[Listen]
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[Woman’s Voice]
This is Behind the Cut with Christopher Gronlund. The companion show to Not About Lumberjacks.
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Christopher Gronlund:
Behind the Cut is an in-depth look at the latest episode of Not About Lumberjacks and often contains spoilers from the most recent story. You’ve been warned…
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Halloween is my favorite holiday (and takes place during my favorite month), but Christmas is a close second. (And I’m rather fond of December as well.)
Growing up, Christmas Eve meant visiting my mom’s mom and then Christmas day at home with immediate family.
Later, my father moved to a suburb south of Kansas City, which meant a couple Christmases were spent in the Sunflower state. I’ve also spent many a mash-up of Christmas and Hannukah with my Jewish cousins.
These days, my wife and I visit my mom on Christmas Eve and then spend Christmas day together. (Usually getting in a morning hike.)
None of this is too out of the ordinary, except…I’m a life-long atheist.
So, why do I do an annual Christmas episode and not an all-encompassing generic holidays thing?
The short answer is most popular Christmas stories are not overtly religious. Growing up, the closest it got to religious was Linus’s speech in A Charlie Brown Christmas. But A Christmas Carol, A Christmas Story, the Rankin/Bass stop-motion specials, Elf, and even—depending on who you ask—Die Hard, are quite secular.
The longer answer is this…
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Six years ago, I had an idea: I’d do something with all those story ideas that din’t merit 3,000 – 10,000 words. I’d put together an episode with shorter short stories.
It just-so-happened that I decided to do it around Christmas.
The idea was originally called “Stocking Stuffers,” with all those bits of very short fiction being the short story equivalent of something found in a stocking on Christmas morning.
It seemed only natural to include at least one Christmas story in the episode.
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Another reason I love doing an annual Christmas episode is each year I see someone I know through social media talking about “The War on Christmas.” They act like no one is allowed to say, “Merry Christmas,” anymore—how it’s now “Happy Holidays.”
Never mind that there are many holidays during this time of year, and never mind that the free market so many of these Scrooges claim to love realized being a bit more inclusive of additional celebrations is good for business. And never mind that many of my Christian friends say, “Happy Holidays,” just like people have been doing for more than 100 years.
So, when I—a life-long atheist—tell them I say “Merry Christmas”—and even do an annual Christmas episode for my fiction podcast—it destroys their false narrative that we somehow want to topple the holiday we all love.
* * *
So why, then, do I not write stories about other holidays taking place this time of year?
Well…
Even though I’ve celebrated Hannukah with family, I’m not Jewish—I don’t feel that’s not my story to tell. (And really, the most memorable Jewish holiday for me was Passover because my aunt was a good cook and went all-out on that!)
I’m not a pagan, so basing a December episode around Yule or the Winter Solstice isn’t happening. (Although I have worked in some Scandinavian, German, and Welsh lore based on pagan roots into past Christmas episodes—but I’ve never featured an actual holiday.)
Just as I feel I’m not the right voice for a Hannukah story, I’m not going to write about Kwanzaa, Ramadan in the years it occurs during December, Bodhi Day, or other holidays I don’t celebrate.
I suppose if I anchored the annual December episode with a New Year’s Eve or Day story, I might call it a holiday episode, but I’m now committed to Christmas.
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Author John Green did a YouTube video about a year ago on the subject of committing to a bit.
He talked about a musician named Jonathan Mann who’s written and shared a song a day on YouTube for over 10 years. (As of the time of this writing on December 13, 2023, he’s released song number 5,460!)
John talked about how he and his brother Hank worked in every word from the lyrics to Smash Mouth’s song, “All Star,” into their YouTube video titles for a time.
He mentioned Dolly Smith, a British woman who had not missed a match of her beloved Derby County Football/Soccer Club in over 70s years. (As a Leicester City supporter, even I can appreciate that! [Derby County is one of Leicester’s bigger rivalries.])
John’s right: there is something about committing to a bit!
With Not About Lumberjacks, I’m now committed to an annual lumberjack story each November in honor of the show’s anniversary. (Even though some fans have done mental gymnastics in jest to tell me why the stories are still not about lumberjacks.)
Last year, I committed to a new bit: adding an annual story (in print, even), to patrons of my Patreon.
And the annual Christmas episode is committing to a bit.
The great thing about these commitments is, in time, you have little bodies of works inside a larger body of work.
Were I to self-publish books, I likely have enough lumberjack stories for a collection.
I likely have enough Christmas stories for a collection.
And, in time, I’ll have enough Patreon-only “Well-Rooted Grove” stories to share as a collection. (Likely, for a free episode of the show in a handful of years when there are enough stories for that.)
Doing back-to-back monthly episodes in the middle of the busy holiday season and rush to close out a year at work is not my best idea, but I’m committed to the bit at this point.
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I thought the annual Christmas episode would be a one-time thing the first year I did it. Nothing said I had to continue, but people like it, so I have.
Nothing said I had to commit to annual lumberjack stories or this other thing I now apparently do in May for Patreon patrons.
To spin it all back to Christmas and me, it’s a gift that people think highly enough about the stories I write, narrate, and release that they give me a bit of their time in a world where there are a bazillion other things they could focus on.
A new season of Not About Lumberjacks begins each year in November with the anniversary episode, but there’s always something special about closing out the calendar year.
It’s a time for reflection and many holidays all stacked up together.
No matter what you celebrate—or don’t—I wish you mighty health and fun in the new year…
And Merry Christmas!
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Thank you for listening to Not About Lumberjacks and Behind the Cut. Theme music for Behind the Cut is a tune called “Reaper” by Razen. Visit nolumberjacks.com for information about the music, the episodes, and voice talent.
Also, for as little as a dollar a month, you can have access to a bigger behind-the-scenes look at Not About Lumberjacks on Patreon. Check out patreon.com/cgronlund if that sounds like your kinda thing.
With back-to-back monthly episodes, now begins the annual wait for March. (But I still tend to get things out earlier in the month, so it’s not too much longer than usual.)
So, what can you expect for the next story? How about a tale called “Not Again,” in which a guy makes a time machine, takes it back to 1983 for a test run, and ends up breaking down in his past?
Until next time: be mighty, and keep your axes sharp!
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