# Jane Christmas

> The Official Site of Jane Christmas, Author


## Posts

- [Searching for Hildegard](https://janechristmas.ca/2025/05/10/searching-for-hildegard/): There is nothing more exciting for an author than visiting the land through which her fictional characters travelled, a landscape that was real but that came out of the author’s imagination. At the same time, there is nothing more depressing than to discover that the 12th-century landscape you conjured is … well, let’s just say the imagination is rather more pastoral than the 21st-century reality! Recently, I took a river boat cruise down the Rhine River. It was my first trip through Germany. I was particularly excited that one section of the Rhine would pass some of the places to […]
- [Saints be Praised!](https://janechristmas.ca/2025/04/17/saints-be-praised/): For the last several years during Lent, I have participated in Lent Madness. It’s an online competition in which you receive each day a bracket of two saints and a mini bio of each. Choose the saint you like, tick the box beside their name, and press VOTE. Votes are tallied in real time, and at the end of the voting period the winner advances to the next round. It’s a fun way to get through Lent without too much seriousness while learning about the remarkable men and women who suffered for their faith. Each year, 32 saints ‘compete’ for […]
- [The Mystery of the Stigmata](https://janechristmas.ca/2025/04/10/the-mystery-of-the-stigmata/): In A Flight of Saints, pious, pint-sized Little Fey bears the stigmata, and though she feels bad about it, she is also happy to use the holy wounds if it benefits her friends. So, is her stigmata a gift from God, or a gift to herself? No spoilers here. But what exactly is the stigmata? In Christian tradition, the stigmata refer to wounds on a person’s body that correspond to the wounds left on Christ at the Crucifixion: nail wounds on the palms of the hands and on the feet; torso wound where Jesus was speared by a Roman soldier’s […]
- [Mapping a Fictional Journey](https://janechristmas.ca/2025/04/03/mapping-a-fictional-journey/): As an inveterate walker, I appreciate a good map, the hard-copy kind. As a reader, I find a map not only helpful but it often makes a fictional journey seem more real. I love knowing where a character I’m reading about is on a journey, to imagine the scenery and terrain, and to clock the distance. Having hiked the Camino de Santiago de Compostela three times along three different routes, I’m still astounded when I look at a map of Spain just how much land those three journeys covered. I felt every kilometre of it. That’s why I included a […]
- [Characters on a Literary Mood Board](https://janechristmas.ca/2025/03/29/characters-on-a-literary-mood-board/): When it came to creating the characters in A Flight of Saints, I knew what I didn’t want—a cast of stock medieval archetypes. I wanted them to be 12th-century young women struggling with the same issues we do today (body weight, body hair, being popular, binge drinking, periods and PMS). Our ancestors weren’t so different than we are today. They were real and complicated, and often forced into a blinkered lifestyle.  They had their flaky side, but they were also thoughtful souls navigating a dangerous world while juggling all the fear and doubt it threw at them. I don’t want […]
- [The Genesis of an Historical Novel](https://janechristmas.ca/2025/03/20/the-genesis-of-an-historical-novel/): A writer never knows where or when an idea might strike: An overheard conversation on a bus or in a shop; a detail in a painting glimpsed in a gallery; a line of poetry; or the gait of the person walking in front of you; all can ignite a story. My idea for A Flight of Saints sprang from a newspaper article about a group of nuns who, having fled their Italian convent alleging abuse and overwork, were being taken to court for breach of vows by their Mother Superior. Having spent some time with nuns in convents, the story […]
- [Venice in Four](https://janechristmas.ca/2024/05/02/venice-in-four/): Having just returned from four days in Venice, I’m in that limbo phase, a reverse homesickness, in which I’m longing to be there again while trying to coax back to reality the part of me that didn’t quite make the flight home. The only way to deal with it is to write about it, so I’m going to tell you about Venice, specifically, how to make the most of four days there.         When people tell me that they have always wanted to visit Venice but ended up demurring because someone told them it was smelly, ugly […]
- [When a trip becomes an awakening](https://janechristmas.ca/2022/06/08/when-a-trip-becomes-an-awakening/): When my son and his Korean-born wife lost their jobs in Toronto due to Covid and upped sticks to Korea, I assumed that I would likely visit them at some point, but there was certainly no rush to do so. When their son was born earlier this year, Korea suddenly roared to the top of my travel list. I am ashamed of my ignorance of the Far East. It somehow got stuck on all those war and relief agency photos of the 1960s and 1970s, and never advanced. I remember listening to an acquaintance wax on about a trip to […]
- [Haven't had enough of me?](https://janechristmas.ca/2020/07/03/havent-had-enough-of-me/): Here are the links to recent online interviews: Interview with CBC’s Shelagh Rogers for CBC Radio’s The Next Chapter (May 30, 2020): https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1743333955637/  Podcast interview with Sandy Reynolds and Patti Hall for Reframe Your Life (June 10, 2020):https://bit.ly/31mVjHO Zoom interview with Liz Zylstra for the Prince Edward County Library: (June 24, 2020)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lyad7VLrGo
- [My lockdown confession: No hair salon? No problem.](https://janechristmas.ca/2020/06/02/my-lockdown-confession-no-hair-salon-no-problem/): During the COVID lockdown, one of the most frequent questions among my friends (from the category of first-world-problems, that is) has been, “When will hair salons re-open?” They need a trim or to have their roots and highlights retouched. When I’ve Zoomed with these women, they look lovely, and their hair looks the same as when the salons were open. Luckily, my friends are law-abiding types; none of them is breaking lockdown or protesting the hardship of life without a hair salon, like that gal shrieking from her truck during a mass protest in the US,  “Look at my roots!” […]
- [How I am spending my self-isolation](https://janechristmas.ca/2020/04/14/how-i-am-spending-my-self-isolation/): Papers, magazines, clippings, recipes; a forensic cleaning of my house; and, of course, reading and writing and watching TV...
- [My friend Vanessa](https://janechristmas.ca/2020/04/14/my-friend-vanessa/): A two-part interview with Jane, conducted by accomplished author Vanessa Shields.
- [You can never have too many books. Sorry Marie Kondo.](https://janechristmas.ca/2020/04/14/you-can-never-have-too-many-books-sorry-marie-kondo/): A list of favourite books I would love to re-read.
- [Open House: A Life in Thirty-two Moves debuts on bestseller lists](https://janechristmas.ca/2020/04/14/open-house-a-life-in-thirty-two-moves-debuts-on-bestseller-lists/): Open House debuts on all three Canadian national bestseller lists!
- [Jane reading an excerpt from her new book, Open House](https://janechristmas.ca/2020/04/10/jane-reading-an-excerpt-from-her-new-book-open-house/): This is a quick one-minute video of me reading a bit from the introduction to my new book.

## Pages

- [Meet Elizabeth Braithwaite](https://janechristmas.ca/meet-elizabeth-braithwaite/): [vc_row top_padding=”20px” bottom_padding=”20px”][vc_column width=”2/3″ custom_css=”padding-right:20px;”][vc_custom_heading source=”post_title” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left|color:%234C4C4C” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”” css_animation=”left-to-right-faster”][vc_column_text custom_css=”padding-right:20px;”]Readers have expectations. When they crack open a book by an author they love, they don’t want to be blindsided by a sudden change in writing style. When they pick up one of the five journey memoirs written by Jane Christmas, they know what to expect. I didn’t want to betray that trust when I started writing novels. I didn’t want someone opening a new book by Jane Christmas and thinking, ‘Hey, wait a minute. What’s this?’ A change was necessary. So, meet Elizabeth Braithwaite. Elizabeth is the pseudonym I […]
- [Lifting the Literary Curtain](https://janechristmas.ca/lifting-the-literary-curtain/): [vc_row top_padding=”20px” bottom_padding=”20px”][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading source=”post_title” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left|color:%2383855D” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”” css_animation=”left-to-right-faster”][vc_column_text css_animation=”left-to-right-faster” css_delay=”100″ custom_css=”color:#333333;”] News from Elizabeth Braithwaite [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”746″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” css_animation=”hook_fade_waypoint” css_delay=”300″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
- [A Flight of Saints](https://janechristmas.ca/a-flight-of-saints/): [vc_row top_padding=”20px” bottom_padding=”20px”][vc_column width=”2/3″ custom_css=”padding-right:20px;”][vc_custom_heading source=”post_title” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left|color:%233A3A3A” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”” css_animation=”left-to-right-faster”][vc_column_text css_animation=”left-to-right-faster” css_delay=”100″] by Elizabeth Braithwaite [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text custom_css=”padding-right:20px;”]Northern Italy, 1179.  Sister Lucia has had enough of cruelty and enforced silence. Along with four other novices, she escapes the convent and flees across the Alps into Germania. Their aim is to reach the convent of their idol Hildegard of Bingen. But the cruelty the girls have endured has left its mark, and Lucia soon despairs of ever reaching Bingen let alone getting her unruly tribe inside its doors. After all, what kind of convent would admit a thief, a murderer, a sex-obsessive, […]
- [Contact me](https://janechristmas.ca/contact-me/): [vc_row top_padding=”20px” bottom_padding=”20px”][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading source=”post_title” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left|color:%23af2a2f” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css_animation=”left-to-right-faster”][vc_column_text css_animation=”left-to-right-faster” css_delay=”100″ custom_css=”line-height:115%;color:#333;”] How to get in touch [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text custom_css=”padding-right:20px;”]I love hearing from readers. Feel free to drop me a line here. I am represented by Judith Murray at Greene & Heaton Literary & Media Agency. She can be reached at: JMurray@greeneheaton.co.uk Phone: +44 (011) 796  638 6094 T18, West Wing, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA United Kingdom [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”142″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” css_animation=”hook_fade_waypoint” css_delay=”300″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
- [A Journey Just Begun](https://janechristmas.ca/books/a-journey-just-begun/): [vc_row top_padding=”20px” bottom_padding=”20px”][vc_column width=”2/3″ custom_css=”padding-right:20px;”][vc_custom_heading source=”post_title” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left|color:%23d27491″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css_animation=”left-to-right-faster”][vc_column_text css_animation=”left-to-right-faster” css_delay=”100″ custom_css=”padding-right:20px;”] The Story of an Anglican Sisterhood, by The Sisterhood of St. John the Divine [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text custom_css=”padding-right:20px;”]This is not actually my book; it is certainly not my story, but it was nonetheless an honour to be asked by the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine in Toronto to help them create a book to mark the community’s 130th anniversary. SSJD is the oldest, and most enduring of Canada’s religious homes. During the course of researching and writing this book, I learned a great deal about the Sisters’ history, their […]
- [The Pelee Project](https://janechristmas.ca/books/the-pelee-project/): [vc_row top_padding=”20px” bottom_padding=”20px”][vc_column width=”2/3″ custom_css=”padding-right:20px;”][vc_custom_heading source=”post_title” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left|color:%23508e9f” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css_animation=”left-to-right-faster”][vc_column_text css_animation=”left-to-right-faster” css_delay=”100″] One Woman’s Escape from Urban Madness [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text custom_css=”padding-right:20px;”]On a tiny, little-known island, the most southerly inhabited place in Canada, I arrived in a January snowstorm with my then eight-year-old daughter. I had fled the caffeinated urban rat race for a new place—a quiet place—where I could think about rebooting my life and figure out how to become a writer, a real writer. I don’t know how I thought I would make that happen. I was hanging my hopes on some miracle. A partial one had already been delivered to […]
- [What the Psychic Told the Pilgrim](https://janechristmas.ca/books/what-the-psychic-told-the-pilgrim/): [vc_row top_padding=”20px” bottom_padding=”20px”][vc_column width=”2/3″ custom_css=”padding-right:20px;”][vc_custom_heading source=”post_title” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left|color:%23e8a149″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css_animation=”left-to-right-faster”][vc_column_text css_animation=”left-to-right-faster” css_delay=”100″] A Midlife Misadventure on Spain’s Camino de Santiago de Compostela [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text custom_css=”padding-right:20px;”]Who knew that a bottle of wine, an airline steward, and a rash of goosebumps would direct me to a 780-kilometre trek across Spain, despite the fact I had never backpacked or laced up hiking boots? I believe that every physical journey we take has a metaphysical one (or six) going on inside us simultaneously; for me, that year, those side journeys included healing a broken heart, grappling with the politics of female friendships, and trying not to […]
- [Incontinent on the Continent](https://janechristmas.ca/books/incontinent-on-the-continent/): [vc_row top_padding=”20px” bottom_padding=”20px”][vc_column width=”2/3″ custom_css=”padding-right:20px;”][vc_custom_heading source=”post_title” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left|color:%2348b462″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css_animation=”left-to-right-faster”][vc_column_text css_animation=”left-to-right-faster” css_delay=”100″] My Mother, Her Walker, and Our Grand Tour of Italy [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text custom_css=”padding-right:20px;”]I took my mom on a six-week road trip through Italy to restore our relationship, and all I got was a lousy drinking problem. Well, not exactly. But if you are a harried, strong-willed daughter who is trying to make peace with your strong-willed, opinionated mother, there will be alcohol. So fasten your seatbelts and prepare for a raucous ride. If you keep your eyes open you will discover that we are not much different from those with […]
- [And Then There Were Nuns](https://janechristmas.ca/books/and-then-there-were-nuns/): [vc_row top_padding=”20px” bottom_padding=”20px”][vc_column width=”2/3″ custom_css=”padding-right:20px;”][vc_custom_heading source=”post_title” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left|color:%23e06161″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css_animation=”left-to-right-faster”][vc_column_text css_animation=”left-to-right-faster” css_delay=”100″] Adventures in a Cloistered Life [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text custom_css=”padding-right:20px;”]Have you noticed how, later in life, the unrequited dreams of youth return to haunt you? My dream was to become a nun. (OK, and a ballerina and a concert violinist.) Religion fascinated me, particularly those elusive, mysterious cloistered people who lurked in the background—nuns and monks. To me, they were every bit as counter cultural as rock musicians. Gradually, I began to sense a soft, whispered call to a religious vocation. Would I? Could I? That “call” still beckoned after three children […]
- [Chit-chat](https://janechristmas.ca/chit-chat/): [vc_row top_padding=”20px” bottom_padding=”20px”][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading source=”post_title” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left|color:%23d18e19″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css_animation=”left-to-right-faster”][vc_column_text css_animation=”left-to-right-faster” css_delay=”100″ custom_css=”color:#333333;”] News, videos, announcements, and other information [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”105″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” css_animation=”hook_fade_waypoint” css_delay=”300″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
- [A bit about me](https://janechristmas.ca/bio/): [vc_row top_padding=”20px” bottom_padding=”20px”][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading source=”post_title” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left|color:%23dddd3b” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css_animation=”left-to-right-faster”][vc_column_text custom_css=”padding-right:20px;”]I was born under the sign of Aquarius but close enough to the cusp that my personality swims between both the fish and the water-bearer: In other words, I’m either a methodical, tenacious seeker of material security or an independent hot-head who values ambition over relationships. Hmm. Maybe we’ll  just move on. The environment in which I was raised was strict and unyielding.  Out of necessity I became a dreamer. Oh my, what great dreams I had; rich, colourful, soaring epics that allowed me to privately exercise a bold vein of my […]
- [Home](https://janechristmas.ca/): [vc_row bk_type=”hook_full_row” equal_height=”yes”][vc_column width=”1/5″ col_width=”” bg_image=”228″][vc_raw_html css=””]JTNDYSUyMGhyZWYlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRmphbmVjaHJpc3RtYXMuY2ElMkZib29rcyUyRmEtZmxpZ2h0LW9mLXNhaW50cyUyRiUyMiUyMCUyRiUzRQ==[/vc_raw_html][vc_custom_heading text=”A Flight of Saints” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:1.9em|text_align:left|color:%23ffffff|line_height:110%25″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fjanechristmas.ca%2Fa-flight-of-saints%2F|title:Open%20House”][vc_column_text] by Elizabeth Braithwaite [/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]JTNDJTJGYSUzRQ==[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/5″ col_width=”96″ bg_image=”475″][vc_raw_html css=””]JTNDYSUyMGhyZWYlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy5qYW5lY2hyaXN0bWFzLmNhJTJGYm9va3MlMkYlMjIlMjAlMkYlM0U=[/vc_raw_html][vc_custom_heading text=”Other Titles” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:1.9em|text_align:left|color:%23ffffff|line_height:110%25″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fjanechristmas.ca%2Fbooks%2F|title:Books”][vc_column_text] My nonfiction books [/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]JTNDJTJGYSUzRQ==[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/5″ col_width=”96″ bg_image=”728″][vc_raw_html css=””]JTNDYSUyMGhyZWYlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy5qYW5lY2hyaXN0bWFzLmNhJTJGYmlvJTJGJTIyJTIwJTJGJTNF[/vc_raw_html][vc_custom_heading text=”Bio” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:1.9em|text_align:left|color:%23ffffff|line_height:110%25″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fjanechristmas.ca%2Fbio%2F|title:Biographical%20Info”][vc_column_text] A bit about me [/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]JTNDJTJGYSUzRQ==[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/5″ col_width=”96″ bg_image=”477″][vc_raw_html css=””]JTNDYSUyMGhyZWYlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy5qYW5lY2hyaXN0bWFzLmNhJTJGY2hpdC1jaGF0JTJGJTIyJTIwJTJGJTNF[/vc_raw_html][vc_custom_heading text=”Chit-Chat” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:1.9em|text_align:left|color:%23ffffff|line_height:110%25″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fjanechristmas.ca%2Fchit-chat%2F|title:Chit-Chat”][vc_column_text] News, videos, and more [/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]JTNDJTJGYSUzRQ==[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/5″ col_width=”96″ bg_image=”232″][vc_raw_html css=””]JTNDYSUyMGhyZWYlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy5qYW5lY2hyaXN0bWFzLmNhJTJGY29udGFjdC1tZSUyRiUyMiUyMCUyRiUzRQ==[/vc_raw_html][vc_custom_heading text=”Contact” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:1.9em|text_align:left|color:%23ffffff|line_height:110%25″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fjanechristmas.ca%2Fcontact-me%2F|title:Contact%20Me”][vc_column_text] How to get in touch [/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]JTNDJTJGYSUzRQ==[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row]
- [Books](https://janechristmas.ca/books/): [vc_row bk_type=”hook_full_row” equal_height=”yes” hide_with_css=”hide_later,hide_much_later”][vc_column width=”1/6″ col_width=”96″ bg_color=”#e0d76b”][vc_single_image image=”458″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” onclick=”custom_link” css_animation=”bottom-to-top-faster” link=”https://janechristmas.ca/books/open-house/”][vc_custom_heading text=”Open House” font_container=”tag:h3|font_size:1.9em|text_align:left|color:%23ffffff|line_height:110%25″ use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text] A Life in Thirty-Two Moves [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″ col_width=”96″ bg_color=”#e06161″][vc_single_image image=”249″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” onclick=”custom_link” css_animation=”top-to-bottom-faster” css_delay=”100″ link=”https://janechristmas.ca/books/and-then-there-were-nuns/”][vc_custom_heading text=”And Then There Were Nuns” font_container=”tag:h3|font_size:1.9em|text_align:left|color:%23ffffff|line_height:110%25″ use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text] Adventures in a Cloistered Life [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″ col_width=”96″ bg_color=”#48b462″][vc_single_image image=”250″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” onclick=”custom_link” css_animation=”bottom-to-top-faster” css_delay=”200″ link=”https://janechristmas.ca/books/incontinent-on-the-continent/”][vc_custom_heading text=”Inconti­nent on the Continent” font_container=”tag:h3|font_size:1.9em|text_align:left|color:%23ffffff|line_height:110%25″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” el_class=”longtitleword”][vc_column_text] My Mother, Her Walker, and Our Grand Tour of Italy [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″ col_width=”96″ bg_color=”#e8a149″][vc_single_image image=”251″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” onclick=”custom_link” css_animation=”top-to-bottom-faster” css_delay=”300″ link=”https://janechristmas.ca/books/what-the-psychic-told-the-pilgrim/”][vc_custom_heading text=”What the Psychic Told the Pilgrim” font_container=”tag:h3|font_size:1.9em|text_align:left|color:%23ffffff|line_height:110%25″ use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text] A Midlife Misadventure on […]
- [Open House](https://janechristmas.ca/books/open-house/): [vc_row top_padding=”20px” bottom_padding=”20px”][vc_column width=”2/3″ custom_css=”padding-right:20px;”][vc_custom_heading source=”post_title” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left|color:%23e0d76b” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css_animation=”left-to-right-faster”][vc_column_text css_animation=”left-to-right-faster” css_delay=”100″] A Life in Thirty-Two Moves [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text custom_css=”padding-right:20px;”]My attitude toward houses is the same as it is toward books: you can never have too many. To prove it, I’ve moved 32 times. Those who have been to England know what a delicious smorgasbord of homes the country offers … until  an overcooked housing market ruins the appetite. We viewed 60 homes in a stonking-hot market in 2017, and when house-hunting fatigue hit us, we surrendered to a Victorian terrace house that was overpriced, in need of a total renovation, and […]


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