From the unexpected outcome of the three wise men鈥檚 quest to bring gifts to Jesus, to the hilarious, yet poignant recounting of an annual competition between brothers to make one another鈥檚 Christmas gifts impossible to open, 91原创 author Mike Mason weaves tales of Christmases past and present into a collection of 21 engaging short stories.

While Twenty-one Candles: Stories for Christmas draws together three decades of work into a single volume, there was never a grand scheme for Mason who, almost every Christmas season, for the past 30 years, has written a short story to send to friends and family.

鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 always the plan. I guess it was because I had so many stories,鈥� said the author, who has also penned two children鈥檚 novels and a number of non-fiction books on marriage, children and a range of other subjects related to his faith.

鈥淭here just came a time of rightness when I realized I had enough to create a book.鈥�

In fact, realizing that he had too many, Mason set about choosing his favourites and managed to winnow the list down to the 21 best tales.

Some are pure fiction 鈥�  others factual retellings of events from his life. Most are somewhere in between.

But each story conveys Mason鈥檚 deep and abiding faith and the message at the heart of the Christmas story.

It鈥檚 never a good idea to deliberately set out to create a moral or a lesson in a work of fiction, said the author, who finds that with each story, it just seems to happen naturally.

鈥淭he ideas that came to me were so entwined with the truth of the Christmas message that they would write themselves.鈥�

And in writing each story, there has been a measure of therapy, said Mason.

鈥淚 just realized that myself this year,鈥� he said.

鈥淎s a child, my favourite time of the year was Halloween. Christmas was kind of a dangerous time 鈥� there was lots of drinking and fighting.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I鈥檝e been trying to heal by writing these stories over the years 鈥� to get at the light of the season.鈥�

There is often a lot of pain underneath the sparkly surface of Christmas, said Mason.

鈥淚n general, that鈥檚 what fiction does 鈥� it addresses the pain under the surface of our life and the best fiction shines a light into those dark places.鈥�

Happily, over three decades, those painful memories have given way to recollections of happier times, said Mason. 鈥淭he way it was written, over the course of 30 years, it鈥檚 very dear to my own heart 鈥� it brings back memories of Christmases past.鈥�

Twenty-one Candles is available for $19.95 at House of James in Abbotsford and Porter鈥檚 Store in Murrayville.

It can also be purchased at the usual online outlets.