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Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Celebrating Christmas Books and Movies with Karen Schaler

Today's interview is with Karen Schaler who is a three-time Emmy Award-winning storyteller, screenwriter, author, journalist, and national TV host. She has written original Christmas movies for Netflix, Hallmark, and Lifetime plus the books for some of those movies. Read on to learn more about her writing and what’s coming up next.

How did you come up with the idea for your Christmas book?

I’ve written numerous Christmas stories and my current release was inspired by an earlier one that I wrote for Netflix’s first original Christmas movie, A Christmas Prince. A Royal Christmas Fairy Tale is one of the two sequels.

Could you give a short synopsis on the book for my readers?

The last things New York City reporter Kaylie Karlyle expects to find on her European freelance assignment is a charming Christmas village, a storybook castle, a royal ball, and a gorgeous prince. But when the family she's interviewing turns out to be the royal family of Tolvania, Kaylie has a meltdown. The quirky queen wants her to write a Christmas fairy tale for the spunky, young princess. Kaylie must battle the princess's father, who doesn't trust the media and her own insecurities about writing anything beyond the news.

To spark inspiration for the fairy tale, the queen recruits the prickly Prince Alexander to show Kaylie the family's most spectacular royal holiday traditions. And sparks definitely fly when the only thing Kaylie and the prince agree on is that they're both more "bah humbug" than "ho, ho, ho." But somewhere between sleigh rides and snow angels, merrymaking and mistletoe, upside-down Christmas trees, and a legendary Christmas crown, Kaylie and the prince open their hearts to Christmas and start believing in themselves and each other.

It's a real-life fairy tale in the making until Kaylie discovers a secret about a royal Christmas heirloom that jeopardizes everyone's happily ever after. Can the magic of the season save this holiday happy ending?

What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?

I think some of my favorite traditions are the ones I’ve had since I was a child, like picking out a real Christmas tree in the forest and decorating the tree with family. Actually, decorating anything for Christmas is always a favorite pastime. Making special Christmas recipes is also something I enjoy and that’s why I share my family’s favorite holiday treats and new recipes with my stories. Royal Christmas Gingerbread Pancakes and the Berry Christmas Dark Chocolate-Covered Cranberries are in A Royal Christmas Fairy Tale. All my books also include some of my favorite fun festive traditions and activities you can do with your family to help get everyone into the holiday spirit.

What’s next in writing for you?

Right now, I’m working on my next Christmas novel and also three different movies. I’m also working on a summer rom-com that’s a lot of fun. Starting the new year I’ll be at a fabulous RomaDrama event in Palm Beach, Florida (January 7-9). This event brings fans together with their favorite Hallmark, Lifetime, and Netflix TV stars. I’ll be on several of the writing panels sharing tips and behind the scenes stories about writing movies and novels and there are some other great surprises planned. Tickets are on sale at www.romadrama.com and I can’t wait to see everyone!

What’s the best writing tip you’ve learned or been given you’d like to share?

One of my favorite tips is ‘to write before the world gets in the way’ and I live by that. I do my best writing when I wake up. I don’t check my email or texts or turn on the TV. I find going straight to my computer and writing before I have any distractions is when I do my best work and am most productive. Once I go out into the world, I have a hard time getting back to my writing. It helps that I’m a morning person!
 

What do you know now about writing and publishing you wish you had learned sooner?

I’ve been writing as long as I can remember but when it comes to publishing, I was surprised to learn how in traditional publishing editors often want a book 18 months to two years ahead of a pub date. I come from a background in TV news where you write three stories daily so I write quickly and have that immediate gratification.

For my debut novel, Christmas Camp, I had written the Hallmark movie first and then decided I wanted to also write the book and release it at the same time, which was just a few months away. I was very fortunate to have May Chen at HarperCollins, William Morrow, do a 'crash publish' to get Christmas Camp out that October.

I’ve now started my own publishing company it’s very challenging to get all the mechanics of the book, the editing, proofreading, typesetting, cover design, marketing, advertising, etc., done in just a few months. Now I understand why publishers want their books so early!

Any last words or tips?

My number one tip is that if you’re a writer you have to write every day. I know we’re all busy, but you have to make the time and make your writing a priority. Whether you write early in the morning (I often get up at 5am) or late at night, even if you only have a few minutes, sit down and do it. Writers write. You owe it to yourself and your craft. When life does get in the way and makes it impossible to do, don’t beat yourself up, just get back to your writing as soon as you can.

Are there any other books that you’d like to tell my readers about?

If you love feel-good, funny, uplifting, and empowering Christmas stories that are a wonderful escape when you need a break. You can find all my books on Amazon and at all the major retailers and libraries.

 Here are my “babies”...

Christmas Camp (2018)
Christmas Camp Wedding (the novella sequel) ( 2019)
Finding Christmas (2019)
Christmas Ever After (2020)
A Royal Christmas Fairy Tale (2021)

I’m also working on writing the movies for all of my books, so stay tuned! I also do a ton of giveaways and freebies on my social media and website. And speaking of FREEBIES I’ve put together a festive fabulous Christmas Camp DIY Guide that includes a lot of my recipes and activities from all my books and movies so you can create your own Christmas Camp at home!

That’s all for today’s interview. If you’d like to learn more about her books, here are some links to get you started.         



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