I’ve done it! I’ve actually done it! I’d hoped, of course, that my dream would come true, and I worked so hard to achieve it. But still that little voice in the back of my head kept telling me I was wasting my time
But I wasn’t and it’s now actually a thing. A physical (and electronic!) thing. Something I can hold in my hands, and admire to my heart’s content; something I can modestly show to everyone and say, equally modestly, “Oh, this. Yes, I wrote this.”
Holiday Recipes from America’s Christmas Town is the title. Vicky Casey (that’s me!) is the author.
I am a professional baker, owner and head chef at Victoria’s Bake Shoppe in Rudolph, New York, proudly known as Your Year Round Christmas Destination. We’re open all year, of course, as are all the other shops and restaurants in town, but Christmas is always our focus. At my place, we’re particularly famous for our gingerbread cookies and my mince tarts and I have a heck of a lot of other great recipes in my holiday repertoire. Not just baking, but things to bring to a pot luck, and pre-prepared dishes for hosting a dinner party or buffet.
Putting many of my favourites down in a book has long been a dream of mine, but the task just seemed so daunting, so much work. So many cookbooks out there – why would anyone want to buy yet another Christmas themed-book? But my best friend, Merry Wilkinson, gently prodded and encouraged me, and worked hard as a taste tester (it’s a tough job she says, but someone has to do it). She used her contacts from her years in the Manhattan magazine business to find me an agent. And, before I knew it, the book was a reality.
As it’s a holiday book, it’s being released in late October, and I’m having my big home town launch at the Rudolph Public Library tomorrow. Tonight is the grand Halloween costume party fundraising gala for the hospital at the Yuletide Inn and my staff and I are catering the dessert buffet. I’ve made some tweaks to adapt my Christmas recipes to the Halloween theme, such as decorating my cake pops in orange or black icing and forming my gingerbread cookies into pumpkins rather than people.
People are coming from far and wide for the gala and I’m hoping word will get out about the book and about tomorrow’s launch. I’m so nervous.
Now, if only the gala night goes off without a hitch. Although, somehow when Merry’s around that rarely happens.
I can’t wait to see what everyone’s wearing!
Featured recipes from Vicky’s book can be found in the latest Year Round Christmas novel, ‘Tis the Season to be Scary and at Mystery Lovers Kitchen (www.mysteryloverskitchen.com) where Vicki Delany posts twice a month.
‘TIS THE SEASON TO BE SCARY
Series: A Year-Round Christmas Mystery, Book 9
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: September 2026
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link
It’s time for spirits to come out and play in the ninth Year-Round Christmas mystery by national bestselling author Vicki Delany.
It’s Halloween, and the townsfolk of Rudolph, New York, are donning masks and costumes for the Yuletide Inn’s grand fundraising gala to support the local hospital. Shop owner Merry Wilkinson has yet another treat to celebrate: Her best friend, Vicky Casey, has a new cookbook set to publish. Vicky’s publishers, a prominent critic of her book, and a former opera star rumored to have been involved with Merry’s mother are all set to attend the gala.
As the drinks flow, the guests dance, and the canapés are served, things begin spiraling out of control. The book critic makes a scene, and tensions begin to rise. Then Merry realizes that she is not the only one who never actually paid for a gala ticket. But when someone drops dead after eating a cake pop from the lavish dessert buffet, everything comes to a head, and all eyes turn to Vicky, who made the treats. As it turns out, Vicky’s book might be doomed before it hits the shelves.
With her friend’s name and livelihood at stake and the fundraiser in serious danger, Merry must keep her wits about her. Surely she’s only imagining the ghost of Ebenezer Scrooge watching her from the shadows.
About the author
Vicki Delany (vickidelany.com) is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than sixty books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, the Year-Round Christmas mysteries, the Tea by the Sea books, and the Lighthouse Library series (as Eva Gates).
Vicki will be the Cozy Guest of Honor at Bouchercon in Calgary in 2026. She lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.