Kate Hewitt on Christmas Traditions
15 Comments November 17th, 2009 in author, holidays Posted by Amyby Kate Hewitt, author of Royal Baby, Forbidden Marriage (Harlequin Presents Extra, November 2009)
I love Christmas! I love everything about it, from the promise of snow to decorating a Christmas tree to opening the presents underneath. I love Christmas carols and hanging up stockings and making gingerbread cookies. So I was especially excited to write a story set around Christmas.
Royal Baby, Forbidden Marriage takes place during the month of December on the fictional island Amarnes off the coast of Norway. As a way to enhance the story, I researched a variety of Christmas traditions from Scandinavian countries. Since Amarnes isn’t a real place, I freely borrowed from several countries’ traditions, some of which I’d never heard of before.
Did you know, for example, that in Denmark Christmas Eve dinner starts with a pudding that has a magic almond inside? The person who finds it wins a prize. In Sweden, presents are distributed by a julbok, or Christmas goat! And in Norway children await a visit from a nisse who looks a bit like Santa Claus but actually plays tricks on people—he was originally blamed for taking the cattle’s hay to feed the horses. They leave him a bowl of rice pudding or similar treat to keep him from playing too many tricks. The nisse has a special place in Royal Baby, Forbidden Marriage and Phoebe and Leo’s developing love for and trust in one another.
While each country may have a particular Christmas tradition, families can have unique ways of celebrating too. When I married my husband, I was amazed at how different some of our traditions were. His family always opened one present on Christmas Eve, while we would never dream of touching a present until Christmas morning! When my husband suggested we open a present on Christmas Eve the first year we were married, I was horrified! I’ve since learned to adapt—a little bit 
.
We now have four children and we enjoy creating new traditions unique to our family—we sing Silent Night on Christmas Eve, and always have cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. Also, during the Advent season every child receives a new ornament to put on the tree, as well as a new figurine for our crèche scene.
What about you? What are some of your favorite holiday traditions?
Tagged with: Christmas • holiday romance novels • Kate Hewitt author • Royal Baby Forbidden Marriage • traditions
15 Responses to “Kate Hewitt on Christmas Traditions”
- 1 Pingback on Nov 17th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
My boys are all grown up now, but we still get together at Christmas.
We always sat together and watched a Christmas movie, allowed them to open one gift about an hour before bedtime and read the Night before Christmas to them on Christmas Eve.
They could have whatever was in their stockings before we got up but that was all. We’ve had ham, eggs, homemade bread and eggnog every year for breakfast for the past 36 years.
Loving Christmas is all about the giving and I’ve shared the Christmas story about baby Jesus with them every year.
Those sound like great traditions, Lorraine. I think it’s interesting how different families have certain traditional meals around Christmas. I grew up with always having crab soup on Christmas Eve; my husband always had lasagna!
We read the passage from the Bible about Jesus’s birth on Christmas Eve. There are some pretty funny home movies from when I was a child where my dad is reading ‘In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus…’ and not a single kid–there were five of us–is paying him the least bit attention!
Kate the book sounds great and really different, being set near Norway..! Can’t wait to read it. I worked in Slovakia twice, both in the winter months and their christmas markets are amazing. I got lots of beautiful pottery and decorations there that I still use. Here in Ireland there’s usually a traditional christmas swim when crazy people get into the freezing Atlantic and swim for charity or just for fun on christmas day. I love the big christmas dinner, and christmas pud with brandy butter and then lolling about watching tv…and opening the presents and mulled wine…everything really!
x Abby
Last year i was invited by my mother in law who lives in north of norway, for some Christmas meals and traditions. we were eating a traditional meal called smalahovi in English it means grilled sheep head and Lutefisk [fish they put in chemicals until it becomes like jelly]. After the dinner we sat and opened giftes and shared stories before going to bed.
So lovely hearing of other famiilies’ Christmas traditions! And Kate, I love the sound of your island kingdom!
Many of my childhood Christmas traditions have not survived the move from hot Summer Australia to cold and Wintry England. Eating watermelon on the verandah at 9pm on Christmas Eve is not an option! Lighting a candle to symbolise the light the Christ Child brought into the world is one that I keep, wherever I am.
DH and I haven’t been blessed with children to share our Christmases, but we’ve still created a few traditions of our own. We spend Christmas Day with my elderly Mother-in-Law, but Christmas Eve is our time.
I cook the same special meal every year, we write a cheque for as much as we can afford to the charity of our choice, and we watch A Christmas Carol together. The delicious Patrick Stewart version. Then we give thanks for all we are blessed with and all the ways we can give, before ripping into the presents!
I love all these traditions–Prisca, how neat you’ve been to Norway and seen some of their traditions! I’m sure about eating the jellied fish, though!
Abby, have you participated in the Christmas swim? That sounds… refreshing! And I love how giving back is a part of people’s Christmas traditions.
The book sounds lovely—just right for Christmas. I look forward to reading a little closer to the holiday.
I once lived in Malaysia for about four years and suffered acute homesickness each Christmas I was away from England. I missed the sharp winter mornings, the crisp crunch of frost coated leaves and the general atmosphere of the winter season.
Our family Christmas traditions always include making our own stuffing and Christmas cake, midnight mass and on Boxing Day we all head off to a local beauty spot (weather permitting) to walk the dog and work off the turkey
The rest of it revolves around lots of visits with family and friends.
The book sounds terrific, Kate – a romantic wintry wonderland. I love the sound of your family traditions. We always put mince pies in the fireplace for for Father Christmas, with some carrots for his reindeer. I had Christmas Eve dinner with a Polish family once, which was fantastic – the centrepiece was a big carp (easier to pluck than a turkey). My Dad lived in Holland for a while, where the children lived in dread of getting coal instead of presents, if they were naughty And we always used to make an almond cake with a bean in it – I’d forgotten all about that until now! Must do it again this year.
The year before last our church collected a flame originating in Bethlehem, which had been distributed around the world. Ours burned beside the altar all through Christmas. It’s a lovely tradition, but sadly we don’t qualify this year!
What a lovely tradition with the flame from Bethlehem, Christina. How does a church qualify for it?
Merri, I completely understand about being homesick during Christmas! My second Christmas after I married was in England (I’m American) without any other family and it felt so strange! I associate snow/cold with Christmas too so it’s strange to think that much of the world has Christmas in the middle of summer!!
as a matter of fact i am married to a norwegian and live in Oslo Norway. thanks
Sorry, Prisca, I thought you were saying you visited Norway for Christmas, but I looked back and realized you specified Northern Norway.
Part of Royal Baby, Forbidden Marriage takes place in Oslo; my daughter visited there last summer and loved it.
Kate
I love singing Silent Night too and the echoing sense of silence if you go out in the streets on Christmas afternoon.
I like carols at our local Cathedral, roast goose and red cabbage, too much chocolate and watching It’s A Wonderful Life – sob!
But mostly I like the fact that complete strangers start talking to one another and wonder why it can’t be like that all year (or would be tire of it?)
Typo alert! I meant to say: would WE tire of it? (people chatting to each other in a random way)
I love It’s A Wonderful Life too, Sharon. I always tear up at the end
It would be nice if the holiday cheer lasted all year long… one of my favorite Christmas memories was going to the midnight service at church on Christmas Eve. The electricity went out and we all sat in the dark for a minute before someone started singing Silent Night and after a beat everyone joined in, singing acapella. It was lovely.
Now I must dig out my Christmas decorations… wait, it’s only November!