Bethel Park author publishes Christmas-themed romance novel
Courtesy of Elizabeth Meitzler
Bethel Park resident Elizabeth Meitzler has penned her first novel, “The Twelve Swipes of Christmas.”
Photos: Courtesy of Elizabeth Meitzler
“The Twelve Swipes of Christmas” is the debut novel from Bethel Park’s Elizabeth Meitzler.
Online dating is now commonplace, and its veterans have stories from it that cover the gamut from the completely sublime to the totally ridiculous.
There are some matches where the couples end up being remarkably compatible and they embark on years of togetherness. Then, of course, there are plenty of dates from hell, where dates look absolutely nothing like their flattering profile photos, they engage in boorish behavior, or they are totally unable to carry a conversation.
“The Twelve Swipes of Christmas,” the debut novel by Bethel Park author Elizabeth Meitzler, is a romance that has a couple meeting through online dating and embarking on a relationship that might best be described as complicated. Reminiscent of the holiday movies that crowd the schedule of the Hallmark Channel at this time of year, Meitzler self-published the book in November. It’s available online through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Walmart, and she is trying to get it placed in some brick-and-mortar stores.
While Meitzler did not meet her husband, Jake, online, she has friends who did find each other that way and have had “really successful relationships come out of it. I just thought it was an interesting concept, because social media is so prevalent in everybody’s lives, it’s hard to meet someone unless you’re in college or something like that.”
Writing a novel is not a natural pursuit for Meitzler. A 2009 graduate of Upper St. Clair High School, she explained that attention deficit disorder prevented her from being much of a book reader when she was growing up. But once she started attending Clarion University, “I found books that interested me.”
“I definitely like romance,” she added. “I like romantic comedies, because they can make fools of themselves and it’s more realistic.”
Before becoming a stay-at-home mother to a 3-year-old daughter and 10-month-old son, Meitzler worked at the Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh in a number of capacities, such as a therapeutic support assistant and teacher’s aide. She has “a few ideas floating around in my head,” so it’s possible that a follow-up to “The Twelve Swipes of Christmas” will be arriving before too long.
“I feel like if I have to force the idea, if I force myself to sit down and write something, it’s not going to be good,” she explained. “It has to come to me naturally. I don’t want to force something. If it bores me, it’s going to bore a reader. I don’t want that.”
Meitzler is set to sign copies of “The Twelve Swipes of Christmas” starting at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 10, at the Borelli’s Cellars store located in the Galleria of Mt. Lebanon. More information on “The Twelve Swipes of Christmas” is available at goodreads.com.