I got the idea to make shadowbox out of the cover image of our books, and I thought it would be fun for you to have access as well!
Materials:
Paper (or cardstock)
Colour printer
Scissors
Exacto knife
Cutting board
Tape (or glue)
Patience
Instructions:
This story takes place the Christmas after the events of Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests and Winging It.
The story was written by Jen and Éric Desmarais with the help of Dragon Desmarais.
Running over to them, Jason checked the boy’s pulse and it was extremely weak but still present. “It’s not petrification. They’re fine.”
“Wasn’t there a tree in the middle of the dance floor?” Kennedy asked, before shouting, “Duck!”
Over a year of training together and a trust built on saving each other’s lives countless times meant he dropped to the floor without thinking about it. The silvery ball that would have hit him in the shoulders flew past and hit Dr. Amita. She froze on the spot, her face contorted in confusion.
People screamed and would have panicked but Kennedy said, “Everyone please move toward the exit in an orderly fashion.” Westmeath had enough strange things happening that people walked quickly but not fast enough to hurt each other. There were still quite a few people left, all frozen.
“Where did that come from?” he asked as he kicked up from the ground and landed on his feet.
“The tree,” Kennedy said, “But I’m not sure which one.” She joined him near the boys.
The five trees seemed to shiver at the sound of her voice. Jason used his shadow power to stretch his senses out and see if they moved.
“How does a tree that’s in a pot move around?” he wondered aloud. He felt the attack and movement before seeing it. Grabbing Kennedy’s hands, he swung her around to avoid a volley.
“I can’t tell which tree it’s coming from,” she said, annoyed.
“Even my shadow senses aren’t helping with that. It moves too fast. But only one is moving”
“The cake!” Kennedy exclaimed and ran to the buffet, weaving and dodging around attacks. She lifted up the large red Yule log cake and said, “We just need to figure out which one moves and we can use the cake to mark it.”
It was a good idea, but a shift in the lighting and shadows made Jason turn away from her. The room had gotten darker as the moonlight from the wall of windows was blocked.
Surrounding the room from outside were massive pine trees. The christmas trees inside stood just over two and half metres tall, the ones outside were easily ten times that height.
Kennedy gave a small squeak and said, “Well, that’s not good.”
The doors flew inward, followed by a figure in silver full-plate armour. He had a longsword on his left hip and a dagger holstered on the opposite side. His helmet was down but he looked around the room and lifted it before saying, “You need to get out of here. It’s not safe.”
Laughing, still comically holding the cake, Kennedy said, “Jeepers, that was dramatic, and we know.”
“Kennedy?” the man said, looking surprised.
“Albert?” she replied. “For heaven’s sake, is everyone I know from Baker magical?”
The armour was the symbol of the Gatekeepers and organization that was dedicated to protecting the world from Aether incursions. Creatures created from imagination and magic could cause havoc if not controlled. The creatures were returned or hunted, while the people or Aetherborn were educated and placed in communities like Westmeath.
“Not to break up the reunion but—” Jason was cut off by a volley of flying ornaments. It seemed the tree took a little time to reload.
“Right. Sorry. I am Gatekeeper Therien. I tracked a part of a rogue tannen-bomb here.” He looked out the window and replied, “and it looks like the rest of it just arrived.”
“Part? You mean this is all one creature? Like a magical Pando?” Kennedy asked. When the knight didn’t reply, she added, “Pando, the giant organism that’s one root system with tens of thousands of trees?”
“Yes.” He drew his sword and swatted at the ornaments that were flying toward them. “Why are you holding a cake?”
“It’s to throw at the tree so we know which one it is,” she replied sheepishly.
“Ah. Good idea, but it’s the one next to your husband.”
Jason whipped around, not used to being snuck up on. He raised a hand in defence but was struck by a freeze bomb. It didn’t hurt, and he could hear and see everything happening.
A cake flew into his vision and smashed into the tree, covering it in red icing, and some splashing on Jason’s face and hair.
“I just have to grab it and I’ll be able to banish the whole thing,” Albert announced.
Kennedy picked up two covers from the warm Hors d’oeuvre trays and said, “I’ll distract it.” With a few long strides, she made it to Jason and whispered, “Sorry and I’ll save you.” then she pecked him on the cheek. “Yum, strawberry icing.”
“Try to get it to run to me,” Albert said.
Banging her trays at the obviously marked tree, she said, “I was being sappy. Are you ent-ertained? Wood you please move toward the knight? No pining and no barking!”
The tree let out a horrifying shrieking noise and ran toward Kennedy.
“You said distract, not taunt,” Albert said, sounding amused.
“It’s following me, so it’s distracted,” she yelled. “Come on tree, are you that easy to needle?”
Despite Kennedy running as fast as she could, the tree was catching up. “Hold on,” she said. “It’s a tree!” Turning around with her makeshift shields, she braced for impact. Surprised, the tree reversed course right into the Gatekeeper.
Putting his hands on the tree’s branches, he shouted, “Ga Bort!” and the tree disappeared, replaced by an equal mass of clear pine scented goo. It was followed a second later by the rest of the trees outside and a wave of goo that covered the windows.
Everyone started to wake up and as Kennedy was distracted, the knight tried to walk away. “Albert, stay and enjoy the party,” she said, before running to check on Jason and the boys.
“If you insist,” he replied, making a magical gesture that transformed his armour into formal clothes.
The guests who had run away had been trapped in the lobby but now they were moving back to the party. It wasn’t the weirdest thing to happen in Westmeath. Not even this year.
Later, as everyone was enjoying good food and drink, minus a strawberry Yule log cake, Jason said, “The thing that bothers me about the whole situation is that I didn’t get to make a single tree pun.”
Kennedy kissed his now-clean cheek and replied, “Next time, when you’re not frozen. But I always have you covered, just leaf it to me.”
Read more holiday stories:
This story takes place the Christmas after the events of Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests and Winging It.
The story was written by Jen and Éric Desmarais with the help of Dragon Desmarais.
They were halfway down the corridor to the cafeteria before the music reached their ears.
“Maybe that’ll be you in a few years,” Kennedy said to her teenage brother, Tommy.
He cocked his head, listening. “Nah, that’s a string quartet. I don’t plan on changing instruments.”
Jason chuckled. “They don’t get the same band year after year. You have a chance.”
“I think I’d rather spend my time eating that delicious smelling food,” Tommy replied. “And dancing with my boyfriend,” he added, squeezing Carter’s hand.
“I love the variety of decorations,” Carter said. “You’d think the mishmash of cultures would be chaotic, but it works really well.”
“You should tell Amita that,” Kennedy said. “This party is all her doing. She’s been talking about it for weeks.”
“Oh, it’s Amita now?” Jason murmured. “You finally managed to drop the ‘doctor’?”
Kennedy grimaced. “She had me practise. To her face. I still feel awkward about it, though.”
The corridor opened up to the large room, and the teenage boys halted in awe, almost tripping the older couple.
“I forget that you’ve never visited me at work,” Kennedy said. “We’ve had school groups in for field trips. Didn’t you come last year, Carter?”
“Yeah, but there weren’t five ginormous Christmas trees in the building then,” he said, shaking his head.
“We’re supposed to come in early January,” Tommy said absentmindedly, eyes wide as he took in the two full walls of floor-to-ceiling windows.
Through them, even with the lighting creating a mirror effect, they could make out the snowy courtyard and the fields beyond.
Carter recovered first. “They’re making some of the Everdome recipes we brought back with us! Come on!” He grabbed Tommy’s hand and pulled him to the buffet tables.
Kennedy was about to follow them, but Jason tugged her hand, pulling her against him. He pressed his nose to her neck, his fingers trailing down the mostly bare skin of her back as he inhaled deeply.
Her knees went weak. “Jason?” she murmured.
“Have I told you exactly how much I want to tear this dress off you?”
Kennedy bit her lip to hold in her laughter. Her emerald green dress, styled after the iconic Jessica Rabbit dress, never failed to drive him wild. “Many times. But if you tear it, I can’t wear it again.”
“The torture would end,” he teased.
“Excuse me,” said a new voice.
They side-stepped out of the doorway and she pinned him against the wall. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“That waistcoat and your rolled up sleeves are doing things to me.”
He grinned at her. “What kind of things, and can I get involved?”
Kennedy walked her fingers up the buttons on his chest. “Absolutely. When we get home.” She pulled away. “But right now, I want food, and then I want to dance with my handsome husband.”
Jason looked around comedically. “Where is he?”
She laughed and caught his chin in her hand. “Right where he’s supposed to be.” She pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. “Let’s be sociable.”
“If we must,” he groaned dramatically.
“Oh good, I was hoping I would get to say hello before the New Year,” Dr. Amita teased them when they approached the near-groaning buffet tables.
“You outdid yourself,” Jason said. “How will you surpass this next year?”
Amita waved a hand. “Pssh, nobody will remember this one next year.”
“I remember that you only had four trees last year, and this time you’ve got five,” Kennedy pointed out.
“Is it some sort of pardonable offence that you cut down trees to bring inside?” Jason asked.
Amita raised an eyebrow. “I only cut down trees from the side of the family that I don’t like,” she said dryly.
They glared at each other for a moment before Amita chuckled, followed by Jason. “You know they’re replantable trees,” she said.
“And yet I will continue to pretend you murder your family members every year,” he replied.
Kennedy rolled her eyes. “Sometimes I forget that you two go way back. I should’ve known Jason wouldn’t insult someone like that otherwise.”
“Go dance. You haven’t fulfilled the romantic quota for the night yet.” Amita shooed them onto the dance floor.
“We can be romantic and eat cheese!” Kennedy protested half-heartedly.
“You like this song,” Jason said, sweeping her into his arms. “One dance and then we can feed each other bites of cheese.”
“It doesn’t have to be cheese,” she replied. “Oh, look at the boys! They’re so cute.”
They were swaying slowly in place near the big tree in the middle of the dance floor, looking deep into each other’s eyes.
“We can’t let them out-cute us!” Jason teased.
“I don’t think the word ‘cute’ ever crossed my mind when it came to you,” Kennedy said thoughtfully.
“Oh?” He spun her under his arm.
“No. More like hot, handsome, jaw-droppingly gorgeous…” She laughed when he flushed. “Okay, maybe now you’re a little cute.”
“Whoa, watch out—” Jason pulled her against him, away from the couple they almost bumped into.
The other couple didn’t move.
Jason frowned. “Are you two alright?” he asked.
Kennedy circled them. “They’re frozen in place,” she observed before scanning the room. Several other people were not moving either. “Tommy,” she breathed, whipping around to the teenagers. They hadn’t moved since the last time she’d looked over at them. “Oh no, mom’s going to kill me!” she groaned.
Read more holiday stories while you wait for Chapter 2:
Starting today, and running until the 7th, we are taking part in the December Dash!
What is that, you ask?
Great question!
This is the inaugural event, where indie fantasy authors make book bundles of their signed physical books (and bonus content!) available to you just in time for the holidays! Link to the website with all the authors here.
Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers is the book we’re advertizing with the event. Check out the bundle options below. Please note that if you buy from our store, we will pay the tax, whereas if you buy from another store (Indigo, local bookstore, etc), you may not need to pay shipping. In both options, you will be able to get your hands on the bundle, but if you buy from another store, we will only be gifting the PDF versions.
Of course, you can buy other books from our store as well! We have some pretty great options (and we’ll throw in some bonus stuff for every book bought), including this one:
Note the free 2oz bag of coffee with that one!
We are really excited to participate in this event!
Want to see the full Assassins! bundle? Check it out on our website!
Bought the book elsewhere? Send your proof of purchase (image of the receipt with the book) to jenericdesigns@gmail.com
Thank you for supporting independent authors! We sincerely appreciate it!
Hello Readers!
I’m filled with exclamation marks! (Sounds like a medical issue honestly.)
After a year and a month of writing, we’ve finally finished Fanatics! Inevitable Honeymoon Crashers.
This is the third of four books in The Gates of Westmeath series and honestly my current favourite.
Our characters are happily married and on a chase for all the peices of Kennedy’s magical gem. They’re not the only ones though, aliens and Fay alike are going to try and get there before them. It’s a treasure hunt and race across the world, with stops in Ottawa ON, Montreal QC, Hope BC, Parry Sound ON, Paris France, and the magical archives of the Library of Alexandria.
The next step for us is editing and sending it to beta readers. Once that’s done (hopefully a few months) then we submit to our publisher and if they like it, it should be published, if we’re lucky, in 2027 or 2028.
We’ve only been publishing one book per year and next year will be the thrilling sequel to Crushing It!, and in 2026 we have slated a book called Faymous, which is a fun portal/Fairy book.
If you’re interested in being a beta reader, and you’ve read the first two books, please contact us. We have two spots available.
Good Reading,
Éric
Until you get to read this awesome new book why not read the first two?
Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests by Jen and Éric Desmarais is available now!
A parody of Netflix, Bookflix is where you can find our books and more like them.
We are participating in an incredible promotion; 1000 FREE romance books are available for TODAY only!
Go to romancebookworms.com and search through the catgories to stuff your e-reader to the gills!
Assassins! Accidental Matchmakers is in the Urban Fantasy category. If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, you should go grab it from there.
And while you’re at it, Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests is on sale for today only (on e-book)!
Play along with the Bingo: How stuffed is your e-reader?
“Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests” is an Urban Fantasy Romance. What happens when superheroes plan a wedding? Monsters, that’s what.
Kennedy and Jason are ready to get married. They just have to deal with evaporating monsters first.
There are several other books and TV shows that have a similar style, in one way or another, to our book. Here are the images I made with all the covers of the style comparisons.
The week before Kennedy and Jason’s wedding is busy. There are cake tastings, dress fittings, a formal ball, and, as their superhero personas the Phantom and the Wraith, fighting monsters.
These behemoths are destructive, smell like snack food, and are only after one thing: Door Tech Industries technology.
Adding to the chaos are their friends and families; Jason’s grandmother has returned after having been missing for half a century, Kennedy’s mom is dead-set on keeping things traditional, and Jason’s best friend is kidnapped before the rehearsal.
Kennedy and Jason just want to get married, preferably before the next monster attack.
The second book of four in The Gates of Westmeath series.
Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests by Jen and Éric Desmarais is available now!
Hello Friends, Fans, and Family,
Speculating Canada is an award winning podcast and interview series that interviews fantastic Canadian and genre personalities.
You may remember a few months ago that Jen was interviewed by the wonderful Derek Newman-Stille. You can see her interview on their website.
Well I (Éric) was interviewed last week. It was a lot of fun, and Derek is a fantastic interviewer, steering my hectic mind in a semi-coherent direction.
Go watch the interview on their website.
Stay safe and be kind,
Éric
A short story for Christmas when Kennedy was 8 years old. This was not written for small children.
It was, however, written for those who recently found out the truth about Santa Claus, a group to which my daughter now belongs.
“Hey, Tommy. Are you taking a bath with me?” Kennedy asked the seven-month-old, who was sitting in the empty laundry basket next to the tub.
The little boy smiled happily at her and waved the yellow duck bath toy clutched firmly in his fist.
“No, he had his bath this afternoon,” her mother said. “He’s here because the big kids have chores and homework to do.”
“Oh, I don’t mind.” Kennedy made quick work of her clothes, dropping them in a little pile next to the basket. “I love hanging out with him.”
The water was nice and hot, and she sank into it with a sigh of satisfaction, propping her elbows on the edge of the tub so she could continue to watch Tommy playing.
“I got a call from Mrs. Fox, Sadie’s mom, this afternoon,” her mother said, digging a washcloth out of the linen closet behind the door.
Kennedy dropped below the edge of the tub, sinking as much of herself under the water as possible, but didn’t say anything.
“Sadie told her that her bloody nose wasn’t as bad as your black eye.” Her mother squirted a bottle of bubble bath into the water near the faucet before perching on the edge of the tub and sighing. “Kennedy, we need to talk.”
“They were being mean to the grade ones!” Kennedy blurted out.
“The grade eight boys?”
Kennedy nodded and swished herself around until she was sitting cross-legged, her knees poking out of the water. “Sadie told them to leave the kids alone, to stop telling lies about Santa not existing. They wouldn’t leave!”
“And instead of going to get a teacher, you decided to fight them?”
“I was angry.” Kennedy scooped some bubbles up with her hands and made them into a tower.
“Did it solve anything?”
“Maybe they’ll think twice next time.” Kennedy squished her mountain fiercely, sending bubbles splashing up the wall and onto her mother’s leg. “Oops. Sorry, Mom.”
“Would it be worth it if I got angry with you right now? You know you’re not supposed to splash in the tub.”
“No,” Kennedy replied quietly.
“What could you have done differently?”
Kennedy gathered the bubbles into a large circle in front of herself. “They attacked Sadie first. If I’d run for a teacher, she might have gotten hurt worse. I suppose… I could have asked a little kid to get a teacher and screamed my head off?”
“They attacked Sadie first?” Her mother’s mouth thinned. “I hadn’t heard that part. I think we need to have a discussion with those boys and their parents with the principal present.”
“Good idea. They need to know that they can’t tell lies and get away with it.” Kennedy started making a smaller circle above the big one.
“You’re right, but Kennedy, darling, we need to talk about Santa Claus.”
“Did he not get my letter?” Kennedy asked, sloshing the water when she flailed.
“Sweetheart, he doesn’t exist.”
“Of course he does!” Kennedy said, brushing off her mother’s words unconcernedly. “I have his letters to me in my closet.”
“No, dear, your father wrote those.”
“They don’t look like his writing.” Kennedy narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her mother. “Why are you saying this?”
“He wrote them with his left hand.” Her mother waved a hand in the air. “That’s not the point. The point is that you are old enough to understand that Santa is a concept used to teach little kids about the spirit of giving.”
“But…” Kennedy couldn’t stop the tears, her throat going tight with the pressure of them. “But Santa!” she gasped. “He’s real!” She buried her face in her hands, regretting that she was in the bath and couldn’t hug her mother.
“Oh, sweetie.” Gentle hands smoothed her hair back. “I think you know I’m telling you the truth.”
“What about Tommy?” she sobbed.
“What about him?”
“If Santa’s not real, how can he bring Tommy presents? It’s not fair that he doesn’t get presents from Santa!” She inelegantly wiped her nose with the heel of her hand.
Her mother chuckled. “Your father and I will buy him Santa presents, just like we did for you and your older siblings.”
“What about the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy? They’re real, aren’t they?” Kennedy asked, grasping at straws. She couldn’t believe it.
“What do you think?”
A fresh wave of sadness swamped Kennedy. “No,” she said softly, tears flowing silently down her cheeks. “I guess they’re not either.”
“But now that you know the truth, you can help make Christmas special for Tommy and for the other little kids at your school,” her mother said.
“How?”
“Well, what is it that Santa does?”
Kennedy swallowed a knot in her throat. “He gives presents.”
“Okay. And?”
“He spreads joy.”
“How do you think you can do that?”
“By being nice to people?”
“How do you want to do that?”
“I could give them presents?” Kennedy frowned. “I don’t have any money.”
“You don’t. But you have time. How would you like to volunteer with the church youth group? They’re going to be wrapping presents for the homeless shelter after the service on Sunday.”
Kennedy brightened. “I can do that! I wrap really well!”
“You do.”
“I can wrap the presents for you too!”
“Not yours,” her mother teased.
“Of course not! I want to be surprised!” Kennedy said, shocked at the idea. She leaned over the edge of the tub and gave Tommy a kiss on the forehead.
He burbled back at her and grabbed for her hair.
“No, Tommy. We don’t grab hair,” her mother said firmly. “Are you feeling better about the whole Santa thing, dear?”
Kennedy sniffed. “I’m sad that he’s not real. I feel like someone I loved died.”
“He’s still here. He’s in all of us.”
“That’s what you said when Great-Uncle Ernest died,” Kennedy accused.
“So I did. Was I wrong? He lives on in the stories we tell about him.”
“I suppose.”
“Come on, let’s get you washed.”
“But I didn’t get to play!” she protested, sticking her bottom lip out. “And you just told me that Santa doesn’t exist!”
Her mother chuckled and shook her head. “That will only work for tonight. I can make your favourite for dinner, how’s that?”
“Chicken casserole? The one with the carrots?” Kennedy said, perking up. Usually that was dinner when they had company.
“Yes, that one.”
“Okay. Can I help?”
“You can peel the carrots.”
“Awesome. Where’s my washcloth?”
Monsters! Incidental Wedding Guests by Jen and Éric Desmarais is available now!
