Available Now!

One Holy Night is now available for purchase in bookstores and from online retailers, such as Amazon, Borders, Target, and Barnes and Noble, as well as directly from Sheaf House.

You'll want to buy copies for yourself as well as to give as gifts! To purchase One Holy Night directly from Sheaf House, just click on the title link. That will take you to the detail page where you can add the book to your shopping cart.

At Sheaf House you can purchase as many copies as you like for a flat shipping rate of $4.50. And if you have already read One Holy Night, this page also includes a link to add a review.

Interview with Lena Nelson Dooly Posted

To read my interview with author Lena Nelson Dooley, posted on Friday, May 9, 2008, go to A Christian Writer's World. She's also giving away a free copy of One Holy Night, so go on over and make a comment on Friday's post to be entered for a free copy!

If you don't win but would like one of my OHN bookmarks, which are beautiful, send me your address at jmhochstetler@msn.com, and I'll get one in the mail to you right away!

A Modern-day Nativity Story

Slumped in his easy chair in the darkened living room, Frank McRae stared at the television screen, raw images of war exploding in his head long after the news had finally ended, replaced by an inane sitcom. The grainy black-and-white video of battle-weary troops slogging through the sodden rice paddies and shadowy jungles of Viet Nam ate away at his heart like sulfuric acid.

There was nothing left of his life now but the bitterness and the pain that were tearing him apart. The silence in this house that had once been a cherished home, rich with happiness and love, was deafening. He was drowning in it the same way he’d seen sailors thrown from a torpedoed ship drown in the hostile, oily waters of the South Pacific during that other war more than twenty years earlier.

Always another war. Always more purposeless killing and senseless dying. Always fractured relationships that couldn’t seem to be put back together again. Where was God in all of this? If there really was a God, why had he let this happen? What kind of God would tear from a man those dearest to him?

None of it made any sense. The Bible spoke of a God of love and mercy, but for all Frank could tell, God remained indifferent to suffering. When one needed help the most, God turned his back. Surely the Bible was nothing but a hollow myth . . .

What Frank didn’t know was that on this bleak Christmas Eve, God had in mind a miracle. Once more, as on that holy night so long ago, a baby will be born and laid in a manger—a baby who will bring forgiveness, peace, and healing to a family that has suffered heart-wrenching loss.

Writing One Holy Night

One Holy Night is at heart a modern-day nativity story, but it isn’t a story just for Christmas. It deals with all the gritty issues that impact our lives every day—intergenerational and interracial conflict, violence in various forms, addictions, war, illness, death, divorce. Brokenness of one kind or another affects every family and individual. And the more I thought about it, the more I questioned how we can make sense of our lives and find reconciliation in our relationships. Where do we find purpose, strength, and healing?

I first started tinkering with the idea for this story back in the late 1980s. Then the Gulf War came along and shaped my thinking some more. Life happened, and the story lay fallow until 9-11. Right around that time a young woman in our church was diagnosed with intestinal cancer, and then died within a year. Shortly thereafter, my parents both died as the result of a car accident. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were in all the headlines, and opposition was growing along with the casualty count. Commentators were beginning to compare the war in Iraq with the quagmire of Viet Nam—a conflict I was well acquainted with since I was in high school and college during those years.

So all these things started to find their way into this story set during 1967 about a family in a small town in Minnesota that is faced with these issues while the son is away, serving in Vietnam. The conclusion I came up with is pretty well summed up in the little blurb for the book:

On this bleak Christmas Eve, God has in mind a miracle. As on that holy night so long ago . . . in a world torn by sin and strife . . . to a family that has suffered heart-wrenching loss . . . there will be born a baby . . .

I think this story will appeal to anyone who is looking for a moving story that is a good read. It’s especially directed to readers who are searching for answers to the difficult issues of life, for hope and encouragement when things look scary and out of control, and for healing for broken relationships.

One Holy Night addresses war, specifically WWII and Vietnam. It deals with one of the main characters’ unresolved issues from his service in the South Pacific in WWII, issues that leak over into his concern for his son, who is now serving in Vietnam, and for his wife, who is dealing with cancer. The basic message is that we find hope and healing in a source greater than ourselves, in a beneficent being who has a purpose and plan for our lives and will carry us through when our own strength and understanding fail.

What Readers and Reviewers Are Saying . . .

One Holy Night is powerful yet gentle in both its method and message. Set in the 1960s amidst the divisiveness of an unpopular war, a family’s very faith and foundations are tested as memories and cultures collide. Hochstetler’s “lighting the past . . . and leading you home” signature couldn’t be more appropriate than in this sacred tale of hope rising sweetly from the ashes of sorrow. . . .

—Kathi Macias, award-winning author of Beyond Me:

Modeling a You-First Love in a Me-First World

One Holy Night is a heartwarming story of forgiveness. But this is the gritty kind of forgiveness—the kind that must first endure the deepest despair imaginable. In 1967, Frank McRae still nurses bitter hatred toward all Asians after witnessing unspeakable atrocities on the battlefields of the South Pacific during World War II. When Frank’s only son, Mike, falls in love with a young Vietnamese girl while fighting in the war there, then marries her, Frank disowns his soldier son.

On the home front Frank bargains with a God he hardly knows in a desperate attempt to keep his wife, Maggie, from dying from cancer. With his family torn apart, Frank comes face to face with the ugliness of his hatred in an unforgettable moment of truth. What happens next is one of the most touching scenes I’ve ever read in a novel.

I'm proud of Hochstetler for weaving this story through the Viet Nam era and embracing the genuine, raw emotions of that tumultuous era of our history. This is a very different kind of Christmas story and one that stayed with me long after I reached the end.

—Diane Moody, author and columnist

Provocative and insightful, One Holy Night shows in rich detail how God can use the most trying circumstances to bring people around until they see how much they need each other, and need Him. This life-changing story will move you to tears as you experience the humility of a young Vietnamese woman, her husband's desire to see his father heal, and the trials that bring them together in one desperate attempt to save another’s life.

—Michelle Sutton, author of It's Not About Me

One Holy Night offers so much more story than the title infers. Hochstetler’s writing enables you to suspend disbelief and enter the 60’s, that era of awakening from small-town innocence to the awareness all is not right with the world. The author is a master at building complex characters that will steal your heart. This poignant tale of forgiveness and healing is a far cry from predictable. And it definitely wasn’t what I was expecting, but so much more.

It’s a tale of Frank’s family as they journey through sickness, unbelief, and war. His son, Mike, struggles with not being there for his mom, Maggie, in her battle with cancer. Mike’s letters from the battlefields in Viet Nam reveal some of war’s stark reality. Big sister, Julie, shares her mother’s faith along with her pastor husband, Dan, but despairs over her dad’s lack and her brother’s uncertainty.

The faith journey is a realistic one. I loved how Hochstetler portrays Julie questioning God. Too often writers give us plastic icons, bearers of strength and platitudes. Not so in One Holy Night. But how they deal with the hurt is something I could relate to. And isn’t that what we want in inspirational fiction? I give One Holy Night a very high recommendation.

—Ane Mulligan, Novel Journey Blog

J.M. Hochstetler makes another mark on Christian fiction with One Holy Night, a moving and inspirational tale of family, love, war, prejudice, and heart-wrenching loss. Though I'm not usually interested in stories set during the Vietnam war, I quickly became caught up in the lives of Hochstetler's characters and felt their joy, pain, and struggle to either hold tight to their faith or open their heart to God. Warning: The deeper you journey into this painfully honest tale, the more you'll need a ginormous box of tissues close by. Very recommended!

—Tamara Leigh, author of Splitting Harriet

One Holy Night is a stunning first release from Sheaf House, a new boutique publisher based in Tennessee. One of the best things about this book is its reader friendly design. The font size and legibility, along with premium paper, contribute to easy reading, even in low light. Kudos to the design team at Sheaf House!

Since savoring the last page of J. M. Hochstetler’s story, I have found myself revisiting the characters regularly as if they were members of my own family. The rich characterization and lush description place the reader comfortably in the midst of the story setting: the heartland of America near the end of the Vietnam War. Any reader who can’t relate to this turbulent era in U.S. history will grow in understanding, and those who lived during that time will be reminded of the division it created.

Amazingly, Hochstetler tackles several big issues—love, loyalty, war and death—while maintaining a positive thesis. Family can survive. Human love is grander in weakness than in strength. And faith is, by necessity, stronger in tragedy than in triumph. One Holy Night is a soon-to-be-classic “miracle story” with an inspirational message that will warm your heart with love. It is a wonderful statement of faith and a gift of hope.

—Kathy Harris, agent and author

A heart-wrenching story of a war few believed in, a son's duty, a mother's fight to survive cancer, and the devastating results of prejudice. One family's faith is tested to the limit . . . and beyond.

—A. K. Arenz, author of The Case of the Bouncing Grandma

Julie is trying to keep things together. Her mother Maggie is struggling with cancer. Her brother Mike is headed to Vietnam. Her father Frank is angry at Asians for the tortured death of his brother in WWI and in being instrumental in Mike's leaving. He is angry at the possibility of losing his wife, something he cannot even consider. But when Mike's actions cause a rift in the family, will Frank come to terms with God, his loss, and his faith before he does something that destroys everything? A story about hurt, peace, and the forgiveness only God can provide. Have the tissues ready for this one. Faith element: high and well integrated.

—Carolyn R. Scheidies, Author’s Choice Reviews

Author J. M. Hochstetler depicts a family in crisis during the Vietnam years. Tenderly written and poignant, One Holy Night is relevant to our lives today. The ending moved me to tears.

—Kacy Barnett-Gramckow, author of The Heavens Before

One Holy Night is a story of true forgiveness, but not easy forgiveness. Frank McRae’s losses span over 20 years and go so deep that he will probably never change and he doesn’t want to change. His family won’t give up hope though, and they continue to pray for this devoted husband and family man. What they need is a miracle, a true miracle of the heart. Set in the Vietnam War era, One Holy Night takes you back to the real story, not the protests or the politics, but the story of a family with a son and brother on tour of duty in Nam. J.M. Hochstetler weaves a captivating and often heart-wrenching story that is well worth the read.

—Karen Eve

One Holy Night offers a poignant look into the lives of one family touched by war and loss. The McRae’s are a real-to-life family, struggling to cope with the range of emotions and experiences that humans encounter. While Maggie (mother) battles cancer, Mike (son) fights for his life in Vietnam. While Dan and Julie (daughter) teach their parishioners and community to love through their ministry and example, Frank (father) struggles with deep-seated bitterness and hate that threatens to tear them all apart. Each member of the family has his or her personal demons to face, while working to relate to the family as a whole. The plotlines combine to create a touching story with characters that you will feel like you know. Be prepared with tissues. You will need them as you follow their stories through to the end.

—Lisa, a book lover