Writing has always been a passion of mine. I used to write poetry as a teenager and often considered myself to be a “Beatnick”. I used to wear a lot of black and carried thick books of poetry or philosophy under my arm to complete the package. When I was fourteen I even hitchhiked to New York City from Toronto, Ontario in the dead of winter in a snowstorm. I toured the galleries with a friend I knew there and even met Bob Dylan in Greenwich Village. It was a casual introduction. I was somewhat like Holden Caulfield, I guess, in “The Catcher in the Rye.”

 

My father was a good story teller and encouraged all of my sisters and brother to do the same. We did.

 

In 2013 I was looking at an old scrapbook that I had made when I was eight or ten years old. I saved my valentines, birthday wishes, and a letter that I received from Santa Claus seventy years earlier when I was in the hospital recovering from pneumonia. It is a wonderful letter. It is a touching story of love, friendship, values and recovery.

 

When I fell ill with pneumonia at the age of five my father had to take me to the sick kids hospital. I was very sick. Lucky for me they had a drug to heal me. Only a few years prior many children and seniors died of the disease.

 

My father worked hard every day but he still managed to come to the hospital and read me stories…especially about Rudolph. Rudolph at that time was relatively new. I loved the story and so did my dad. One day I received a letter form Santa and started to get better and was home in time for Christmas. When I reread the letter, I knew that I had to tell it at the Story Tellers Guild in Victoria…which I belong to. It was very well received. After learning the letter by heart, I wanted to do something else with it.

 

A friend of mine who is an author suggested that I get it published. It was accepted. I found an artist on line and have since been promoting the book across North America. I have written another story but am not going to pursue it any further until I have some substantial sales with this one. Which I feel will happen.

 

– Robin