Why do so few books take place over Christmas? The exception seems to be books in a long running series that have some sort of Christmas special. Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe series has one, Jan Karon wrote at least one or two in her Mitford series, The Stephanie Plum series has a love interest that only seems to show up in the holiday specials. (Thinking about it, I do believe there is a whole Christmas Romance sub-genre, but I don’t think that counts in this argument.)
But in general how many Christmas scenes do we get in the middle of a novel? (Okay, adolescent lit has more…looking at you Harry Potter…but hold this thought for later.)
Christmas is ripe for narrative tension! Family dynamics, alcohol, bad weather, long held grudges? And that is before you add in the potential for food poisoning at all the buffets, or pre-meditative poisoning of holiday treats.
Christmas is rife with poor decision making. Holiday parties, overspending, unpredictable responses to seasonally inspired romantic gestures, and everything that can go wrong when nostalgia bubbles up are perfect dramatic fodder for the rest of the book. January rolls around and we have engagements to break, credit card bills to inspire bank heists, and unplanned pregnancies galore!
Whether we are talking about abandoned ski lodges or overcrowded airports, Christmas ramps up an ordinary setting with the decorations, musical options, as well as the good stuff mentioned above. Meet cutes are cuter, murders are worse (because now Christmas has a shadow on it forever), and heists can have a theme.
So what is the downside of adding Christmas (or any other winter holiday) to a stand alone novel?
Porter says that people only want to read Christmas stories during Christmas. I don’t believe him; we all have friends who leave their artificial trees up half the year and listen to Jingle Bells in June. There is something to be said for long running series not wanting to put specific dates into story because readers might start doing the math on character’s ages and the like, but many of those are asking for suspension of the logical on those accounts anyway (looking at you protagonist who has been 24 for the last 30 books).
Perhaps we can suss out the reason for a lack of Christmas in modern literature by looking at two places where it often does appear: Historical Fiction, and Kid/Adolescent Lit.
Historically, Christmas was celebrated on a minimal scale if it wasn’t banned outright. It wasn’t until the 20th century when many of the traditions we see now had their origin, and even then the season was far shorter. In Patrick O’Brian’s books, Christmas is usually celebrated with a special pudding and an extra ration of rum for the sailors.
In Kid lit like Harry Potter or your average stand alone novel, kids experience Christmas but rarely take on the mental loads that the adults would have. A party, some gifts, and then back to school.
If modern Christmas was portrayed accurately on the page, I can see how it might be a distraction from the central plot. Wrapping presents into a character arc could be a feat of narrative gymnastics, and complaining about how early decorations are hitting the shelves this year isn’t going to make for sexy pillow talk.
Maybe the secret to incorporating Christmas into stories is similar to incorporating it into real life. Make it a backdrop to the important things: relationships, and potentially-poisoned sugar cookies.
Happy Holidays folks!
Mamasquatch the Writer 
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