Ruthie says Millie will love Christmas. Ruthie is Millie’s
best friend, so she’s sure Ruthie’s right, but why does Millie keep finding
Ruthie and her brother Jake crying?
Millie, an orange kitten, shares about her first Christmas.
Her best friend Ruthie, six years old, teaches Millie about Christmas—food,
decorations, music, presents, and Jesus!
Millie’s friend Bruce, the family dog, also helps her
celebrate Christmas, and sometimes gets her in trouble.
When Ruthie’s big brother Jake breaks his ankle, Millie
learns about sad things, like divorce, when Jake can’t visit his mommy for
Christmas. Millie watches Ruthie’s family love each other through the sadness,
and find joy in Christmas.
The first page of the book:
MILLIE'S CHRISTMAS
ONE
Hello. My name is
Millie, and I'm a cat. Well, my mama says I'm still a kitten. But I'm four
months old. I think that makes me a pretty grown-up cat.
We live in a house
where there are two cats, Mama and me. There’s one dog, Bruce. He’s my friend.
And we have four people. The most important person is Ruthie. She's six years
old, and she's my best friend. She says I'm her cat, but really she's my
person.
Ruthie has a big
brother named Jake who's nineteen. He's funny. Then there are their parents,
Mommy and Daddy, and they're nice but very busy.
Ruthie says I'm
beautiful. I'm orange all over, except a white spot on my tummy and one white
ear. Bruce laughed at me once and said I looked goofy with that one white ear.
What does he know? He's mostly brown all over, with a black patch above his
nose, and he has white feet. Now that's goofy.
Something exciting
happened today. Ruthie picked me up, squeezed me, and ran all over the house
yelling, “It's Christmas time. It's Christmas time. Millie, you're going to
love Christmas.”
“Meow, meow,” I
yelled back. I didn't know what Christmas was, but Ruthie was excited, so I was
too. “Meow.”
Ruthie kissed my
face and whirled through the house, making me dizzy. “At Christmas we have lots
of fun food, and candles, and decorations, and visiting, and candy.” She rubbed
my ribs. “You’ll love it, Millie.”
I didn’t know what
most of that stuff was, but it made Ruthie happy, so I knew it would be great.
Please tell
us five random things we might not know about you.
My favorite vegetables are coffee and cocoa beans. Daisies are my
favorite flowers. I am starting a new job as a braille certification teacher in
a women’s prison. My favorite color is orange. When I was a teenager, I had a
crush on Tony Orlando.
Why did you choose to write this book?
Several years
ago, I learned about NaNoWriMo, a program where writers are encouraged to write
a novel during the month of November. I didn’t feel ready for this, but I did
want a project to keep me writing every day. By then it was December, and I
decided to write a Christmas story. I am more of a pantser than a plotter, but
usually I have a very basic outline of what will happen in the story. This
time, however, I just sat down to write whatever came to mind. Before long, God
had given me this fun family Christmas story. I believe people of all ages can
enjoy Millie’s Christmas.
What one
thing about writing do you wish non-writers would understand?
Readers
should know what hard work a writer does, from working up an idea, writing,
editing and re-editing, to publishing to marketing.
What is the
toughest test you've faced as a writer?
The hardest thing for me has always been making myself sit down and
write. Once I start, I love it. I am making slow progress in this discipline.
What do you hope readers to take away from your novel?
I want them to remember that the love and joy of Jesus will be with
them during hard times.
What accomplishment(s) are you most proud of,
writing-related or not?
I am most thankful for the gift God has given me of
being mother to five wonderful children, now adults.
What do you do for fun when not writing?
I love to
read, crochet and knit, cook and bake.
What are you
working on now?
I am working on a story about a mother and her teenage daughter,
and the mother is blind. I am blind, but I have never tried before to have a
main character be blind. I’m finding it quite a writing challenge.
Bio and
links:
Kathy McKinsey grew up
on a pig farm in Missouri, and although she’s lived in cities for nearly 40
years, she still considers herself a farm girl.
She’s been married to
Murray for 32 years, and they have five adult children.
She’s had two careers
before writing—stay-at-home-Mom and rehabilitation teacher for the blind.
She lives in Lakewood,
Ohio with her husband and two of her children. Besides writing, she enjoys
activities with her church, editing for other writers, braille transcribing,
crocheting, knitting, and playing with the cat and dog.
https://www.kathymckinsey.com
https://www.amazon.com/All-My-Tears-Kathy-McKinsey-ebook/dp/B07P92QZPJ
