Merry Christmas from Read Clean YA with CJ

Episode Show Notes:

Introduction:

Welcome my friend! You are listening to Read Clean YA with CJ. The podcast for teens and young adults who want to explore exciting worlds, deep themes, and epic stories— without the objectionable content. I’m your host, award-winning young adult author, CJ Milacci, and today’s episode is….A CHRISTMAS episode! Because Christmas time is busy, I’ll keep things shorter today, and at the end I have a fun Christmas-y treat for you.

I would like to start things off by thanking YOU, my listener. It has been so much fun for me to record these episodes, talk with some INCREDIBLE authors, and then share our conversations with you. And your emails and messages about the episodes make my day. Thank you for making Read Clean YA with CJ part of your week.

We have talked about so many fantastic, epic, clean YA stories, and, in case you missed any, here’s a recap:

Katherine Briggs kicked off our first author interview when she joined me to discuss her amazing YA fantasy debut, The Eternity Gate.

Sara Ella and I had a sweet conversation about her newest book in her Curious Realities Duology, The Looking-Glass Illusion.

Bradley Caffee and I talked about his adventurous new novel, Sides.

Candace Kade and I had a blast diving into her debut YA sci-fi, Enhanced.

Jamie Foley and I journeyed into her engaging fantasy world when we discussed Emberhawk and Silverblood.

Sandra Fernandez Rhoads and I got lost in her incredible world in her YA urban fantasy duology, Mortal Sight and Realms of Light.

Tabitha Caplinger joined me to talk about her dystopian novel with hope, The Wayward.

I was thrilled to welcome EA Hendryx to discuss her epic sci-fi fantasy, Suspended in the Stars.

Clint Hall and I had fun doing dual interviews while we discussed his debut novel, Steal Fire from the Gods

Victoria Lynn introduced us to her sweet, non-magical fantasy in our chat about her novel Once I Knew.

Tim Shoemaker and I had a wonderful and deep conversation as we discussed stories and their power, as well as his novel Escape the Everglades.

RJ Conte and I had fun talking about her novel, The End of the Dream.

RJ Metcalf and I took to the skies in her steampunk fantasy, Renegade Skyfarer.

And I had two solo episodes where we discussed my YA dystopian books, Recruit of Talionis and Fugitive of Talionis.

So many fantastical stories, and just as many wonderful conversations. If you missed any of them, be sure to check out the backlist and catch up over Christmas break. I have some amazing guests lined up for you in 2024.

If you’re still working on those last minute shopping options, I encourage you to pick one — or several — of these books. Give the gift of an adventure, with stories that have hope and aren’t filled with cringy content.

Now, for the Christmas treat! I have a somewhat silly version of ’Twas the Night Before Christmas for you — with a Talionis style twist. Here we go:

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the city
Everyone in Talionis was all in a tizzy;
No stockings were hung, ‘cuz Laban would be a bear,
If presents were given here or there;

The recruits did their training, some willing, some not,
while all of them understood this now was their lot;
Early morning trainings, Sergeants yelling in her face,
All Bria expected for Christmas was to be called a disgrace,

Ari’s gift to herself of course would be
better marks in every area — easy as one, two, three
Shay listened to Trill, believing every word
While others watched their instructor thinking she looked like a bird

Every soldier in Talionis made one thing sure
No recruit would think of Christmas, no not any more
So the exercises grew harder and recruits became exhausted
While the weather turned colder making their fingers feel frosted

Commander Ark lounged in his office, his plans coming together
No one would stop him now, or they’d regret it forever
He called for his officers to hear their report,
“Valarius, Vasco, and Mandeville, you have shown great support.

“And now as the recruits continue to grow stronger
the time for our rise will be not much longer.
Take care to continue my plans to employ
And ensure no recruits find any Christmas joy.”

“Yes, sir!” The soldiers chanted and off they went
to make sure every recruit would end the day spent.
But one thing they didn’t plan for, you see
was that Cai would keep them in the Ruins, busy.

And as the soldiers attempted to put out fires
Some recruits were able to rise above the Sergeant’s ire
Nika began remembering Christmases from before
and realized what mattered was not gifts galore

Cade reflected on the birth of his Savior, the Christ
And determined that no matter what he’d follow Him with his life
Bria couldn’t understand how her friends could be happy
But she was thankful they were with her, even if it was sappy

As the darkness of evening started to close in
Matthias jumped up and said with a grin,
“Talionis might not be the best in the land
but I say Merry Christmas — because with my friends it’s grand.”

Thank you, once again, for listening and being here, my friend. If there are any authors you hope to hear from in 2024, let me know! I am always happy to hear recommendations from you, my amazing listeners.

I’ll be taking next week off, so it’s the perfect time to catch up on those backlist episodes.

Merry Christmas my friend! May you experience the joys and wonders of celebrating the birth of Jesus this Christmas season, wherever you may be.