My 2014 Christmas novella, "Unwrapping Hank" released today! Here's my traditional desktop post in which I share images that inspired me while I was writing the story. THESE IMAGES ARE TAKEN OFF GOOGLE and do not belong to me. They do not appear in the book itself but only in this post. If anyone has an issue with one of these being in this post, please email me at eli@elieaston.com and I'll be happy to remove it.
SLOAN:
I Googled a lot to find this guy. He has the sort of smart ass, intelligent, slightly Euro look. Sloan!
HANK & MICAH:
My husband just told me today there's a new thing called a "lumbersexual" -- a guy who has a beard and wears flannel and likes to build things. That's Hank all right (well, maybe not the building things). His brother Micah is slightly more on the hippy side. Here are a few images I found that remind me of Hank and Micah.
PSU (Penn State Uni in State College, PA)
Here are some mood-setting location shots.
DEAD SANTA PARTY:
I mocked this up and then decided not to include it in the book.
LILITH AND KARMA:
The parents of Hank and Micah are lovely hippy, homesteading peeps. Here are a few images I found for inspiration.
THE TURKEY:
I was too soft-hearted to write the turkey-killing ceremony. I'm sorry.
AMISH COUNTRY CHRISTMAS:
Actually, the Springfield's farm turned out to be very autobiographical. It's based on our real farm in Lancaster County, PA. We do have 3 cows (named Trueheart, Tinkerbell, and Bessy) and chickens. Our barn similar to the one in the book.
GRINCH:
Our bulldog, Lucy, walking out by the cornfields along the lane by our house. Lucy was the cover model for Wrapping Hank.
TALLY HO tavern in Lancaster
Is a real place.
'
That's it for this desktop! The story is live today!
Here's the Amazon link. (kindle edition)
Here's the link for ARE (epub, pdf, kindle editions)
Eli