Many of the stories in this collection take place at or near Christmas time. There are stories of new births, of rebirths, of new beginnings, and there are a couple that deal with the joys and sorrows of the annual Nativity Play.

Again this year it was difficult to make the final choice. There are so many skilled writers out there. There was little wrong with any of the writing we read but in the end we went for the strongest stories and for those tales that best interpreted the theme.

There are some familiar authors in this volume and also some new writers. We treasure them all.