1. What inspired you to write this book? When he was young, my son, Nate, lost a tooth on Christmas Eve and he was worried about whether or not Santa and the Tooth Fairy would come to our house on the same night. I thought it was an interesting question so I started writing about what might happen if the two legends showed up together.
2. What exactly is it about and who is it written for? Santa Camp is a whimsical fantasy telling the story of how Santa Claus is planning to retire and is looking to find his replacement. The story begins when impish young Nate loses a tooth on Christmas Eve. In the middle of the night, Nate discovers Santa and the Tooth Fairy together in Nate’s living room where Nate learns some shocking news about the two visitors. Among other things, Santa reveals that he’s planning to retire and asks Nate to come to a week-long Santa Camp to compete for the position. Nate goes to Santa Camp along with seven other boys. At camp, we meet Randy the Elf, learn more about Rudolph, discover how reindeer fly, and follow the eight boys as they endure various tests and training to see which one has the “right stuff” to be the next Santa. One by one, the boys are eliminated until only three remain. Nate, and two others, are invited to accompany Santa on a ride-along during the next Christmas Eve.
Santa and the boys prepare for the big night. After departing the North Pole with eight reindeer and a sleigh full of presents – and after an unplanned stop – things go terribly wrong and, on Nate’s final test, Christmas teeters near disaster. Santa Camp is written for early-to-middle grade readers with a healthy dose of humor for parents as well.
3. What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book? Above all, I hope readers get a few belly laughs. Aside from that, this story is about believing in yourself and trying your best to achieve your dreams.
4. How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design? The title became obvious to me as the story unfolded. For the cover, I trusted Polish illustrator Marcin Piwowarski’s interpretation of the story and chose one of his illustrations to capture the adventure of Nate’s Christmas Eve ride-along.
5. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run!? Don’t self-edit as you write. Just let the story come out and edit later. And…editing is difficult. Believe that you have a story to tell. Sit down and write it. Let other people tell you “No.” Don’t tell yourself “No.”
6. What trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading? SANTA CAMP is my debut book so I’m not really qualified to comment on trends.
7. Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book? SANTA CAMP is informed by my experiences as a child during the holiday season and my observations as a parent of two children. It also has a dose of my military background.
8. How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to? I’ll leave it to others to describe my writing style. As I re-read C.S. Lewis’s “The Chronicles of Narnia,” I see some stylistic similarities.
9. What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book? I had to overcome the self-doubt about whether or not I had a decent story to tell.
10. If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? SANTA CAMP is a uniquely original premise that is sure to make readers laugh out loud.
Michael Strobl has extensive experience monitoring the naughty and nice behavior of two (mostly) nice children; Olivia and Nate. Originally from Colorado, he has spent 38 years – in uniform and as a civilian – working for the U.S. Marine Corps and the Department of Defense. In spite of being initially unqualified and inept, he has performed other sporadic duties such as Assistant to the Assistant Tooth Fairy and Domestic Christmas Present Distribution Associate. Michael lives in Northern Virginia with his wife Stacey (the Assistant Tooth Fairy and Head of Domestic Christmas Present Distribution). She, too, is generally “nice.” For more information, please see: https://santacamp.com/
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