A renowned essayist, former CBC Radio host and an instructor in SFU’s Writer’s Studio, JJ Lee knows a thing or two about what makes a brilliant story. And in recent years, he’s deployed that finely honed judgment to curate a popular anthology series of seasonal non-fiction short stories––collected into pocket-sized volumes perfect for those who enjoy Christmas tales with a side dish of realism.

 

Published by Tidewater Press, Better Next Year: An Anthology of Christmas Epiphanies (2023) was followed by Upon A Midnight Clear: More Christmas Epiphanies (2024), while fall 2025 sees the release of the third and final volume in the series: Better This Year: More Tales from Christmas Survivors. All three books are readily available from local bookstores as well as all the usual online sources.

 

We asked JJ Lee five questions about his new book and more.

 

1. Please tell us about the new volume––what’s it all about?

 

Better This Year: More Tales from Christmas Survivors is the third collection of true stories by writers who have challenging, if not downright horrible Christmases and holidays. So many of us hope for a season that will be merry and bright with family, friends and loved ones. But we often experience setbacks, dashed hopes and a kind of Charlie Brown forlornness that only comes at the end of the year. Like all great Christmas stories, these remembrances really capture how people overcome the worst of times––when we expect the best of times––with pluck, humour, the ability to adapt and holding onto hope. I hope when they read it readers become more in touch with their own feelings about the holidays.

 

2. How does this new collection differ from the first two anthologies?

 

While families have also been at the heart of the first two anthologies, I was surprised this time around when editing the new book that the stories focused so much on the making of Christmas. In each narrative, I really got a sense of how much people work hard  to shape what happens in the month of December as a means to give form and meaning to the idea of family itself. Our sense of family is in many ways constructed and cemented during the holidays.

 

3. What are some of the real life stories readers will find in this new collection?

 

One experience I’ve wanted to share since the start of the anthologies is by Thi Tran. She recounts how as a little girl she convinced her mother to get into the spirit of the season, which leads to them having a fish out of water experience at the Oakridge Mall. Another great one is by Jennifer Lutes who at the time was a Martha Stewart disciple whose plans for the perfect Christmas dinner go terribly awry. And another features actor and playwright Tetsuro Shigematsu participating in a heist to steal a tree from a shopping mall parking lot.

 

4. Many of the stories show that families can be complicated. Why is that a particularly relevant topic for Christmas tales?

 

That time of year––because of all the hype––is a stress on many of us. If we don’t feel happy and fulfilled when among family come December 25, apparently there’s something defective in us. If we don’t do Christmas right, somehow there is the suggestion that we’re not doing life and love right. The pressures externally or internally that comes from family makes you do things you normally wouldn’t do. Precipitous stuff. And the results can be funny or sad or funny-sad.

 

5. These stories seem to show that Christmas is not really about sparkling lights and piled-high gifts. But if it’s not about those things, what is it about?

 

No, it is about those things. But, we also discover it’s about a lot more. There is a Ghost of Christmas Past in Dickens for a reason. Nearly every story in all three volumes seems haunted by the past. I think the season just brings it all to a fine point that pierces everyone. Whatever we sublimate during the rest of the year seems to surface come December. How we feel about lovers, friends and family seems to be accounted for then––like a form of year-end inventory. That’s what’s going on!

 

Better This Year: More Tales from Christmas Survivors, published by Tidewater Press, will be available in all bookstores and online outlets. The first two volumes in the series––Better Next Year: An Anthology of Christmas Epiphanies and Upon A Midnight Clear: More Christmas Epiphanies––are also available.