Not Quite Christmas: Five Holiday Tales on the Fringe

By James I Gill

Not Quite Christmas: Five Holiday Tales on the Fringe

Christmas doesn't always line up the way it's supposed to. The tree leans to one side, the food gets cold, the silences drag on, and the spirit of the season feels more like work than wonder.

These five unsentimental, sometimes tender stories pull the shine off the season and leave the edges showing. They aren't Hallmark holidays. They're the ones you end up remembering.

The Unbranded Claus - At a dying mall's second-rate Santa set, a bitter elf decides he's done smiling for corporate Christmas and leads a glitter-soaked revolt.

Extra Raita or I Will Cry - A food delivery driver spends Christmas Eve pushing through snow and strangers' homes, chasing heat that never lasts.

Not Terribly Crooked - A blended family wrestles with an old farmhouse, one crooked tree, and the truths no amount of ornaments can cover.

A Year to the Day - At a New Year's Eve party in a familiar old house, one guest drifts through the celebration and finds himself pulled toward company he can't explain.

The Cost of Christmas - The decorations are boxed up, but one father can't let go of the last shred of holiday he owes to his daughter, or to himself.

With humor that cuts through the tinsel and moments that hit harder than they should, Not Quite Christmas tears the wrapping off and leaves the mess on the floor. What's left isn't polished or pretty. It's the scraps you can't quite throw away.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FNKN5ZCY
• ISBN13: 9798285043744
• Release Date: October 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 198 Pages
• Weight: 0.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.5"