It was Christmas time, three years ago, when I was working
on a middle grade book that the idea for Hot Chocolate for Santa Claus came to
me. We were putting out milk and cookies
for Santa when my wife asked if anyone wanted some hot chocolate. My middle child, Madison, who was then six,
said maybe we should leave some out for Santa, too.
I had been promising to write a story “for her” and her idea
gave me the inspiration.
Could you give me a short synopsis on the story for my
readers?
Hot Chocolate for Santa Claus begins near the very end of
Christmas Eve. Santa and his elves are
down to their last two neighborhoods of the night. After a long night of delivering presents
around the world, they are ready to get back home to Christmas Castle
where they will have a chance to open their own presents.
At Santa’s last stop of the night, he picks up a thermos of
hot chocolate that he will be able to drink on the flight back home to the
North Pole. It’s a treat he has been
thinking about all night.
As Santa flies back home to Christmas
Castle, he tells one of his elves,
Evan, the story of why Madison
began leaving hot chocolate out for him.
The tradition started many years ago when Madison wrote Santa a thank you note. In the thank you note, she asked Santa if
there was anything he might like from her for Christmas. Santa wrote back that a cup of hot chocolate
to drink on the flight back home would be a wonderful treat.
The illustrations are lovely. Can you tell me about the
illustrator?
One of the things I like best about Hot Chocolate for Santa
Claus is the illustrations. I was
extremely fortunate to find an incredibly talented illustrator named Iryna
Bodnaruk. Finding her was pure serendipity,
and I can’t imagine the book without her art work.
Ira is, in my opinion, an amazing talent. Each time she sent me a finished picture it
was like getting a Christmas gift. One
of the best parts about working with Ira was the way she could take an idea I
had for a picture and then improve on it in ways I could not have
imagined.
One example is the picture in the book of Santa’s sleigh
flying between neighborhoods. I
envisioned it as a typical “camera angle” shot, but Ira drew it from the
perspective of looking down onto the sleigh as it flew through the night. It was so creative and not something I would
have thought of.
What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?
My two favorite Christmas traditions at the moment are
driving around and looking at Christmas lights with my kids, as well as
drinking a glass of red wine and looking at my Christmas tree while listening
to Christmas music.
Are you more of a Christmas Grinch or do you look forward to
the Christmas holidays?
I always enjoy late Fall and the Christmas Holidays. Football season is in full swing, college
basketball is beginning, and between the Thanksgiving and Christmas
celebrations, I know I’ll get the chance to see family, have some downtime from
work and enjoy some good food.
When you are not writing Christmas books what other fiction
or non-fiction writing do you do?
I’m currently in the revisions’ stage of a crime novel with
a working title of Hallways in the Night(the title derives from Bruce
Springsteen’s “Jungleland.”) This is a
book I have been working on for several years and writing it has been one of
the great joys of my life.
It’s the story of an Atlanta
police officer who is put on trial by a corrupt DA. I am hoping to have this book finished by the
middle of 2013.
This is a lovely Christmas book and if you would like to make it one of your books for giving or keeping, it is currently available on
Amazon in both soft cover and electronic formatting.Here's the link
No comments:
Post a Comment