Short Stories – Laurel Luehmann

A Christmasy short story, anyone? (did I mention it’s free?)

December 15, 2025by Laurel LuehmannLeave a Comment

It was the 20th of December, and for an entire month the smells of gingerbread and homemade fudge had filled the farmhouse kitchen, secrets had been exchanged in whispers behind hands, and Randy Travis’ Christmas album had been played more than a dozen times through the boombox. The month had borne all the earmarks of a Werner family Christmas…except for the one that was most important in Grace Werner’s eyes.

There was no snow. At least out of doors.

Last year I wrote a short Christmas story about a (fictional) little girl I’d gotten to know quite well after spending a few years writing a story about a baker, a deputy, and a farmer who happened to be Grace’s older brother. Grace was never a main character in that book, but anyone who’s met her on the page knows that she’s most definitely main character material. (Major levels of sweetness and sass will do that for a seven-year-old.)

All Grace wants is to make Christmas 2001 absolutely perfect for her family. Is that too much for a seven-year-old to ask? But she can’t wrap gifts as well as her mother, or decorate cookies that look as nice as Grandma’s, and to top it all off the sky won’t yield even a single snowflake! Her dreams for a perfect Christmas seem to be crumbling as fast as her sugar cookies, but could it be that there’s more to a perfect Christmas than perfection?

This Christmas, join Grace and her family in their blustery corner of the Midwest for a chuckle-inducing adventure that will warm your heart and possibly leave you craving a plate of sugar cookies.

I reread this story last week, and it was such a treat to revisit all of Grace’s mishaps and adventures. (I honestly had forgotten how I’d resolved the story, so it was sweet to read that part like it was the first time, hehe!)

If you love all of the close-knit family vibes, humorous little kids, and the chance to visit a rural Midwest community via the written word, this story might be for you. 😉

Read about Grace’s story here!

You can also add it on Goodreads here, if you’re a Goodreads person.

Aaand, in case you want the Christmas soundtrack Grace had (and the one I had while writing this story)…here ’tis.

Happy reading, friends! I hope the story brings a smile or two.

-Laurel

reading, Short Stories, writing updates

I’m releasing a short story!

December 12, 2024December 12, 2024by Laurel LuehmannLeave a Comment

Hello, friends!

I’ve been quieter on the blog lately because I’ve been working to pour more into my (mostly)weekly newsletter. I’m so grateful for my newsletter gang, and this Christmas that group gets a special gift: a short story with all of the cozy, nostalgic Christmas-y feels.

This Christmas, join Grace and her family in their blustery corner of the Midwest for a chuckle-inducing adventure that will warm your heart and possibly leave you craving a plate of sugar cookies.

I didn’t think one could get so excited about such a simple story, but here I am, proving myself wrong. XD I adore these characters (borrowed from the novel I’m prepping from publication), and seeing them in a Christmas setting and through the eyes of a seven-year-old has been such a delight. I don’t think you want to miss it.:)

You can also add it on Goodreads here.

I hope you’re having a wonderful December! ❤

-Laurel

Flash Fiction

Alone – Flash Fiction

December 3, 2020by Laurel Luehmann10 Comments

Finally… I’m sharing some fiction here! Let me know if you want more.:)

The sun had long since set, but the terror of darkness was absorbed by the new-fallen snow. Soft and silent, winter’s cloak sat still and listened to the crunch of boots.

Their tread was ponderous… slow and ever slowing. At last it stopped, and the boots stood silent in the snow.

Their owner paused and cast a searching glance across the whitened fields. She couldn’t see the line where the sky should have met the snow. She could discern no variation in the color, shape or shadow.

Empty.

At last she was alone with her thoughts – no distractions, no interruptions. No one to tell her that her trials weren’t fierce. That her burdens weren’t heavy. No one to tell her that her dreams were not important.

And so she poured them out, a stream of words that rushed into the night. They spread upon the snow and melted in, scared and trembling.

She breathed in deep the frozen air, and held it in her lungs. It stung and burned, but still she held it close.

At last she let it go, a misty, frozen cloud. She smiled at its beauty. For a touch of a moment, it lingered in the air… then crept away on silence.

She turned and left her pain, her breath, to shiver in the cold.

Photo by Damian McCoig on Unsplash

Book Reviews, Journaling, Personal

What I’ve Been Reading (+ Journal Snippets!)… October 2020 Edition

October 29, 2020November 20, 2020by Laurel Luehmann2 Comments

Good morning, all! Unbelievably, October is nearly over… which means it’s time for a review of my literary diet this month.

Quite honestly, I’m not very proud of the amount of reading I did this month. For writers, reading is like fueling up… so I guess I’ve been running close to empty for basically the whole month. Ah, well. Next month is fresh… with no mistakes in it! Yet.:)

Anyway… without further ado, here are my October reads!

Desiree’s Baby

Oh, man… if you want to read something short and extremely moving, here you go. This story is heartbreaking.

The Romance of a Busy Broker

Since O. Henry wrote The Gift of the Magi – one of my very favorite stories ever – I jumped at the chance to read another one of his works. The way this short story ended cracked me up!

Great Expectations

After hearing one of my brothers raving to me about it night and day, and even after being utterly traumatized and confused by the BBC film adaptation, I decided to give this book a try… and, oh, am I glad I did!

Dickens’ descriptions are incredible, and inspire me to be more creative in the way that I write my own descriptions. And his plots – oh, his plots!!! I don’t think I will ever be able to plot so masterfully as Dickens did.

Footprints of a Pilgrim: the Life and Loves of Ruth Bell Graham

My mother gave me this book a few years ago when I was researching Ruth Bell Graham for a school project, and I dug it out again recently after one of my sisters gave me one of Ruth Bell Graham’s poems.

This book is so beautiful… a fun mashup of an autobiography and anecdotes. I think what I loved the most, though, is the poetry scattered throughout. Her poetry is just so lovely and effortless… and it has inspired and influenced my own way of writing poetry.

Journal Snippets

I thought it might be fun to include some glimpses into my October 2020 journaling here…

“Seeking You (God) is all that will truly satisfy… all that will truly last.”

“Oh, God! I want You to be far more dear to me than that which I stubbornly clench in my fist. In all my desires… all my hopes… all my ambitions… may YOU – only You – be the One I seek.”

“Acts 20 – Paul may have been seen as something of a babbler… keeping back ‘nothing that was helpful’. But he served the Lord ‘with all humility’… and that makes all the difference.”

More journal snippets… yea or nay? Let me know in the comments below.:)

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase something through one of the links I share in this post, I receive a small commission… at no extra cost to you.😊

Photo by Alisa Anton on Unsplash