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A Gift from God -- Book spotlight for Christmas in July

Kathy McKinsey • Jul 19, 2023

Today I welcome author Kathy McKinsey as she shares about her kitten-sweet Christmas book. She has generously offered a print copy of her book to one lucky winner (US only, please). Read through to learn how to enter.


Millie’s Christmas was a gift to me from God.

 

I write mostly women’s fiction, but a few years back, I wanted an exercise to make me write every day. It was December, and I thought about a story I’d written for my children when they were young, told from the point of view of a kitten.

 

When I started, I had little idea of how the piece would flesh out. The more I wrote, the more I loved the story that was coming to life. God gave it all to me—the characters, the plot—more than has ever happened to me with anything else I’ve written.

 

And He gave me such joy with the finished product. I hope to write more stories aimed at children.

 

Millie’s Christmas is similar to my women’s fiction novellas, a family sharing hard times and love. It can be enjoyed by children from six to 106.

 

A Peak Inside Millie's Christmas:  

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.”

 

About Kathy:

 

Kathy’s been married to Murray for nearly 36 years, and they have five adult children.

 

Kathy had two careers before writing—stay-at-home-Mom and rehabilitation teacher for the blind.

 

She lives in Cleveland, Ohio, with her husband and two of their children. Besides writing, she enjoys activities with her church, editing for other writers, braille drawing, grading braille manuscripts, crocheting, knitting, and playing with their rambunctious cat.


Connecting Online: 

https://www.kathymckinsey.com

 

https://www.facebook.com/kathy.brinkmann.mckinsey

 

https://twitter.com/kathymckinsey

 

https://www.amazon.com/Gifts-Grace-Kathy-McKinsey/dp/1649171196

 

https://www.amazon.com/All-My-Tears-Kathy-McKinsey/dp/164917117X

 

https://www.amazon.com/Millies-Christmas-Kathy-McKinsey/dp/B09HQBTL7J

 

Getting to know Kathy:

 

  • Please describe yourself with three words. Christian, wife, mother.

 

  • What do you enjoy most about writing? I don’t write romance, although there is sometimes romance in my stories. I love writing about relationships—siblings, parents and children, friends, friendships between a young and an older person. I want to show the support and fun that can come from the strength in these relationships.

 

  • How did you get started writing? I told myself stories for as long as I can remember. I started writing them down to share with others when I was about nine or ten. By this time, I could not see well enough to read them myself, so I begged friends and family to read them to me.


Leave a comment to enter to win a print copy of "Millie's Christmas" (US only): Cleverly disguise your email address so the 'bots don't get you. Fot example: Donna AT Livebytheword DOT com


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