Just in time for the holidays, Amazon.com is offering “The Gift: A Christmas Novella,” which was written by Shellie Bailey, payroll and benefits coordinator for Russellville Independent Schools.
“My mother-in-law, Diana (Bailey), wanted a Christmas book about Mary, the mother of Jesus, where you could have 25 chapters and read one chapter a day leading up to Christmas,” Bailey said of why she wrote the book.
While the author has long enjoyed the hobby of writing and has taken classes from the Christian Writers Guild, it took her two years to write “The Gift” because during that period her daughter, Jade, now 18-months old, was born.
Still, Bailey’s persistence and passion for her work continued. She shaped her story, written from the possible perspective of Mary, by trying to imagine herself in Mary’s situation.
“The Gift was emotionally hard to write because she’s a young girl, she’s getting into an arranged marriage, life was hard back then” and Mary was preparing to become mother to the Messiah, Bailey said.
Bailey’s self-published book can be found for the Kindle for $3.99 or in hardcopy for $9.99.
The author is now working on revising another Christianity-based novel, which she’ll shop to agents and publishers.
“I like to read because it’s an escape,” she said. “That’s how writing is for me,” too.
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