oh oh oh!

Check out that sunset! Once again, as is normal this time of year in our lovely part of the world, we are having killer sunsets off our very own deck. How I love the dramatic colors that Mother Nature brings us.

So, guess what? After waaaaay too many years to even talk about other than to say that my nephews are now grown up and I started thinking about this when they were little, I finished writing my book yesterday! I’m so flippin excited to say that, I can’t even tell you. It really has taken me a ridiculous amount of time. It’s called “The Search for South Pole Santa.”

Early on when the boys were little, we would have fun talking on what if there was a South Pole Santa? What would he do? Who would he serve? All the imaginative kinds of things kids (and grown up kids!) have fun with. It seemed like such a natural for a book but I could never figure out why we would add a second Santa when our jolly old elf does such a good job.

But if you think on anything long enough, ideas do come and when they came, they all came in a flood. I knew I had a good idea for it then and heck, I do a lot of writing, I figured I’d sit down and whip this book out. Ha! No, actually I meant that more as HA! Honestly, for me, writing this little book has been a multi-year, major lesson on humbleness and slap-arounds by real writers/editors and big learnings and perseverance by me. I can be just plain ole stubborn sometimes though and while I came to understand that I’m a far better dreamer and story teller than I am writer, if the story was going to get told, it was going to have to be by me. And this story deserves to be told! The world is ready for a modern, more inclusive update on our Christmas Santa story that doesn’t take away but adds to everything we already love about the big guy.

So through writing it; getting it torn to pieces; rewriting it; getting it tromped on; walking away from it for a couple years to sulk; rewriting it multiple times; getting some lukewarm encouragement; rewriting it a bunch; getting some nice encouragement from my local editor and cheerleader, Brieanna; rewriting it still a crazy number of times; finally, finally, I can say it reads like a book!  Not the best book you’ll ever read but likely not your worst either. And c’mon, it’s got elves in it. It’s fun.

The basic premise, without giving it all away, is that the Population Alarm has gone off at the North Pole telling the world there are almost too many children for Santa to serve. What to do? What to do? The search is on for a second Santa – South Pole Santa. Many people apply for the unique position but only six are selected to compete. After much adventuring, trials and tribulations, in the end, the person selected is . . . well, you’ll just have to wait and get the book to see who Santa selects! There’s magic, mayhem, tugboats, dark caves, tropical islands, talking birds, mystery, romance, bad guys and a brand new sport – Pole Pong!

I’ll likely be bugging you all about it a ridiculous amount over the next several months so plan to forgive me ahead of time. There’s still so much to do – the cover, final edits, interior layout, a website – just to get it ready for self publishing (available on amazon!) but I’m seeing it through. Can’t stop now. Target launch date is 10/11/12 just cause it’s such a cool date and it’s a perfect time to launch a Christmas book for this season. Plan now to get one for everyone on your list! Thanks for being wonderful. You can all count on being on South Pole Santa’s nice list. Oh Oh Oh!