About the Author:
Holly Schindler is a critically acclaimed and award-winning author. She is also a dog lover, book nut, classic movie fanatic, music junkie, and admirer of Missouri skies. She is currently consuming large quantities of caffeine while working on her next novel. She can also be found at HollySchindler.com
About Sentimental Journey:
A few years ago—about the time my hometown of Springfield, Missouri decided to ban cigarette smoking in all public places—the local news ran a story of a small downtown bar and the woman who owned it. She was pretty upset about the new ordinance; her clientele came for affordable drinks and a smoke (and a bit of camaraderie and good conversation) at the end of a long day. She was older, and had been running this bar for I forget how many decades, and she insisted she knew how to do one thing really well—run that bar.
For some reason, the image that ran in the story—a closeup of her face peering from the front plate-glass window—really stuck with me. I kept coming back to that image, playing with possible scenarios for a story.
In 2017, I drafted a novella titled Christmas at Ruby’s, about a woman who had also been good at running a small-town Missouri bar…so good, in fact, that she was still running it, years after her own death.
My fictional Ruby’s Place is a bar populated by the ghosts of Christmases past. A nightspot where the term “spirits” refers to far more than just the top-shelf liquors…and it’s also a place where, on Christmas Eve, the living can enjoy one more evening with a long-lost loved one. Where it’s possible to connect with the dearly departed—to finally express what you never got to say. Perhaps to show gratitude. Express love. Explain a wrong. Even tell them you’re sorry.
After all, I thought—what would be a better Christmas gift that one more night with a loved one you had assumed you would never see again?
Readers connected with the Christmas at Ruby’s novella—so much so, I wrote and published another installment in 2018 (I Remember You). And now, this year, I’m releasing yet another Ruby’s Place novel, Sentimental Journey. The stakes are higher than ever in Sentimental Journey—the bar is in danger. A face from the past has returned to the small town of Sullivan, Missouri. And he’s determined to get his revenge...
My Review:
I am finding that I enjoy stories that take us into the past and then bring us into the present. I enjoy flashbacks. Sentimental Journey takes us back to before Ruby's Place was Ruby's. I love seeing the history of Ruby's Place and meeting up with past characters from Sullivan(Geena and Rob, Angela). I love that there is danger lurking for this year's Christmas Eve gathering. And I love all of the "spirits" that have a story of their own to share. I enjoy the magic of Ruby's Place and look forward to next Christmas season for another peek into what happens next at Ruby's.
Some Favorite Quotes in the Book:
"The spirit of Maxwell Ross had been resurrected with the opening of that bottle. And Maxwell Ross had a score to settle with Sullivan." Bum, bum bummmmmmmmm....Ack! This tells us that something sinister is in the works. It had me worked up throughout the whole story. What was coming and was it going to mess up the whole Ruby's place vibe?
"You've noticed it, haven't you? That the secrets of Sullivan are layered?" There is so much more to this whole section, but I didn't want to spoil anything for you. But it explains so much of what is happening and what is going to happen. It helped put more of the story in perspective. And I just loved the explanation of the layers of the story.
"He chuckled to himself. Doris Day? The old Metallica-blaring seventeen-year-old would have grimaced at the sight of what he'd turned into. But he couldn't help it. He liked the idea of a journey being nothing more than going back in your mind. Reliving old memories. That's what that old song was about." I loved this reference to the song "Sentimental Journey" sung by Doris Day and the way it fit into the whole story.
"Cardinals appear when angels are near." Pay attention to the cardinal throughout the story!
"Dorothy was rotten. Soured. Used-up. And she was nineteen years old." Wow! Just wow! Nineteen and to be described as rotten, soured and used-up. Poor Dorothy. Waiting for her husband who has never once kept his promise. Her story is tragic, yet she never lost her hope in him...
"That's what times of trials and tribulations do. They open our eyes." From being someone I did not like when we first meet her in the story I loved how Mrs. Latchy turns out to be such a help to Dorothy. Very wise words Mrs. Latchy! Very wise!
"All I can tell you for sure is that last year, it was the living who were desperate to make a connection on Christmas Eve with someone they'd lost. This year, it's the no-longer living who are trying--with everything they have--to reconnect with each other." I love the magic of Ruby's Place, but it seems the whole town has a bit of magic going for it.
"What's that? You love the smell of this place? So do I. Toasted marshmallows. Pine. Smells like all your own favorite Christmas memories. And now, you also know why. Because they really are here. Your own memories. Your own story. Your own loved ones. That's the true magic of Ruby's Place. Love it!
"Maybe, in a way, that's the root of all gossip. Maybe we become obsessed with others' stories during moments when there is not much happening with out own. Maybe gossip is fueled by nothing more than our need for attention--something we never really do outgrow." I love this little tidbit about Maddie. A little girl who just wants attention, who grows up just a bit during the story.
"See you next year."
"At Ruby's Place."
I can't wait!!!!!
Check out my reviews of the Christmas at Ruby's series:
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