?Stories Before Christmas? is a delightful collection of 15 original Christmas stories and verse written for all ages. Readers will find Santa making deliveries during a Midwest ice storm, experience Christmas on Mars, meet a Christmas ghost in a morgue, grapple with a Christmas void of sunshine, laugh at Christmas plans gone awry, discover a retelling of the first Christmas in a land far away from Bethlehem, and more. Within the pages of ?Stories Before Christmas? readers can discover a lighter side of Christmas as well as the joys and true meaning of Christmas. The anthology is family-friendly and intended to bring a smile to faces and conjure memories of Christmases past. Some excerpts from our stories: ?That red ornament was the biggest and newest bulb on the tree. But it wasn?t a bulb to me. It was Mars. You know, that big red planet where the Martians live?? ?I woke at dawn on Christmas morning, ran into the living room, and saw nothing from Santa under the tree. Santa had somehow missed me! Devastated, I crept to my bed and cried myself back to sleep.? ?I stopped celebrating Christmas when my mother died. I have too many good memories with her at Christmastime. It was her favorite holiday. I do not want to celebrate it without her.? ?I stood there staring at the cans of vegetables, cranberries and cherries. It looked like Mrs. Johnson was giving away our Christmas dinner.? ?You know what I mean,? her voice was quivering and rising higher, ?There is a Santa. Grandma Bertha told me so.? ?Have you been a good boy, Billy?? asked Santa. Mother always told me Santa kept track of my behavior, so I wondered why he had to ask. ?Yes, he has,? my mother answered, before I could. ?I guess we?re all hoping for a Christmas miracle, in one way or another, aren?t we? Seems like we?re on the wrong world for that!? ?What about this one, Mom?? Evan asked, staring at a dense seven-foot Scotch pine. Lifting the price tag, Margery saw that both its height and price were out of reach. ?Maybe next year,? she said, squeezing his shoulders. ?Let?s keep looking.?