Introduction
This was my first story character who was inspired by another short story rather than a novel. I hadn’t yet realized that I was writing a short story series about hotshots rather than just a story or two about them. Actually at the time I wrote this I had written less than a dozen short stories…ever. And never before had I thought of a short story series at all.
But merely being the boss’ assistant wasn’t enough for Patsy Jurgen and she demanded her own story, in her quiet yet very insistent way.
And with December fast approaching, a Christmastime setting seemed eminently sensible. It wasn’t a long stretch to incorporate one of my wife’s favorite year-round Christmas stores. The one in the heart of Leavenworth, Washington is fantastic.
Leavenworth was just another struggli
