the perfect reason not to venture outside.”

— Paul Brandon, author of Swim the Moon and The Wild Reel

My very first book, a collection of four Christmas novellas, is coming in 2010. Several years ago, my wife Carol and I decided to begin a holiday tradition. Each year, we'd create a Christmas book for our friends and family. I'd write a story, and Carol would craft illustration. Alas, "each year" turned out to be a little ambitious. In six years, we've done four. Anyway, sharing a gift of story with our fiends and loved ones is something we truly enjoy, and hope to continue for years to come. Who knows? We might even get back to making this an annual tradition. A book of all four stories, titled Raven Wakes the World: Tales for the Winter Holiday, will be released in time for Christmas 2010. You should be able to find it at your favorite bookstore or online outlet.

In every land and every faith, winter is a time for storytelling. Raven Wakes the World presents four very different holiday stories sure to touch the heart and wake the wonder of the season for all readers, young and old.

• I'll Be Home for Christmas, in which a folklorist explores the impossible beginnings of an urban legend about a lonely ghost who only appears on Christmas Eve.

• Raven Wakes the World, in which an artist retreats to the edge of the world after a devastating relationship leaves her unable to create, and finds an ancient Inuit myth coming to life.

• Make Up Test, a romantic screwball comedy, in which a young woman's Christmas wish comes true in the most literal, and hilarious, way possible.

• The Star in the East, in which a widower is left to unravel his late wife's last mystery. Dodging the agents of a sinister Count, he discovers a priceless treasure and a secret that's remained unsolved for more than two thousand years.

I was recently interviewed on the nationally syndicated radio show Dresser After Dark. We discussed the Raven story and myth in the modern world. If you'd like to give it a listen, click here.