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How Do Fictional People Celebrate Thanksgiving?

November 18, 2011 / No Comments

As we approach Thanksgiving, I thought it would be fun to ask writers of published and unpublished novels about their main characters’ plans for the holiday. I got varied answers and…well, let me have the characters and authors tell you. 

  • “I plan on Thanksgiving being a wonderful time this year. I’m going to propose to Mandy and get my family together with my soon-to-be fiance’s family so they can all meet the beautiful young woman God brought into my life.” Lt. Garrett Collins, USN of Galveston by Kassy Paris, writing as Kasandra Elaine 
  •  “Phil and I will be in Auckland, New Zealand for Thanksgiving this year, enjoying a hangi – a traditional Maori barbeque – with the rest of the band guys to celebrate the end of the 2011 tour. Then we’ll be off to introduce baby Nate to his Kiwi rellies.” Caddie Murray, from Stacy Aannestad’s fictional blog “Caddie Emerging” 
  • “I’ll be sous chef to my gourmet husband, and it’s a good thing he likes to cook. My culinary expertise maxed out at Jell-O. I’m worried, though. My son’s 21st-century mail-order-bride, yes, I said mail-order-bride, is joining us. For some reason she hates me. Sigh. I’m trying to be thankful.” Claire Bennett, Chapel Springs Survival by Ane Mulligan
  • Nathan hoped the next town would have a homeless shelter and they’d be serving up Thanksgiving  turkey today. He’d gladly give thanks if they’d let him share. Nah!  Mulligan stew sounds good to me. Nathan grabbed his bundle and joined J. P. as they walked toward the waiting boxcar. From Linda Robinson‘s second novel, The Longest Road Home, due out summer  2012 
  • “I swear this Thanksgiving will be my last in Master Landcastle’s kitchen, plucking his turkey and slicing his pie. Next holiday season, I’ll be in my own kitchen, wringing my own bird’s neck with hands that belong only to me. This time next year, mark my words, I will be free.” Milly, Warring Spirits by April Gardner. Find this newly-released book on Amazon.  
  • Rick’s voice softened. “Thank you, God, for my wonderful wife and this crowded table you’ve blessed us with.” Kaci continued. “Thank you for my twin that I love even when she wears my clothes like today.” Kati followed with, “Thank you that Kaci and I are the same size.” A snippet of dialogue from Rose McCauley‘s Christmas Belles of Georgia, as her characters hold hands and pray around the Thanksgiving table.
  • “Peg invited me back to the Kettle’s On Campground for Thanksgiving to apologize for the disastrous week we experienced while she was gone. We’ll have dinner with all the campers and, of course, play some games, like our last potluck. Just no more murders. Please?” Gretchen Anderson, Sentenced, a mystery novella by Tracy Ruckman and published in Board to Death from the Dangerous Games Series
  • William chewed the succulent turkey as he embraced his new wife with his eyes. The turkey slid down his throat and a smile played on his lips. “How do you think you’d be celebrating Thanksgiving if God hadn’t brought us together?” Jenny swallowed, her eyes flashing affection. “By thanking Him that He cares about us—and asking Him to bring the man He chose for me into my life. I might not have known your name, but God did.” A conversation between William O’Casey and Jennifer Louise Parks from The Belle of Peachville by Ada Brownell
  • “I’m looking forward to my first Thanksgiving in the Adirondack Mountains. My family in Ohio can’t make it but I plan on serving a meal at the senior center for anyone in the Speculator Falls area to attend. Even if  that cranky Ben Regan needs a meal, he’s welcome to join us.”  Jenna Anderson, Director, Speculator Falls Senior Center. Spectacular Falls by Julie Arduini
  • “Beanie, just because the Piggly Wiggly has no more Butterballs in stock does not mean we will be eating one of my hens for Thanksgiving,” says Aunt Dovie as she scatters feed in her back yard for her three cackling pet hens fondly named, Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. “We will eat ham if we have to. I know that Pearl will want to make two of her strawberry-rhubarb pies. I wonder if she knows how to make pumpkin?” A Wedding Invitation by Alice J. Wisler
  • “Thanksgiving dinner with my parents? Never. My father commits adultery and my mother forgives him. Hypocrites. I’ll eat alone, thank you very much. Maybe lobster thermidor with roasted asparagus and popovers.” Chet Hildebrandt, Dark Biology by Bonnie Doran
  • “Thanksgiving hasn’t been the same since Mama died five years ago, but I’ve tried to keep it a special family time for Father and the boys. Now, though, Father’s new wife has her own ideas of keeping the holiday, and my place in our household seems to be slipping away….” Caroline Haynes, Beneath a Turquoise Sky by Kiersti Plog
  • “In a weak moment, I invited a former enemy to share my family’s time of thanksgiving for God’s blessings. Why Momma thinks God has given us anything to be thankful for I cannot imagine, but she plans a feast fit for royalty. And I am to shoot a turkey.” Laurel Tillman, A Lady Divided by Sandra Ardoin

For Writers: What will your main character do this Thanksgiving?

For Readers: How would one of your favorite characters in a novel spend the holiday?

As an author of heartwarming historical and contemporary romance, Sandra Ardoin engages readers with page-turning stories of love and faith. Rarely out of reach of a book, she's also an armchair sports enthusiast, country music listener, and seldom says no to eating out.

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