Flickering

by Michael Manosca, Regena Slater (Editor)

Sometimes the most precious gifts come wrapped in the most unexpected packages.

In the week leading up to Christmas 1996, three souls find themselves at the end of hope. Callum, a widowed professor haunted by loss, has given up on the season that once brought him joy. James, a nineteen-year-old with nowhere to turn, faces his first Christmas cast out and alone. Anders, trying to rebuild after his family's betrayal, wonders if he'll ever truly belong anywhere again.

But when a fierce winter storm brings them together on one December night, they discover something none of them that the greatest gifts aren't found under trees, but in the courage to open your heart to strangers who become family.

Set in historic Old Louisville during the holiday season, this is a different kind of Christmas story—one about the magic that happens when broken people choose to heal together, when hope is passed from one person to another like a carefully tended flame, and when love proves that it can take many the love between partners, the love of chosen family, and the love that says "you are not alone" to those who need to hear it most.

Like the classic tales of Christmas past, this is a story about transformation, sacrifice, and the profound truth that sometimes what we think we're giving away is exactly what saves us.

A modern Christmas story about the gifts that matter most—and the families we choose when the ones we're born into fail us.

212 pages, Hardcover

Published October 23, 2025

About the author

Michael Manosca first pursued a career in the arts, studying in Chicago, but storytelling has always been at the heart of his creative expression. His travels across the world have shaped his perspective, infusing his writing with the depth and nuance of the people and cultures he has encountered.

Michael writes in a deeply personal format, inspired by the relationships and experiences that shaped his upbringing. He explores the intricacies of friendship, the search for identity, and the quiet moments that define us. Through vivid characters and emotional depth, he hopes to craft stories that linger in readers’ minds long after the final page.

When not writing, he can be found wandering the northern woods, exploring new cities, or enjoying a lively conversation in a tucked-away café. He currently resides along the western coast of the United States and is already working on his next story.