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What if true love is only a text away?

Mila Maxwell is happy with her life in New York City. Her boyfriend Zane is perfect for her – and yes perfect means he offers her the stability she’s always wanted. Zane’s also not threatened by the endless text thread she keeps with her best friend, Ben Kendrick. Why should he be? They’re friends, nothing more.

Christmas is coming – a holiday she’d much rather skip – and Mila’s the maid-of-honor for her college roommate’s December wedding. When disaster strikes the wedding coordinator, Mila rushes to Colorado to save Angie’s big day and plunges headfirst into all the marital falalala.

As Mila works the details for Angie and Charles’ wedding, Ben steps up to help. After all, he’s the best man and someone in his life should have a happily ever after. This may be Ben’s last chance to convince Mila that they were meant for more than long texts and short video chats.

Mila must confront her fears about love and choose: Zane, who offers her the security she’s always longed for, or Ben, who has never given up on her. What if her true love has always been one text away?

What is something interesting readers would enjoy learning about you?

I’m married to a family physician, Rob Vogt, MD, who is my go-to expert whenever I weave anything medical into one of my novels. Complicated pregnancy? He’s delivered hundreds of babies in his medical career. Broken bones or other injuries? Yep, he can help my fictional characters with those too. Rob also joins me on my Wednesday Instagram reels, where we often talk (laugh?) about how my writing life meshes with our relationship.

What was your favorite scene to write in this story? And why?

My favorite scene was one I hadn’t plotted. There are two types of writers: plotters and pantsers. Plotters like to plot out their stories, often chapter by chapter and scene by scene. Pantsers give themselves more breathing room and will jump around in their chapters and timeline when they’re writing. No plotting.

While I said there are two types of writers, I admit that I am a plotter who also allows my characters to “breathe.” This means if something unexpected happens while I’m writing – some fun dialogue between my characters or a new idea for a scene – I don’t think, “Nope, that can’t happen because it’s not how I plotted the story.”

Toward the end of Together This Christmas, I realized I’d overlooked a vital scene for Mila, one that would deepen the story in a significant way. And no, I’m not going to be more specific because I want readers to discover that moment as they read the novella.

What unique research was required to write this story?

Timing. Ensuring the timing was correct was especially important in Together This Christmas, and I don’t mean just the months and days of the weeks. Mila and Ben share a special annual holiday tradition, but now that they’re living in different time zones, I had to ensure I understood how that affected the tradition – or if it did. I checked and rechecked this dozens of times – and my agent did too – to get it right. 

What was the inspiration behind your story?

Every story starts with a “what if?” For Together This Christmas, my what if was, “What if I wrote a Christmas novella?” Reading other authors’ Christmas novellas each year is one of my favorite holiday traditions. Then I sat down and mulled over what a Beth K. Vogt Christmas novella would be like. I wanted to set a contemporary romance in Colorado, because that’s the setting for all of my novels (with an occasional transition to Florida). I also liked the idea of a small-town romance. The idea of a wedding came to mind, but the twist is it’s not the main characters’ wedding.

What did you learn while writing this story?

The biggest takeaway? Be willing to take feedback and tear your story apart and rewrite it. Here’s a quote I love from writer and editor William Zinsser, “Rewriting is the essence of writing well – where the game is won or lost.” I finished Together This Christmas – it had even gone through the first round of edits – but my agent, who I trust implicitly, gave me needed feedback about the story. And that meant some intensive rewrites. It’s what writers do. We don’t write. We rewrite until we get the story right.

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Until next time, may your reading bring both light and encouragement.

Happy reading!
~ Danielle.