Mending Christmas: Blending Fact into Fiction by Shanna Hatfield

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Every time I see this saying, it makes me smile.

Mostly because it’s true. I’m always on the lookout for funny tidbits or crazy happenings to include in my stories.

In my newest release, Mending Christmas, I incorporated several details I gleaned from conversations with friends.

In the story, Beth, the heroine, has a best friend with three little ones. She and Billy (the hero) end up babysitting them a few times.

I love writing about kids. There is just something so sweet and special and innocent about them that comes out in the things they do and say.

One day, a friend told me about a little girl she knew offering “bless yous” to someone who sneezed. It’s what she calls facial tissue. How sweet is that? I just loved it and had to include it in this story.

Another time, I was visiting with friends who have a baby. Apparently while the mama was gone for a much-needed day out with her sister, the daddy was doing his best to keep their nine-month-old entertained. He said in the time it took him to turn around, the baby disappeared and he found him sitting on the bathroom floor, happily gnawing on the toilet brush. So funny – and gross! And now part of this story!

For a while, my nephew decided to refer to his baby brother as Tiny Little baby Olaf. If you called the baby by name, he would correct you and tell you the name was Tiny Little Baby Olaf. When he is all grown up, I fully intend to whip that memory out and share with him. For now, it’s what the toddler in this story calls his baby sister.

Even my own Captain Cavedweller unwittingly got in on the story sharing. When he was in elementary school, the students were supposed to perform the square dance they’d been practicing for weeks at the Parent Teacher Association meeting. The night of the performance, he was in his room, playing, and all of a sudden remembered he was supposed to be at the school. At the time, his family only lived a few blocks from the school, so without telling his parents where he was going or what he was doing, he dashed outside, ran to the school, did the performance in the T-shirt and sneakers he had on, and ran back home before anyone even knew he was gone. So I had Billy share that memory with Beth.

It’s so fun to take real life “facts” and work them into fiction.

I hope you’ll check out Mending Christmas. It’s a sweet, funny, feel-good, warm-your-heart romance.

He’s reckless.

She’s cautious.

When life throws them together, will love mend the broken pieces of their hearts?

Injuries are an inevitable part of the job for rodeo bullfighter Billy Clark. But when a feisty bull tosses him over the fence, Billy lands at the feet of a captivating woman. In that moment, he concludes the pain might be a small price to pay just to experience her gentle touch again. Having grown up as an orphan, Billy has struggled with loneliness his whole life. Yet, the way this woman gazes at him ignites a flicker of hope that he might one day find love.

After years of working in a bustling big city emergency room, Dr. Beth Moore desperately needs a break. She retreats to Twin Falls, Idaho, and settles into the house she recently inherited from her grandfather. When her best friend, Sierra, talks her into attending a local rodeo, Beth never expected to have an injured cowboy land at her feet much less to be so attracted to the charming man.

Concerned about Billy’s recovery, Beth travels with the rodeo stock company to keep an eye on him, while he unwittingly teaches her about the importance of embracing happiness. Will their budding friendship begin to mend the broken pieces of their hearts?

Mending Christmas is a wholesome holiday western filled with heartfelt moments, humor, and a tender romance.

What’s something silly, funny, or crazy you’ve experienced or heard about in real life?

Post your answer for a chance to win a $5 Amazon Gift Card and a digital copy of Mending Christmas!

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After spending her formative years on a farm in Eastern Oregon, hopeless romantic Shanna Hatfield turns her rural experiences into sweet historical and contemporary romances filled with sarcasm, humor, and hunky western heroes.
When this USA Today bestselling author isn’t writing or covertly hiding decadent chocolate from the other occupants of her home, Shanna hangs out with her beloved husband, Captain Cavedweller.

49 thoughts on “Mending Christmas: Blending Fact into Fiction by Shanna Hatfield”

  1. I had been talking to the middle son about family trees. Not long after, he was looking at the magnolia in our front yard and asked if it was our family tree.

  2. My brother asked Mom (he was probably 3) why our mama cat didn’t come up to his top bunk bed to have her kittens. He loved her, after all, and his twin in the bottom bunk didn’t even like her!

  3. Hey Shanna! Love the tidbit stories! I’ve found my husband, son, and grandson have much in common and keep me smiling and laughing. Although I have many funny stories to share, the cutest stinker, my son, is probably the funniest. He imitates us all to a tee. He has always quoted lines in a movie since he was knee high to a grasshopper! Jim Carey coming out of the bathroom fanning his butt,”Do Not go in there!” I know! What is it about such silly things with boys and grown men? I’ll never know!

    Well, when he was around 4 my mother-in-law kept my children. From the toilet he would yell,”Nanny! Come whip me!” She said,”Bobby Joe! You will be starting school soon. You can do this yourself!” His response,”But Nanny. It’s your GRANDbutt!”

    What a privilege! LOL

  4. My cousin’s little boys startling people by saying they were going on a trip to “dig up dead people “ ?. My cousin and I are hobby genealogists and were traveling to other states to visit historic cemeteries and go through county records offices.

  5. My father grew up in the Appalachian Mountains. In the traditional folk stories of the region, he’d heard a lot about the bears in the area. His mother sent him on an errand outside when he was about five. He saw a groundhog and ran like crazy, thinking it was a bear.

  7. When I was 14 I took my not quite 2 year old brother with me to run an errand for my Mom at the grocery store near our house. As we were checking out my brother yelled out “Mama, can I have candy”. I was mortified (as only a young teenager can be) and turned to him and said “I’m not your mother!” Everyone was staring and whispering and I beat it out of there and would not go back into that store for a long time.

  8. My family and I were in a restaurant in a small town and the table behind us was filled with police officers. At one point during their conversation one of the officers said rather nonchalantly “Did you hear about our murder?” My family kind of perked up and stopped talking to try to hear their conversation!

  9. With 6 children, 18 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren I have had many funny experiences. One stands out with a granddaughter when she was around 2 (she is now 22 and pregnant with my 4th great). We baby sat for her while her mother worked and she was a real spitfire. One day she had my husband so frustrated that he grabbed ahold of the straps of her overalls and got right in her face. Most of the other grandkids would have been intimidated, but she just looked down at his hands and said “Grandpa, you’re going to rip it”. I had to turn away to not laugh out loud. She is still a spitfire, but has turned into a beautiful young lady.

    • That is so fun about her personality and that she was more concerned about him ripping her overalls than getting in trouble. Love those spitfires. They had so much zest to life!
      Merry Christmas!

  10. oh gosh my brain is blank at the moment. LOL I have had a lot of funny, silly things happen to me in real life. Oh I know, dad thought we should have a turkey with all the chickens on the ranch. One day he came home with a young turkey. We had to walk through the turkeys pen to get to the chickens pen. That became a test of wills. That turkey hated us all and would charge us. I was so getting tired of that turkey attacking me when I went to gather eggs, so one day when I went in and the turkey charged me, I let our Irish setter in behind me and she stood between me and the turkey. It was like the turkey was stunned to see Sheree in where he lived and turned around and left. but the look on his face was priceless and it was like his shoulders dropped. wow. from that day on only I could go and get the eggs. LOL

  11. When my oldest daughter was little, if you asked her “How does the cow go?” instead of saying moo she would move her jaws like she was chewing! She always saw our cows chewing their cuds! If you asked her “How does the horse go?” she would snort like horses do when they’re “blowing their noses.” And instead of barking, she would pant when you asked how the dog goes! She’s 18 now and still thinks outside the box! Such a creative young woman.

  12. One day I was babysitting my nieces, at the time there were only three of them, a 3 yr old and two 2 yr olds. While we were outside in the yard, playing with their toys, I looked away for a second and by then the 3 yr old had the two 2 yrs old covered in mud from where earlier they had watered the garden. They’re faces were covered and their hair! but both had huge smiles on their faces as if it was such great fun to get covered in mud, while the 3 yr old just stood by looking innocent

  13. When #1 son was in second grade, his youngest brother was in preschool, he went out to catch the bus as usual – those were the days when kids were allowed to go out of the house without being on a parental leash. A while later I called #2 son to head to the truck but there was no response. After looking all over the house, barn and his normal hiding places I headed back to the house. As I walked in, the phone – all land lines at the time, rang. The school called asking if I was missing a child. Seems son #1 took his brother with him to school. He was planning on using him as his “show and tell” that day!

  14. My daughter works out of her home. She had to set up an office for privacy purposes. When I am there, my three year old grandson tries to help his mother. He tells him it is time for her to work. Takes her by the hand to her office, shoves her in and closes the door.

  15. My husband was kicked in the knee by a cow once, had surgery and was on crutches for several months. During that time I had to put out hay and feed for the cows. Our granddaughter was staying with us for a week during this time. I told her to come outside with me to feed the cows. We got out there and I said, “get in the truck so we can take feed out to the cows”. She said, “OK, but you’re gonna have to drive”. She was probably only 4 or 5 at the time. LOL

  16. One day as I was walking towards Old Main at Arizona State University a student approaching me coming from that area and said WaIt a minute. I just saw you back at Old Main. How did you get here? I smiled…never told him he had seen my twin sister. LOL

  17. I’m an identical twin, and though we’ve never purposefully tried to trick people, sometimes it just happens. One time in particular happened a few years ago when we were 18 or 19. My sister had jury duty on a murder trial, and my mom and I tagged along since it was in a bad area of town. My sister and I had dressed alike that day (no rhyme or reason, just something we tend to do a lot without even thinking). When we got there, my sister had to go in the back with the other jurors while my mom and I went into the courtroom. It was an interesting experience getting to listening to all the legal stuff that was going on, and hearing things the jurors couldn’t know yet. Well, as the judge was talking to the defendants (or their lawyers) I noticed that the two police officers in the courtroom had started urgently whispering and kept glancing at me. Then it dawned on me, they think I’m my sister! All of a sudden, with mad faces and their hands on the butt of their guns, they called me over to them (quietly so as not to disturb the proceedings). Before they could even say one word to me I blurted out “I’m a twin!” Which indeed made them happier! Usually when we tell this story I just say “I almost got arrested once because the police thought I was my sister.” 🙂

  18. When my son was 3 yrs old we enrolled him in a preschool program ,(our daughter went also, she was actually in the preschool part) he would go twice a week for about 3 hours and they both took sack lunches of course in a lunch pail with cartoon characters that they liked. Anyways when I went to pick him up , his teacher told me that he took her his pudding and told her that there were. bugs in his pudding, well that day I had packed them Tapioca pudding and I guess that was the first time I had packed tapioca instead of the reg. pudding, anyways I thought it was so cute and funny for sure and so did his teacher. 🙂

  19. One day when we were eating supper, my 3 boys, teenagers at the time, were arguing and I had had enough. I told them to stop talking. Well, my 3 boys did stop talking with there voices. They all know American Sign Language so continued with their argument. I was so surprised at first and then almost started to lol but refrained. I had to tell them no language of any kind at the table while trying not to laugh.

  20. That’s really funny about your husband and the school program haha… When my now 39 year old son was eight, I heard him talking on the phone. His side of the conversation ‘Eight. Yeah, I got money. Can you bring some extra rolls? I like those rolls ya got’ and darned if he didn’t get a food delivery a little later.

  23. When our girls were about 2 and 3, we were on a camper trip along the Maine coast. It was Fall and we stopped at a large produce market. In front of the store there was a very large statue of a stallion. It was big enough for the girls to walk under and still have a couple of feet above their heads. The statue was anatomically correct, which of course they noticed. Standing under the horse and pointing up, they asked their dad “What is that?” He turned red and stuttered trying to answer. I piped in “It’s where the horse goes potty.” They happily went on their way, leaving dad still trying to figure out what to say. Keeping it simple is always the best thing with little ones. It is all they need. There were two elderly ladies standing nearby who saw and heard the whole thing. They got a good laugh from it.
    I hope you and your family have a nice Christmas and a wonderful 2025.

  24. When my dad attended the University of Wyoming, he was in a skit where an old man was leading a donkey across the desert. The donkey would say “water, water” and the old man said “patience, donkey, patient”. The curtains would close and the announcer came out and said scene 2. Again the old man would lead the donkey across the desert and the donkey would as for water and the old man said “patience, donkey, patience”. The curtains closed and the announcer repeated scene 2. This happened several times and finally someone from the audience yelled out, “what about scene 3”. That was when the answer came, “patience, donkey, patience”! He would pull it on anyone new.

  26. When my son was young he would say the most amazing, and wise things. I could just hug him to bits and laugh to myself each time. I should have written them all down of course.

  27. The grandchildren are growing up so fast. When they were toddlers and young kids I used to listen to them and was amused by their conversations. One of the granddaughters would sit on the couch, open a book and start reading. Pretend reading the entire book and turn the pages. Her own take on the story.

  28. Something silly and funny I’ve experienced in my life I got a snow shovel from my dad for my birthday, My Birthday is Dec. 19 exactly a week before Christmas but every time I think about it and even then I can’t help at how silly it was for him to do that and makes me smile so however I must admit it kept the snow away for that year LOL.

  29. My youngest daughter, when she was about six, she was talking about how much she loved living in our house and ashe’s going to continue living here when she get’s married, but does her husband have to share her room with her because he’s not sleeping in her bed. We were talking to her recently about it and she doesn’t remember saying any of that now.

  30. Fran, a sweet older woman in my church told me about growing up in the safety of a small rural town in the 1930s & yet one day she & her playmate gave their moms quite a scare. The moms were each caring for newborns inside their homes as their daughters played outside. Play clothes were meant for real fun & dirty play but their play was interrupted when the church bells rang. From their adjoining yards they could see people arriving for church, they looked at each other, joined hands, & with giggles ran down the hill to church. They stayed for Sunday School & church never giving a backward glance or thought about their moms at home. Their moms didn’t know where they had gotten to until they saw them exiting down the steps of the church among the people. Fran said, after that day, her mom went to church every Sunday, figuring that if her daughter wanted to go to church that much, she would make sure she was given the opportunity to be there every Sunday, which became Fran’s life-long habit.

  31. I smiled when I read your post because it brought back memories of my daughter when she was little. For some strange reason she liked being called tiny child. She would actually request of me often and she looked really happy when I did.

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