For as long as I can remember, I had a book in my hand, as did my mother.  I would accompany my mother on her weekly trips to the library and while she perused the best sellers, I was sent down to the children’s library to decide which Nancy Drew would be coming home with me that week.  In school, writing was the one thing I could do well.  I was a failure at math and science, but I truly did love to read whatever was assigned, and I still recall having nightmares from reading 1984!  I could never understand why others hated writing book reports, as it was something I truly enjoyed.  Over the years, I took courses in children’s literature writing, but nothing ever came of it.  As a die hard Christmas movie fan, I was keenly aware that none of the main characters were my age–midlife–so I decided to do something about that and write a book about a woman in her 50s who thought there was nothing more to look forward to until one day while shopping in her favorite store, a chance meeting changes her life. 

I wrote the bulk of the The Perfect Mrs. Claus during 2020–and we all know what happened then.  At that time, I could not work remotely, so I took my trusty laptop to work with me and during my lunch hour I went outside and worked on writing my book.  As I sat in the warm spring/summer sunshine, I had to imagine cold crisp late autumn air, and I hope I was able to invoke the holiday spirit as I wrote in the warm weather!

I do work full time for a tour business on beautiful Boston Harbor, where I actually got a lot of ideas for my next book.  I also love to hike in the woods with my dog, go for long walks, cook and bake, and, of course read!

I hold off on the celebrations until I get the green light from my editor that I am truly done!  This last time I treated myself to my favorite ice cream–coconut almond chip at my favorite ice cream place.

When The Perfect Mrs. Claus was released we celebrated with a nice dinner.  When my new book is published in May, which is my birthday month, I think I’ll go bigger.  Not sure what, but it will be good!!

I knew I wanted to write a Christmas book, being a Christmas movie fan.  As wonderful as those movies are, there were no midlife women main characters.  I wanted to write a book about a woman who was done raising children and was entering into that next chapter of life, and to show that life can be even more wonderful after the 50 year mark. 

Oh, most definitely.  Savannah Brady was actually named after my dogs–Savannah, my dog now, and Brady, our dog before her.  There is a scene at the beginning where Savannah is a child visiting Santa with her cousins, and something happens to her cousin that actually happened to my sister when we were little and waiting in line for Santa.  I also use a lot of family names and birthdates.  Savannah’s reminiscences about her son Patrick are all based on my son’s, and Matthew’s mother is modeled after a good friend of mine. 

Time.  When I was writing it, my life was different than it is now, and I was running around at work, then taking care of things at home,and I was bone tired by the end of the day.  But those lunch hours were priceless to me and most of The Perfect Mrs. Claus was written then, in addition to getting up at 4:30 on weekends to get in an hour or two that way. 

I really enjoyed getting into the psyche of Savannah.  She, now in her 50s, has to leave an idyllic life behind–she no longer has her husband, her son has moved, and for the first time in her life, she is truly alone.  She is most definitely having a hard time with this, and I think a lot of midlife, empty nest women will be able to relate to Savannah’s feelings of lonliness and at times despair.  Sometimes you ned to open up your world a little, and not be so closed, and wonderful things can begin to happen as they did for Savannah.  She took a chance and I believe we all should!

I love family sagas.  Some of my favorite authors are Rosamund Pilcher and Maeve Binchy, the queens of the “aga sagas.”  Luanne Rice is another author who delves deep into family issues as is Anne Rivers Siddons.  I also love the gothic atmosphere of Daphen Du Maurier (I’d love to try writing a gothic book some day!).  I am also a fan of historical fiction and in my opinion, no one can do better than John Jakes.  And I love Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind, which I have read several times.  I learn something new every time I read it.

I don’t want to give anything away, but I feel the last two paragraphs sums up Savannah’s journey from lonely to loved.

Matthew Buck.  He is brilliant at his job, but he has a failed marriage and is still as awkward with women as he was when he was in college.  I would tell him have confidence and go after the woman he loves.  She is waiting for him.