posted on December 1, 2022 by Sheila Roberts

Ho, ho, ho!

I started my holiday celebrating really early this year with a trip to Candy Cane Lane. No, not a real one. Nobody was into candy canes and Christmas in September. This was to a fictional Candy Cane Lane, the setting for the new movie, Christmas on Candy Cane Lane, due out on the Great American Family channel on Saturday, December 3rd based on my book, Christmas on Candy Cane Lane, which was part of my Icicle Falls series. I’m excited to see what the producers have done with the story. In spite of the fact that I see they’ve bumped off one of the anchor characters in the series – that was a shock! – I know I will be fun to watch.

I certainly had a great time observing the proceedings as the cast filmed one of the outdoor scenes where they had taken over a small, charming neighborhood in Abbotsford, Canada, and turned it into a snowy, festive set. I’ve always heard that movie peeps don’t really like it when authors visit. I think we tend to get underfoot. So I brought a bribe: candy cane cookies. I did my best to stuff those down everyone, including the poor actors who really couldn’t afford to be doing a scene with crumbs on their faces. And I worked hard to not get underfoot. (Well, other than pushing those cookies.)

What a great time it was meeting the cast! (All the main cast was there, except for Dan Payne, who wasn’t in that scene. Andrea Barber, the female lead (you probably remember her from the TV series, Full House), was kind and friendly. As was everyone! I also had a chance to chat with some of the other key actors: the oh, so cool BJ Harrison, hunky Devon Alexander, and Katrina Reynolds, who makes an adorable cop.

Movie-making is such a magical process. Fall turns into winter thanks fake snow and fish ice, decorations are artfully placed, actors and actresses pull characters off the page and bring them to life. And it all takes time – hours to film one scene. This is because several takes are needed to pass on to the film editor. A scene will be shot from many angles, too. All that for something that may occupy less than five minutes on the screen. I was so impressed watching the actors bringing fresh energy to each new take. And I loved watching director Christie Will Wolf in action, overseeing each one. In addition to actors and a director, there are so many people on the set – a cameraman, someone to hold the boom mike, production assistant, people in charge of the props, people in charge of getting us all fed, people monitoring who came and went, and even a doctor on site to make sure visitors were COVID-free.

It was a great time and I was delighted that my agent, Paige Wheeler, and husband Gerhardt could be with me. I definitely want to get to do this again. When we visited the set of The Nine Lives of Christmas several years back I wrangled a spot for Gerhardt and myself as extras (also known as background). If you ever watch that movie on Hallmark, look for us. We’re the first couple seated in the restaurant scene. I’d just finished chemo and was sporting a brown wig – my last nod to my once brown hair. Such fun! I convinced the director that I’m a natural so I don’t understand why Hollywood isn’t calling. Come on guys, get with the program. I still want to get on Dancing with the Stars and the clock is ticking.

One reader who comments will win a copy of Christmas on Candy Cane Lane!

______________________

CHRISTMAS ON CANDY CANE LANE

Icicle Falls is the place to be at Christmas…

Everyone’s getting ready for Christmas in Icicle Falls, especially on Candy Cane Lane, where holiday decorating is taken very seriously. Tilda Morrison, town cop, is looking forward to celebrating Christmas in her first house…until she discovers that she’s expected to “keep up” with the neighbours, including Maddy Donaldson, the inspiration behind the whole extravaganza. But this year, someone’s destroying Maddy’s precious candy canes! Thank goodness for the cop in their neighbourhood.

Tilda already has her hands full trying to sort out her love life and fix up her fixer–upper. Oh, and won’t it be fun to have the family over for Christmas dinner? Not really… Then there’s her neighbour, Ivy Bohn. As a newly single mom, Ivy can sum up the holiday in two words: Bah, humbug. But she’s determined to give her kids a perfect Christmas.

Despite family disasters, irritating ex–husbands and kitchen catastrophes, these three women are going to find out that Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year!

 

 

Sheila Roberts

Sheila Roberts

Sheila Roberts lives on a lake in the Pacific Northwest. She's happily married and has three children. She's been writing since 1989, but she did lots of things before settling in to her writing career, including owning a singing telegram company and playing in a band. Her band days are over, but she still enjoys writing songs. Sheila's books are best sellers and often appear as Reader's Digest Condensed Books. Her novel "Angel Lane" was named one of Amazon's top ten romances in 2009. Her novel "On Strike for Christmas" was a Lifetime Network movie and her novel "The Nine Lives of Christmas" is currently being made into a movie for Hallmark. When she's not speaking to women's groups or at conferences or hanging out with her girlfriends she can be found writing about those things near and dear to women's hearts: family, friends, and chocolate.

https://www.sheilasplace.com

Sheila Roberts Contest

Sheila Roberts is giving away a beautiful St. Patrick's Day shamrock scarf to one winner.

Enter Here

7 thoughts on “Ho, ho, ho!”

  1. Colleen C. says:

    I can imagine how much fun it was to see your book unfold into a movie… making note to look for it!
    Happy Holidays!

  2. bn100 says:

    looks fun

  3. Rose Ward says:

    I would love to read the book

  4. Sherry says:

    I would love to read your book!

  5. Amber says:

    Hey, I just saw you! A couple days ago (+/-) I watched The Nine Lives…(for like the 5th time) even though I have a dog boy I love that movie and asked Hubs “I wonder what extras get paid and is that all they do?”, you know be extras! 😁
    That said, Hubs is the movie guy and I always say “I’d rather read the book” – deleting an anchor character 😬
    Congrats anyway!

  6. Jen K says:

    I love all the holiday movies at this time of year… especially those based on books of authors I read. I can’t wait to see it!

  7. Maryann says:

    What a wonderful and exciting time you had! It was amazing to read all that is involved with making the movie. The candy cane cookies sound delicious! Your book sounds like a perfect holiday story that I would love reading.

Leave a Reply to Amber Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Latest from our Blog

Mahoney & Squire – Military Women’s Fiction – Meet The Characters

Have you met the men and women of Mahoney & Squire, my high-stakes, high-octane military action adventure series? Let me introduce you! Captain Kathryn “Kate” Mahoney, USN Call Sign “Scarlett” Ambitious, strong-willed, patriotic, and assertive, Kate Mahoney is often derided as a “bitch” by the old school naval aviation community. She struggled through dysfunctional relationships,… Read More

Read More