BANNING SANTA

Short Description

Banning Santa begins with an outrageous political proposal: legislation that would ban public depictions of Santa Claus.

When two members of Congress from opposite parties decide to fight the proposal together, they assign two of their best staffers, Stowe Bessette and Wyatt Huffman, to find the perfect Santa Claus to testify before a congressional subcommittee.

Stowe and Wyatt can barely tolerate one another. Their search takes them from Washington to Vermont and eventually toward the Arctic Circle, where their professional mission becomes a Christmas adventure neither expected.

Genre

Banning Santa is holiday fiction combining romance, humor, political satire, travel, family drama, and Christmas magic.

Although Washington politics drives the plot, I would specifically note that it is not a political thriller in the mold of many of my other novels.

Inspiration

The inspiration for Banning Santa came from watching the news and seeing how absurd the political process can become. I wanted to explore that lunacy through an outrageous premise—and what could be more ridiculous than the government banning public depictions of Santa Claus? At the same time, I did not want the story to become another predictable Republican-versus-Democrat argument. We get enough of that already. Part of the novel’s charm comes from bringing together representatives from both sides of the aisle and showing how people with different beliefs can still find common ground when something meaningful is at stake.

The premise also gave me an opportunity to examine Christmas traditions, the increasing commercialism surrounding the holiday, and the deeper meaning of Christmas. Santa Claus seems to appear in stores earlier every year—sometimes as early as September—yet the season can still remind us of generosity, faith, family, and community. Wyatt and Stowe’s love story was originally intended to remain secondary, but it became increasingly important as I wrote. I have always loved Christmas movies, so in many ways, Banning Santa became my version of one: a different kind of holiday story that combines political satire, romance, and heartfelt Christmas warmth. It is the kind of movie I would love to watch someday.

Behind the Book: Banning Santa

• I thought writing a nonpartisan political novel during such a polarizing era would be challenging. Surprisingly, it was not. Stowe and Wyatt may have different political ideologies, but their core values are very much the same. Their relationship demonstrates that political disagreement does not have to erase mutual respect, shared principles, or love.

• I wanted both Wyatt and Stowe to carry some emotional baggage into their relationship. I think I succeeded. Their past experiences shape how they respond to one another and make earning each other’s trust an important part of their story.

• The Santa school in Vermont is entirely fictional, although real schools do train professional Santa performers. I loved imagining a place where aspiring Santas could learn the practical skills, traditions, and spirit required to embody the role.

• The Santas attending the school were loosely inspired by news stories I had read about real Santa impersonators. Their backgrounds, personalities, and reasons for putting on the red suit helped me imagine the wonderfully eclectic group Wyatt encounters.

• I loved learning about the many Christmas traditions practiced around the world while researching this book. That research helped expand the story beyond the American political debate and reinforced the idea that Christmas can mean something different, and equally meaningful, to people.

• I love Iceland, so I had to send Stowe and Wyatt there. I first visited that remarkable country long before it became the major tourist destination it is today, and the experience stayed with me.

• I have also visited Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi, Finland, and that trip helped inspire the novel. When I met Santa there, I was genuinely speechless, much like Wyatt is when he finally finds himself face-to-face with the man he has spent so much time debating.

• Yes, the Elf School is based on something real. Visitors to SantaPark in Lapland can attend an Elf School, which was simply too perfect a detail not to work into the story.

• One of the things I love most about this story is that even the villains are not really villains, at least not in the traditional sense. I understand why Representative Guzman reacted the way she did to the mall Santa. She may have taken things too far, but her response came from a real emotional wound. I wanted readers to disagree with what she did while still understanding why she did it.