Minnesota Christmas
ALAN NAFZGER
Minnesota Christmas – http://freeebooks.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Minnesota-Christmas.pdf
Pecan Street Press
Lubbock ● Austin ● Fort Worth
Minnesota Christmas is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Amazon edition
Copyright © 2021 Alan Nafzger
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 9798778925823
MINNESOTA CHRISTMAS
Written by Alan Nafzger
Copyright, 2021
Minnesota Christmas Romance
A dazed and confused Viking warrior from the 10th-century (Erik) arrives in time to meet a 21st-century Minnesota farm girl (Nora).
Alan Nafzger
What are Minnesota’s chances of a white Christmas this year?
Pretty much all of Minnesota has a normal chance of a white Christmas this year, according to the long-range meteorologists at AccuWeather.
AccuWeather issued its white Christmas outlook, showing normal chances of snow on the ground across all of Minnesota, while a stretch from southern South Dakota and northern Nebraska through Iowa and through the southern Great Lakes has a higher-than-normal chance for a white Christmas.
Historically, most of Minnesota has good odds of a white Christmas, though the chances are obviously a bit higher the further north you go.
MINNESOTA CHRISTMAS
A dazed and confused Viking warrior from the 10th-century (Erik) arrives in time to meet a 21st-century Minnesota farm girl (Nora).
FADE IN
BEGIN TITLES
EXT. BEACH – EAST COAST OF ENGLAND – 980 CE
Stormy and sunless winter day. A Viking ship lands on the coast. The VIKINGS, in full battle gear, look up a tall cliff. It wasn’t a wise landing, but behind them the sea is rough. They look at the sea and they look at the cliffs. They consider things, but they follow ERIK (21) down the beach until there is an easy path up to the top. Erik, their leader, is 6’8” and 280 lbs.
NOTE: Some lucky actor is going to LOVE playing this role. Eric speaks medieval English but with a Norwegian accent.
They arrive on top. The snow is more evident there and the wind is considerably stronger. There are trees but it’s rolling grasslands and several inches of snow. The wind is from the north at 30 knots sustained.
They make their way through it all, carefully. They are cold and disgruntled but press on. They pass through a graveyard, and they note the crosses. They look at each other; perhaps the raid may pay off. Suddenly they hear a church’s bell. Their hearts lighten and a smile breaks through.
They turn and make for the sound.
EXT. MONASTERY OR Church – DAY
The Vikings arrive and hide at the edge of the trees. It’s a funeral bell. The entire village is on their way into the church. The Vikings wait. They hear the songs from inside the church and stand shivering in the cold.
The least violent Viking leaves the group when he spots a barn. He enters the barn and herds the sheep out into the cold. He’s leading them back in the direction of the beach.
END TITLES
SUPER: Ancient Norwegian superstition: If you see a black and white crow flying towards the sea, your future lover will come from the sea.
SUPER: 980 CE, EAST COAST OF ENGLAND
EXT. MONASTERY OR Church – DAY
The TOWNSPEOPLE exit the church behind a casket. The casket is placed on a wagon, and it’s drawn down the lane. The wagon disappears and the Vikings emerge from the trees. They are cautious but there is no mistaking their target. They enter the church.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. MONASTERY OR Church – DAY
The Vikings are running from the church into the trees. A novice priest, who remained at the church, is ringing the bell again. But this time it’s clearly an alarm. The Vikings have arms full of gold and silver – coins, plates, cups, crosses. One Viking has a chair, and another has several suits of clothes.
The townspeople come running back along the road. When the priest sees what the Vikings have taken the pace quickens.
PRIEST
Kill them!!!
There is a chase. The pursuing people stop by their village and pick up swords, pitchforks and stones.
EXT. PATH DOWN TO THE BEACH – DAY
The chase ends at a choke point, the path down to the beach. The sheep are blocking/hampering the escape. The Vikings leap the sheep in their panic like it’s the 100 meter high-hurdles. But they drop half their loot on the path.
EXT. ALONG THE BEACH – DAY
The village people don’t navigate the sheep; they actually don’t want a close encounter with a Viking. The village people remain on the cliffs and throw stones down on the Vikings as they flee down the beach. It’s a good distance and the coast is rocky. Many of the Vikings are hit in arms and shoulders with smaller rocks. They drop their loot on the beach.
The only Viking with any loot (a giant gold cross) remaining is Erik; he stubbornly will not release it.
HOWEVER, on the cliff is an equally strong ENGLANDER. He picks up a giant stone the size of a softball and he casts it down. The stone crashes into the helmet of Eric. Eric is unconscious and bleeding there is a one-inch deep dent in the helmet.
The other Vikings pick up their fallen leader and drag him to the ship. They abandon the gold cross in the sand.
DISSOLVE TO:
Minnesota
From fewer than 6,120 white settlers in 1850, Minnesota’s official population grew to over 1.7 million by 1900. Each of the next six decades saw a 15% increase in population, reaching 3.4 million in 1960. Growth then slowed, rising 11% to 3.8 million in 1970, and an average of 9% over the next three decades to 4.9 million in the 2000 census.
The 2020 United States census showed Minnesota’s population at 5,709,752 on April 1, 2020, a 7.65% increase since the 2010 United States census. The rate of population change, and age and gender distributions, approximate the national average. Minnesota’s center of population is in Hennepin County.
At the 2010 census Minnesota’s population was 5,303,925. The gender makeup of the state was 49.6% male and 50.4% female. 24.2% of the population was under age 18; 9.5% between 18 and 24; 26.3% from 25 to 44; 27.1% from 45 to 64; and 12.9% 65 or older.
In 2011 non-Hispanic whites accounted for 72.3% of all births, but Minnesota’s growing minority groups still form a smaller percentage of the population than in the nation as a whole. According to the 2017 American Community Survey, 5.1% of Minnesota’s population were of Hispanic or Latino origin (of any race): Mexican (3.5%), Puerto Rican (0.2%), Cuban (0.1%), and other Hispanic or Latino origin (1.2%). The ancestry groups claimed by more than 5% of the population were German (33.8%), Norwegian (15.3%), Irish (10.5%), Swedish (8.1%), and English (5.4%).
Minnesota has the country’s largest Somali population, with an estimated 57,000 people, the largest concentration outside of the Horn of Africa.
Religion
The majority of Minnesotans are Protestants, including a large Lutheran contingent, owing to the state’s largely Northern European ethnic makeup. Roman Catholics (of largely German, Irish, French and Slavic descent) make up the largest single Christian denomination. A 2010 survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life showed that 32% of Minnesotans were affiliated with Mainline Protestant traditions, 21% were Evangelical Protestants, 28% Roman Catholic, 1% each Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and Black Protestant, and smaller amounts of other faiths, with 13% unaffiliated.[87] According to the Association of Religion Data Archives, the denominations with the most adherents in 2010 were the Roman Catholic Church with 1,150,367; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with 737,537; and the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod with 182,439.[88] This is broadly consistent with the results of the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey, which also gives detailed percentages for many individual denominations.[89] The international Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference is headquartered in Mankato, Minnesota.[90] Although Christianity is dominant, Minnesota has a long history with non-Christian faiths. Ashkenazi Jewish pioneers set up Saint Paul’s first synagogue in 1856.[91] Minnesota is home to more than 30 mosques, mostly in the Twin Cities metro area.[92] The Temple of ECK, the spiritual home of Eckankar, is based in Minnesota.[93]
Christmas Romance
I love the holidays, don’t you? For years, it’s been my second-favorite time of the year, only fall beats the holiday season for me. But I’d written five romance novels before I discovered the enticing world of Christmas romance stories. I’m an avid reader of romance—have been all my life—but I’d never thought about holiday romances being a special genre of romance novels.
I’m wondering if Christmas books have always been big and somehow I missed it, or if this craze for holiday love stories has taken off recently. If it has, why? What has pushed holiday romance to the top of the bestseller charts on Amazon and other book vendors’ lists?
I asked Husband, the fountain of all wisdom in our house, what he thought. Why were Christmas romances so popular? “The holidays are a happy time and people like to be happy,” was his answer and I couldn’t argue with him. But I think it’s more than that.
Thanks to the Hallmark channel and Lifetime movies and the holiday movie rush at theaters, we’ve been, not brainwashed exactly, but perhaps led by the film and television industry to believe that Christmas is all about falling in love and discovering that perfect romance among the mistletoe and holly. Maybe it is… it’s certainly a time when we all celebrate family and gather with loved ones. We party and share wonderful meals and give one another gifts—it is all about the love.
But Christmas romance novels are a phenomenon unto themselves—each one is a take on a familiar romance trope—lost-then-found love, second-chance love, new love, hidden babies, accidental pregnancies, friends-to-lovers, grumpy-man/woman-finds-joy—except that it all happens during the holidays. They aren’t particularly about Christmas or New Year’s, but the holidays provide the backdrop for the stories, and somehow make the romance all that much sweeter. Is that the key? We fall into the snowy, shivery, red-and-green-spangled world of Christmas with our characters, and our hearts are warmed and we’re glad to be in their universe, even if just for a little while.
Romantic Comedy
A dazed and confused Viking warrior from the 10th-century (Erik) arrives in time to meet a 21st-century Minnesota farm girl (Nora).
The basic plot of a romantic comedy is that two characters meet, part ways due to an argument or other obstacle, then ultimately realize their love for one another and reunite. Sometimes the two leads meet and become involved initially, then must confront challenges to their union. Sometimes they are hesitant to become romantically involved because they believe that they do not like each other, because one of them already has a partner, or because of social pressures. However, the screenwriters leave clues that suggest that the characters are, in fact, attracted to each other and that they would be a good love match. The protagonists often separate or seek time apart to sort out their feelings or deal with the external obstacles to their being together, only to later come back together.
While the two protagonists are separated, one or both of them usually realizes that they love the other person. Then, one party makes some extravagant effort (sometimes called a grand gesture) to find the other person and declare their love. This is not always the case as sometimes there is an astonishing coincidental encounter where the two meet again. Or one plans a sweet romantic gesture to show that they still care. Then, perhaps with some comic friction or awkwardness, they declare their love for each other and the film ends on a happy note. Even though it is implied that they live a happily ever after, it does not always state what that happy ending will be. The couple does not necessarily get married, or even live together for it to be a “happily ever after”. The ending of a romantic comedy is meant to affirm the primary importance of the love relationship in its protagonists’ lives, even if they physically separate in the end (e.g. Shakespeare in Love, Roman Holiday). Most of the time the ending gives the audience a sense that if it is true love, it will always prevail no matter what is thrown in the way.
There are many variations on this basic plot line. Sometimes, instead of the two lead characters ending up in each other’s arms, another love match will be made between one of the principal characters and a secondary character (e.g., My Best Friend’s Wedding and My Super Ex-Girlfriend). Alternatively, the film may be a rumination on the impossibility of love, as in Woody Allen‘s film Annie Hall. The basic format of a romantic comedy film can be found in much earlier sources, such as Shakespeare plays like Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.