New book by a local author will explain it all for you!
Santa Claus is known across the world as the jolly bearded man in the red and white suit who delivered gifts to boys and girls on Christmas Day. But how do Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the elves celebrate the holiday when they’re not working? Cornwall author Debbie Sullivan answers that question with her first book, “How Santa Celebrates Christmas: A Story About the Meaning and Magic of Christmas.”
Sullivan graduated from Newburgh Free Academy and attended the University of Maryland where she majored in marketing, but she was always interested in writing. She took creative writing classes in high school and college and has notebooks full of ideas. She originally thought she would write a novel, but never seemed to find the time. When Sullivan’s son was born 13 years ago, many of her story ideas were inspired by him.
“When he was in first grade I started teaching CCD classes at St. Mary’s in Washingtonville,” Sullivan said. “One of the kids in the third grade class asked if Santa knows Jesus, so it gave me the idea for the book of how to marry the two together so that he could still be religious and believe in the reasons for the season.”
Although the origin for the premise behind the book dates back seven years ago, it wasn’t until right before the COVID-19 pandemic that Sullivan sat down to complete the book, but it was her son who convinced her to get it published.
“I had him read it ‘It’s really good mom,’ he said, ‘I think you should send it in.’ If he hadn’t encouraged me to do it, it probably would still be sitting in my notebook, just an idea, not really a story. I needed that push from someone to give me courage. It was nerve wracking to put it out there because you don’t know if people will like it or have nice things to say about it.”
The book, which took about a week to write, was published last month and so far the reviews on Amazon have been positive.
“I have a stressful and demanding job, so it was a matter of sitting down and finding the time to do it,” Sullivan said. “My job is project driven, but in July/August I had the time to focus on it.”
The longest part of the process was finding an illustrator. Sullivan said there are Facebook pages which allow authors and illustrators to connect. She put her idea out on the internet and quickly had hundreds of messages in her inbox. Sullivan eventually settled on Luisa Thomas, a woman from Colombia. Through Facebook messenger and Zoom calls, they worked out the details of how each character should appear. The entire process took four to five months.
The one obstacle Sullivan faced was getting the book published. She had found a publisher, but the company folded during the pandemic, so she got the rights back for the book and looked for another publisher. She ended up finding a company owned by a woman who focuses only on children’s books.
Having only been on sale through Amazon for about a month and a half, the book has already been reviewed by catholicmom.com. Sullivan is also preparing for some local promotional tours.
She’ll be at the Washingtonville Whoville selling and signing books from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Dec. 4.
From 3 to 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 27 and from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Dec. 12, she’ll be at Vincent’s Eat, Paint, Love Studio in Beacon. By purchasing a ticket through the shop’s website, attendees will receive a copy of the book, hot chocolate, cookies, and will be able to participate in a painting craft inspired by the book.
Sullivan is in the process of arranging a book signing at Jones Farm and hopes the book will be available soon through Barnes & Noble.
With book number one under her belt, Sullivan hopes there will be more in the future. She’s thinking of creating a series of books explaining how Santa celebrates other holidays such as Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, and Valentine’s Day. Sullivan said she doesn’t anticipate those books being published until 2023 when they can be released coinciding with the date of each holiday.
Another book idea, which she said can be written at any time, is based on her experience of taking her son to Jones Farm for breakfast every Friday.
