Touching Lives

Sometimes there is a passing moment in life—a brief contact, a short exchange of emails—that leaves a lasting impression.

Patric Michael left one such impression in my life. When I first picked up “The Santa Mug,” my only knowledge of him was that he was an author who wrote a Christmas story right up my alley. Read, reviewed, went on with life.

Then Wishing on a Blue Star came out and through tears, I read and reviewed that one as well. I was touched, deeply, by the entire package. But I’m not one to go chasing after authors, so I quietly posted my review.

And was pleasantly surprised when Patric emailed me about my review. We shared a few emails, but I’m extremely shy, so I vanished back into the woodwork instead of letting it go on.

Some time passed and I was out shopping, and I came across a goofy Santa mug, just like that on the cover of “The Santa Mug.” I bought it, and sent him a message along the lines of “Saw this and was touched enough by the story that I bought it. Happy holidays.”

Once more he emailed back. We spoke a little more, but one thing he said will always be with me: “Come Christmas Eve, I'll fill my Santa mug with eggnog and think of you perhaps doing the same.  We'll drink a toast to good stories, the characters in them, and the readers who bring them to life every time they open the book.”

So when I heard that he’d passed, I was very sad. And although it’s been nearly two months, today it just sort of hit me. That despite our interactions being so small, so brief, he’s left an impression in my life.

And this year at Christmas, I’ll be drinking eggnog from my Santa mug alone, but I’ll be thinking of him and I’ll toast good stories, the characters in them, and all the authors and readers who bring them to life.

Wishing on a Blue Star ed. by Kris Jacen

Wishing on a Blue Star ed. by Kris Jacen
Stars: 4/5

Overall
There is no way to rank this book, to judge it, to compare it to anything else. There are stories, some of them funny, some of them heart breaking (I'm looking at you Amy Lane). Between the stories (or perhaps the stories are in between) are blog posts following Patric Michael's experiences dealing with cancer and everything that goes with it.

This is a longer book as far as books in this genre go, and it took me a while to get through, one because I struggle with anthologies anyway, two because there are alot of heavy topics on this books and three, I'll be honest, I was reading alot of books at the time. I'm glad I continued through and finished it though. I'll be honest, I cried the last half an hour of reading.

Because my normal review style isn't appropriate, I'll be looking at the blog and the anthology separately.

Blog
Patric is a talented author and wrote some very lovely blog entries which illustrated his struggles, as well as some other entries that he wrote during that time that lightened the mood. Some of them were very difficult to read and some of them hit me over the head and told me to wake up and live your life. Sometimes they were one in the same. Sometimes they were sad, even if that wasn't their purpose. I'm glad they were shuffled in with stories because I couldn't have just read the blog straight through without going a little crazy from empathic stress!

Patric chose to print the blogs as they originally ran, so no editing was done, which made me twitch sometimes, but knowing about it ahead of time saved me from being growl-y. I don't know Patric, and I've only read one of his stories, but I have a strange (and false) sense of knowing him. Maybe it's more just knowing myself more now. I don't know, and I don't know if I'll ever have a chance to figure out which it was.

Anthology
As anthologies go, this was fairly strong. Some were hit, some were misses, but nothing terrible. "When Angels Fall" by ZA Maxfield and "Dreams of a Terrible Brightness" by Amy Lane were two of my favorites. I'm fairly certain there were others I enjoyed as I went, but those two jumped out the most to me. "When Angels Fall" was the happy ending I needed and "Dreams of a Terrible Brightness" (the one I wept over) was the horrible honesty I needed.

This is a free book. Maybe it will help you understand others going through similar experiences. Maybe it will help you in your own struggles. Maybe it will just make you pause and consider all the wonderful things you have in life without heavily guilting you into it. I recommend everyone take the time to check this out.

The Santa Mug by Patric Michael

The Santa Mug by Patric Michael
Stars: 4.5/5

Overall
When Max invites Darren to come with him to visit his family at Thanksgiving, Darren agrees, mostly because Max has been such a good friend to him in the past. Although they aren't going as a couple, Max's family assumes differently...

This is an incredibly touching Christmas story involving two ordinary men who care for one another, one of whom has some history he needs to finish up before he can completely be in the relationship. All of this comes to a point just before Christmas without being overly dramatic or unrealistic.

Strengths
My holiday reading before this was very hit or miss, so I was hesitant (and a little grouchy) going in, but was pleasantly surprised. It was sweet and tender while keeping realistic as two friends who become something more. Although no sex is explicitly described, it doesn't matter--the connection between the two men is undeniable, even if we aren't given passionate scenes and dozens of dialogue lines devoted to it.

Weaknesses
Nothing stuck out to me as being out of place or weakening the novel. While I struggled with some of the events, I think they were the best option for the characters and I was ultimately happy with the results.