Christmas Fiction off the Beaten Path

Not your Granny's Christmas stories …  Step off the beaten path and enjoy six stories that look beyond the expected, the traditional, the tried-and-true.  Inspired by the song, Mary Did You Know? -- a mother's memories of events leading up to and following that one holy night. MARY, DID YOU KNOW?  A young woman seeking her own identity searches for the man who tried to kill her and her mother on Christmas Eve twenty years before. A ROSE FROM THE ASHES  Princess, tower, sorceress, dragon, brave knight, clever peasant -- combine these ingredients into a Christmas-time story that isn't quite what you'd expect. RETURN TO CALLIDORA  Anticipating tough financial times, the decision not to buy or exchange presents leads to some painful and surprising revelations for a hardworking man and his family. NOT THIS YEAR  Years ago, a gunman and a store full of hostages learned some important lessons about faith and pain and what really matters in life -- and the echoes from that day continue to the present. THOSE WHO STAYED  A community of refugees, a brutal winter, a doorway to another world -- a touch of magic creating holiday joy for others leads to a Christmas wish fulfilled. CRYSTAL CHRISTMAS