Linda Urban’s first young adult novel TALK SANTA TO ME is out this week! It’s a hilarious and heartwarming romantic comedy about first kisses, family, and the true spirit of the holidays. This is an absolute delight of a book that I talked about in yesterday’s post and today, I’m sitting down with Linda to talk about the story behind this magical holiday novel.
Linda and I chat online most mornings; we’re always going back and forth about books and the craft of writing them, and we’re approaching this conversation the same way. Feel free to pull up a chair and get yourself a latte or a cup of tea, and join us! I’ll start the way we typically greet one another…
Kate: Hello, friend! Are you ready to Talk Santa to Me? (Clearly, I’ve been waiting years to use that line.)
Linda: Excellent work, friend.
Yes, I went to santa school. And to tell the absolute truth, I wasn’t entirely sure why I wanted to go. I did think that maybe I’d get a picture book out of it – but I wasn’t sure. Still, it was one of those things that strikes your interest and you just have to follow it. So I filled out the application.
Later, when I actually got in and felt like I needed to justify the trip to people around me, I started saying I thought it would be funny, and I started imagining what it would be like through a kind of David Sedaris, semi-cynical lens. By the time I arrived, I had my mind made up about what I would find.
And then, the whole thing started with about 150 of us in a hotel conference room and we were asked to introduce ourselves. Believe me, I had my notebook out, ready to record proof for my expectations, and then the first man stood up and told everyone his name and how many years he had been coming to the school. And then he told us how he had become a santa because his brother had been one. And when his brother died and he had to clean out his closet, there was the suit, hanging there, and he knew he had to keep doing the work that his brother had in honor of his memory.
Dang.
Well. Maybe the next one would be more Sedaris-like, I thought.
But it wasn’t. None of the stories were like that. There were people who volunteered at children’s hospitals, who fill December with visits to foster homes, who learn sign language so they can connect with deaf families, who specialize in working with refugees and kids in crisis.
Kate, these were not a bunch of cynics looking to make a few extra holiday bucks. These were deep-hearted, dedicated, child-centered people who wanted, more than anything, to give children a few moments of love and attention and hope. The way they talked about their work, and about kids, reminded me of the way we talk about the work we do for kids.
Kate: Yes! I remember you telling me about this when you got home, and I remember thinking, “Well, there goes Linda’s snarky book idea…” But honestly, the stories you brought home made me tear up.
Linda: Which is not to say that it wasn’t sometimes funny, too. The santas were great storytellers and they love their themed clothing and punny t-shirts. And, yeah, it was a hoot to watch them tint their eyebrows white and try on fake bellies and discuss the merits of yak hair beards. The santa school president had us all over to his home for an evening of songs and cookies and the over-the-top holiday decor made me chuckle, too. These people even had real live reindeer in the yard, in the same way that some folks have sheep or ponies. (It was pretty great, I have to say.)
They also had daughters in their late teens and twenties who helped out with things and while those girls seemed quite happy, I couldn’t help but imagine what it was like for them when they were a few years younger. What would it be like to have friends over and have to excuse yourself to feed the reindeer? To have a dad who was the town Santa?
When I got back from santa school I did write a picture book about it. It was a good picture book, too, I think – and a few publishers liked it very much, but there was no way they would publish a book which in any way might cast doubt on the idea of a one true Santa.
Kate: I remember that picture book manuscript! Part of me understands the response (kinda) but the rest of me remains upset that I’m the only person who got to read it. It was such a breath of fresh air, and we don’t really have that kind of wonderful holiday nonfiction. But nevertheless, I was delighted when you used that research in an entirely different way. But it took some time for that to happen, right?
Linda: It wasn’t until a few years later that I got the notion to write something about a Santa school that would appeal to older readers – but I knew that my middle grade readers were sometimes as young as nine, which might pose the same problem. Thankfully, the voice of Frankincense Wood – Francie – arrived on the scene and as soon as she started talking it was clear that this was the story of a fifteen year old.
Kate: I will honestly never forget the first time I got to read that opening page. Francie’s voice is pitch-perfect and so wonderfully funny. I love her so much.
You can pick up your copy of TALK SANTA TO ME at your local independent bookstore. Or order a signed copy from Linda’s local store Bear Pond Books.