What You’ll Never See at Thanksgiving
Nov 17th 2007
Sabrina JeffriesGoddess Readers Speak Out
… a Thanksgiving anthology. There’s Halloween ones, Christmas ones, Valentine’s Day ones, but no Thanksgiving ones (okay, so I found two, but that’s still pretty rare). Come to think of it, I’ve never seen a Fourth of July or Easter one either (my photoshopped cover to the contrary). 
The lack of Thanksgiving ones makes sense—publishers always get Christmas anthologies out early to gain the maximum impact from the holiday, so those hit bookstores before Thanksgiving. Which means a Thanksgiving anthology would have to hit … before Halloween? You see the problem.
But Easter ought to work. It comes at a time when books are released in droves, and it has cute bunnies and chicks for the covers. And while it is indeed a religious holiday, so is … ahem … Christmas.
Fourth of July is admittedly very American, but what about Halloween? Only a few other countries do trick-or-treating, and one of them (Canada) has a Thanksgiving, too. So that can’t be the reason.
It’s time we stand up and demand anthologies for the lesser holidays. Can’t you see it? Memorial Day—hero meets heroine at her late mother’s gravesite and it’s instant attraction! Day of the Dead (for some foreign flavor)—two people carrying skeletons get their bones entangled and it’s instant attraction! Independence Day—heroine saves hero from bottle rocket gone awry and it’s instant attraction!
Okay, your turn. Is there any holiday you’d like to see celebrated in an anthology? Any anthology themes you’re sick of?
38 Comments »
38 Responses to “What You’ll Never See at Thanksgiving”
Sabrina Jeffries on 17 Nov 2007 at 9:12 am #
Sorry, ladies–apparently, wordpress didn’t like me this morning. But I think it should work now.
And may I just say that I admit freely that my photoshopping skills don’t compare to Julia’s. Just saying.
doglady on 17 Nov 2007 at 9:29 am #
Okay, who spiked Sabrina’s coffee this morning? Day of the Dead and tangled skeletons, need I say more?? You do have a point, though. I think an Easter anthology would be interesting and has the potential for some real fun. “I met her at the Easter egg hunt when I sat on her basket.” Now she’s got me doing it!
Judy F on 17 Nov 2007 at 10:13 am #
How about a St. Patrick’s day Anthology? LOL They met at the local pub when he spilled his green beer on her.
Stacy ~ on 17 Nov 2007 at 10:13 am #
LOL, those sound fun. I do like Halloween & Christmas & Valentine’s anthologies, but oh how fun to see something different. St. Patrick’s Day, when the luck of the Irish turns to love. Flag Day, where the men parade in their sexy uniforms, maybe hold an auction for charity and the lucky ladies get to bid on their favorite military men. Labor Day - several hot, sexy, guys are building a house for Habitat for Humanity and get the girls all aflutter - could be better than watching the telathon? Sign me up
ladydawgfan on 17 Nov 2007 at 10:25 am #
How about a Flag Day or Veterans Day theme with hot military guys and the ladies who capture their hardened hearts??
Or better yet, “National Talk Like A Pirate” Day. “She swooned when he growled softly in her ear, ‘Aargh, ye bonnie lass. Ye want te climb me mizzenmast??’”
Ellen on 17 Nov 2007 at 10:38 am #
LOL Ladydawgfan.
How bout the obvious holiday? Ground Hog Day. They met in the emergency room, where she treated him for a bite on his mizzenmast from a rabid ground hog….it could work.
Ellen on 17 Nov 2007 at 10:41 am #
How bout President’s Day. She stands and salutes his mizzenmast while “Hail to the Chief” plays in the background.
(I heard you must say a word ten times before it becomes part of your vocabulary.)
Ellen on 17 Nov 2007 at 10:52 am #
Shoot, I have to drive to Connecticut today. Thank Gawd for all of you or I would be at this all day long. Here’s one that comes in right under the radar: Cinco de Mayo!
Ella fue muy feliz con el tamaño de su mazzenmast inmenso.
Lisa H on 17 Nov 2007 at 10:56 am #
I too had a thought—How about a bonnie lass falls for a well endowed leprechan named 5 leaf in a St. Patrick’s day extravaganza, “The biggest toadstool I ever saw?”
Sabrina Jeffries on 17 Nov 2007 at 11:05 am #
Why is it whenever I post, it somehow degenerates in talk of mizzenmasts? What does that say about me?
No, don’t tell, I don’t want to know.
Okay, so I have a bit of a fixation with … er … toadstools. Now THAT’s a euphemism I’ve never seen in a book.
I LOVE the idea of the St. Patrick’s Day one, but it only fits with contemporaries. I’d probably do something with the New Orleans version of the parade, where the hero kisses the heroine on the parade route for the first time, and it’s magic! Leprachaun magic!
About the Day of the Dead stuff–I was apparently in a grisly mood when I wrote that last night. Which is strange, since I’d just come back from attending a Beatles tribute band performance with my dh that we both enjoyed. I probably should be writing romantic suspense–I do have a macabre side.
Lisa H on 17 Nov 2007 at 11:41 am #
Because you have a great sense of humor, Sabrina!
Lisa H on 17 Nov 2007 at 11:42 am #
And because Ellen is a goddess too!
Sabrina Jeffries on 17 Nov 2007 at 11:53 am #
Hey, Ellen didn’t start it–ladydawgfan did, with her talk of mizzenmasts!
Speaking of Talk like a Pirate Day, I actually thought about including that one. That could be a fun anthology–various women meet pirates from the past on Talk Like a Pirate Day! Or talking like a pirate catapults them to the past … the possibilities are endless!
Cookiedough on 17 Nov 2007 at 12:00 pm #
how about a computor themed anthology…geek love, they met in a chat room in Second Life..he was a skanky cheerleader, she was a robot sent from the future.
I actually have a male friend who lives almost full time in Second Life and his avatar is a very sexy female vampire.
Cookiedough on 17 Nov 2007 at 12:01 pm #
not a holiday, I know, but an interesting thought!
Has there ever been a Hannukah themed anthology?
Divali?
Cookiedough on 17 Nov 2007 at 12:03 pm #
oooh- had to share the news..I was thanked in a book!!! Not an anthology, but a book about the tv show Lost written by a blog buddy…yes, I visit other bloggers!
Claudia Dain on 17 Nov 2007 at 12:08 pm #
Labor Day? He was planting his tree in her garden and they lived happily ever after?
Sybil on 17 Nov 2007 at 12:09 pm #
4TH OF JULY PICNIC
(Anthology) by Pat Pritchard, Cheryl Bolen, and Tracy Cozzens
Fireworks, fun, and great sparks of romance light up this sizzling anthology of Fourth of July stories, set in a small Missouri town, by three popular historical romance authors. Original.
So there is at least one 4th of July antho ;). Don’t know of any Easter one… they should be with a duckie theme *g*.
ohhhh or maybe there is one of those inspy lines with one.
Claudia Dain on 17 Nov 2007 at 12:10 pm #
Memorial Day? She was placing flowers at a Civil War battleground and he sprang to life, clutching his ghostly sword (if you know what I mean).
Lisa H on 17 Nov 2007 at 12:24 pm #
Nice Claudia!
One Christmas book I can’t wait to read is Eloisa James’ “An Affair Before Christmas” I tend to love the Christmas theme books, the last one I read was Jan Karon’s “Shepherds Abiding” All those just enhance the season for me!
Sabrina Jeffries on 17 Nov 2007 at 12:25 pm #
Claudia, you’re as bad as they are. Sheesh!
Sybil! You came out of lurk! Of COURSE it would be duckies. What was I thinking to put a bunny on my fake cover?
I confess that it’s hard to look for anthologies on Amazon, which was my only source of input for this VERRRY scientific blog entry. You get all kinds of crap, and they don’t seem to have a search function for multiple authors. I HATE that. If you do a search on Easter in romance, you get 1300+ frigging titles, most of which just have the word Easter in the book somewhere (his eyes were Easter egg blue). None of the titles were anthologies (sorry, I didn’t hunt through all of them … did I mention there were 1300?).
Here’s the weird thing–every search I did turned up Karen R’s new book. Every…single…one. It’s enough to make me wonder if she bribed Amazon. Karen, did you bribe Amazon? And how do *I* do that?
dbrown3400 on 17 Nov 2007 at 1:29 pm #
There could be an anthology based on the weather about St. Swithin’s Day.
St Swithin’s Day, if it does rain
Full forty days, it will remain
St Swithin’s Day, if it be fair
For forty days, t’will rain no more
Celebrated (or berated as the case may be!) on July 15th, weather sayings pertaining to St. Swithin’s Day are probably the most infamous weather sayings in the UK.
Any number of stories could be written about couples caught in compromising situations indoors during forty days of rain. On a pirate ship, raising the mizzenmast during a 40-day dry spell might have no effect at all.
dbrown3400 on 17 Nov 2007 at 1:31 pm #
Of course, a dud mizzenmast wouldn’t make for a very interesting story.
Julia London on 17 Nov 2007 at 1:37 pm #
Sabrina, your photo shop skills look pretty good to me!
Sabrina Jeffries on 17 Nov 2007 at 5:06 pm #
Another holiday that doesn’t seem to show up much is Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. They seem perfect … well, unless you use it to do one of those pregnant heroine books that are not my favorites (all that throwing up just doesn’t seem romantic to me).
Ellen on 17 Nov 2007 at 5:30 pm #
Hmmmm….He was planting his tree in her garden and they lived happily ever after?
I would say the happiness would depend on how big that tree is, Claudia!
Cookiedough on 17 Nov 2007 at 6:00 pm #
what is St Swithin’s Day??
Must go google!
lol
Ellen on 17 Nov 2007 at 6:06 pm #
By the way…I do know how to spell most of the time. It’s just that when I make typos WITHOUT my glasses, they get by me.
Sorry if they torture you.
Sabrina Jeffries on 17 Nov 2007 at 6:46 pm #
What typos? Seriously, I didn’t see any.
Aspen on 17 Nov 2007 at 9:40 pm #
Arbor Day? Tree huggers “Hug” under the newly planted tree.
Or I don’t know April Fools? Tricksters unite with a face full of pie?
I am a tree hugger but can’t imagine an anthology dedicated to that particular holiday!
I agree, Thanksgiving deserves an anthology!
doglady on 17 Nov 2007 at 10:00 pm #
You ladies are all terrible!! And I laughed my butt off! Thanks for the comic relief after my job in Wal-Mart HELL! Mizzenmasts, trees, toadstools? Ghostly swords?
Sabrina Jeffries on 18 Nov 2007 at 10:31 am #
doglady, there better be nothing ghostly about those swords, let me tell ya.
Ooh, Aspen, I love the idea of an April Fool’s anthology! Arbor Day, I’m not so sure about, though.
Lexile on 18 Nov 2007 at 10:59 pm #
Well as my tastes tend to run towards Regency anthologies I don’t think i’ll ever see a thanksgiving or easter one (though i’ve seen a few contemporary anthologies that have a ’spring’ theme but that’s mostly about easter stories).
I think I would like an anthology dealing with the Matsuri festivals of Japan. Or in the least the Cherry Blossoms fesitvals we have here in the states around the same time (Though for entirely different reasons). Again since I prefer Regency not likely to happen but I think that a hero and heroine meeting during a Cherry Blossom festival would be very romantic.
Aspen on 18 Nov 2007 at 11:37 pm #
Sabrina you write it and I’ll read it!
Sonja Foust on 19 Nov 2007 at 9:25 am #
Ok, I vote for the Arbor Day option, especially since many “wood” jokes would ensue.
Dot C on 19 Nov 2007 at 11:11 am #
But whats up with all those Thanksgiving cozy mysteries??
Sabrina Jeffries on 19 Nov 2007 at 11:22 am #
Dot, that’s a good point. From my admittedly limited research, it seemed that certain holidays worked with certain genres or subgenres. But I’m not sure I see what the connection would be between Thanksgiving and cozies. Hmmm.
Sonja, you have a dirty mind, girl. I love that about you!
Malady on 16 Dec 2007 at 12:14 pm #
Talk like a Pirate day rocks. i live in Australia and every one gave me wierd looks when i celebrated an american day. not that the arr and aye’s arent in my day to day vocab.(i have swashbuckle genes, thus am pirate all year ’round too)
anyway, Mizzenmasts aside, what about a holiday in a foriegn country thing. like a pair of americans who meet in london, and as they are they only ones who celebrate (insert american holiday here) they spend a day together, love ect. follows and they go seperate ways something, amazing happens (they are both from milwaukee) meet up again. happily ever after.
i have lots of ideas and zero talent. *sigh*