How did I come to write the book?  I just put one word after the other.  But you say, what words.  Once again, it is quite simple.  You write the words as if you are telling a story to someone beside you, except that that person is a reader and you are writing rather than speaking.  It’s really that simple.

But how can a methodical rocket scientist write a novel.  But aren’t novels logical expositions of a story?  Rocket scientists, computer gurus, and all professional men tell stories all the time.  They are in the learned papers that such men write.

So writing a novel is the same for anyone – a literature major, a historian, a rocket scientist, or a computer  guru.  It comes down to whether or not you are a good story teller, a good writer, and hence a good or bad novelist.  In addition, of course, you have to have a good story or people – reader or listener – will turn you off.

I never studied novel writing, although I have read a lot of novels.  The novels I have read fall into three categories.  They are either episodic, with a hero jumping from one peril to another, with little character development per se, as for instance the “Bourne” series by Ludlum, or the “Perils of Pauline” movie serials of yesteryear;  or scattered with no single storyline and little character development, as in so many of our books today; or in a well crafted books with as central theme, a plot to achieve the central theme, significant character development, and subplots to round out the character development or to add nuances to the storyline or plot.    Great literature normally falls within this category, such as the works of Hemingway, Steinbeck, Dickens, and Shakespeare.  I planned Cancel Christmas! to be a novel of this type.

To be successful in that third category there is need for methodology as well as writi9ng skill.  That is the art and science of writing generally, and of novels in particular.  The methodology that I will describe is the science, so to speak.  The art is to make it interesting, readable, and believable; and to induce the reader not only to finish the book, but to become a devotee of the author.  That is writing skill; and that is not so easy.  Being a rocket scientist certainly helped with the scientific aspects – the methodology – but equally important it actually helped in the subjective aspect of writing skills in producing the novel Cancel Christmas!.

To me, the parts of writing a novel come down to the following;

First create the central theme of the book.  In Cancel Christmas this theme is the manipulation of government officials into private aspects of our lives for the personal gain of the proponent.   The motivation was greed.  The plan was to increase profit by eliminating the Christmas vacation period; and the mechanism was pressure on government officials to vote to have this occur.  This pressure included re-election concerns, manipulation of the news, using government money to fund PR campaigns, PR campaign that verged on the technique of the ‘big lie’, and unremitting pressure to get it done.  That is the central them of Cancel Christmas.  The subtheme is to leave the issue open at the end of the book.

Secondly construct a plot that will fit and achieve that central theme.  The plot for Cancel Christmas portrays a miserly ultra wealthy industrialist determined to increase profit by changing the Christmas observance.  His subordinates develop and execute the plan.  other agencies are brought to bear.  A senator is pressured to support the move with colleagues, and to direct government money via an earmark to this endeavor.

Third, create the characters that are required for the plot; and embellish the characters with the capability for humor and comic relief.  In Cancel Christmas! it was necessary of course to have the protagonist, a person with enough power and wealth to achieve his goal, and motivated by greed.  Then a hero and heroine who while under the control of the protagonist have sufficient character to oppose him privately, and then publicly.  To round out the plot, an elected official – in this case a senator – is needed to act as the puppet to be manipulated by the snit-hero.  This character can also provide the comic relief because of his bizarre behavior and predilections.    Ancillary characters are created to round out the mix required to carry the storyline and plot.

Fourth, subplots are needed that will embellish the characters.  These subplots are associated with the characters, and not necessarily with the main plot or of the theme of the book, used to amplify the character development or to add nuances to the storyline. In Cancel Christmas, Sam and Cindy are caught in an inner turmoil between doing their jobs or following their beliefs.  Sam resigns because of this inner pressure; Cindy is trapped in her job and cannot.  The second subplot concerns the budding romance between these Cindy and Sam.  The third subplot shows that not all senators are susceptible to hidden forms of bribery.  Finally, a fourth subplot concerns the mysterious stranger who appears as a mentor to the hero and anti-hero.  This subplot is used to instill a sense of mystery in the narrative, and to provide scope for reader imagination as to what happens next.

To sum it all up, the method is to start the story going, let the characters grow and fill out their roles, move the plot along towards achieving the central theme for the book, and provide an ending that includes scope for reader imagination as to the future beyond the end of the book.  That leaves the reader involved, but also leaves the author scope for sequels.

That is how I planned this book, and then executed the plan.   In execution I was helped enormously by my past experiences.

As CEO of an international company I dealt often with PR firms, with advertising campaigns, with spin doctors,. with government officials at various levels seeking re-election, and with the process of earmarks.

As a rocket scientist, I was used to allowing my imagination to almost run amok, considering how to achieve the impossible.  How do you go to the moon – to Mars – to the stars?  How do you keep astronauts alive at all times?  How do you avoid obvious and not so obvious hazards?   If you think about it, orchestrating a trip to the moon and back is quite similar to structuring s novel.

Finally, as a scientist and as a businessman, I often had to write detailed proposals to achieve funding or to win a contract.  These had to be clear, engaging, capture the reader, and get approval.  Hence they had to be factual, plausible, possible, and interesting.  Isn’t that what a novel has to be to be successful?

Hence being a rocket scientist and a computer guru was not an impediment to authoring Cancel Christmas!  In fact it was a tremendous aid.

You may finally ask about writing skills.  As Shakespeare so eloquently stated in Hamlet, “Ay! There’s the rub”.  It takes time and effort.  It really doesn’t matter what your background, you have to be able to write clearly.  That comes with practice.  believe me, in my profession I had a lot of practice over the years.

So, my dear reader, why not?  Why can’t a rocket scientist and computer guru write a novel.  I did!

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Yes, Christmas is a religious feast; and so is Thanksgiving.  In fact the very term holiday comes from the medieval times when Holy Days were days of celebration, when work ceased, and people were relieved from labor.  The Church started this custom as a form of relief for workers, ever mindful that productivity can increase if workers are not unduly tired or stressed.

That is the history.  Tradition over the centuries has now given greater significance to these holidays than originally planned or perhaps even intended.  Thanksgiving has become the day when families gather in grateful thanks for all the good things that have happened to them over ht e past year.  For believers, atheists, and agnostics, there is a feeling of joy and gratitude, often shared with the closest family members.  Thanksgiving has become the time of assembly of families at the ‘old hearth’, often reserving Christmas for personal family celebration, especially when there are young children in the home.

Christmas too has come to be more than a celebration of the religious birthday of Jesus Christ,.  While this is certainly a very important and major event for Christians, it is also a period of time when good fellowship reigns, and a spirit of happiness and joy seems to permeate everything.  Gift giving is a manifestation of this good fellowship.  For believer and non-believer alike, Christmas is a traditional time of joy and recognition of the fellowship of mankind.

And yet our system is such that one person alone can bring suit to have the custom cease.  That person can use the concept of incursion of religion into the state, invoking the rule of separation of Church and state to strike down the observance of Christmas and Thanksgiving as religious feasts that have no basis in law as public holidays.

Could such a suit prevail?  Could it happen?  Can the will of the majority be superseded by the will of a single person?  But that single person will say it is in the Constitution.  But is isn’t.  The phrase ’separation of church and state is NOT in the Constitution.  In fact, the exact opposite is there.  The First Amendment includes the statement: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”  This is often used to say that the framers meant that religion had no place in public functions or places.  That is NOT true.  In my opinion, the framers of the Constitution intended the exact opposite.  They wanted religion in the public square.  They wanted freedom of exercise of religion.  The phase, ‘or prohibiting the free exercise thereof’ has been ignored for too long.  Denying prayer in the schools is exactly that – ‘or prohibiting the free exercise thereof’.  So is removing the ten commandments from a courthouse; so is challenging the phrase ‘in God we trust’ on our currency; so is challenging prayer in Congress; and so too any attempt to eliminate observance of Christmas and Thanksgiving!

Yes, I am sure it will be tried.  Hopefully common sense will prevail and justices will be served, and that idiocy will not be permitted.

I wrote this book to call attention to this possibility.  I also wrote it because I love Christmas.  I wish it would go on all year long.

Cancel Christmas should make you angry.  It might make you laugh.  But it will certainly make you think.  It could happen.    Greed, ambition, and the misuse of taxpayer money are nothing new.  What makes this book interesting for the reader is the intertwining of these elements to attack a cherished tradition.  The technique of the ;’big lie’ is shown at work.  This alone will be disquieting to the reader in extending the analogy to much of the hype and spin placed on the actions of the newsmakers.

Can the media be bought?  Can lawmakers be influenced to vote a position because of personal gain?  The media everything, This book depicts the classic struggle between might and right; and between raw power and thoughtful evaluation.    For some, the will of the people doesn’t matter since ‘people don’t count’ as one major character says in the book.

Cancel Christmas is about character, and the conflicting emotions and forces that permeate human life – greed, fear, love, tradition, duty, and conscience.  One reviewer stated, “…a timeless tale that speaks volumes to all of us….a modern Christmas Carol.” This story pits people into conflicts spawned by circumstances and by their individual motivation.

The fictitious industrialist Oliphant Timber Bleakheart is portrayed as a ruthless miser.  Nothing can interfere with his goal of ever richer, and hopefully the richest man in the world.  No person, no justice, and no tradition will interfere with him having his will done.  Political figures are bought and sold one way or another; people are ignored; and the only worthwhile goal is money.  He went into figurative orbit when he determined the cost of the Christmas vacation period during the Christmas Season.  For him Christmas vacation pay was robbing his pocketbook.  Performance, loyalty, and good will were no factors in his planning.  He becomes determined to reduce his cost. His peremptory command to his staff to “Cancel Christmas!” is the beginning of this delightful parody of people against the backdrop of the Christmas observance.

Timber Bleakheart enlists the aid of Senator Clairemont Roger Bigguns Christian, a senior U.S. senator from the south.  Christian is pressured by Bleakheart to support his efforts in the Senate, even to securing government funding to assist his plan.  The Senator is a throwback to the old days in the Senate with his predilections, including his habit of chewing tobacco and using a spittoon.   For Senator Christian the only aim in his life is re-election; and furthering his pet projects.  Representing the people and their wishes is no factor for consideration unless it will earn votes.

Intertwined with this effort is the relationship between Bleakheart’s two closest aides – his stunning assistant Cindy Powers and his General Counsel Sam Flint.  Both oppose his idea but do not dare to openly thwart him.  For them this is a classic struggle of integrity versus duty.

The story proceeds rapidly with those who support and oppose Bleakheart’s efforts to change Christmas forever.  The issue draws national and international attention.  There is a tsunami of activity as the holiday season approaches.

The book moves towards its startling conclusion.

I wrote this book because of my concern over what is happening in our society.  I chose Christmas as the central bargaining chip for the classic struggle of might versus right.  As the story developed in my mind and on paper, the characters took hold and began to control the story.  Hence I can say with complete honesty that this book is about character.  The fictitious characters I invented took over and made the story happen.

I hope you read this book and enjoy it.  I hope you too will look upon it as a modern-day ‘Christmas Carol’. I am deeply indebted to all those over the years who made each Christmas of my memory so vital and important as a time to share happiness and joy.  No matter what the religious belief,  Christmas has become much more than a religious holiday alone.  It has become a state of mind that allows us each year to relive the joy of new life, and to share that realization with others.   So let it be with this book.  Enjoy it, share it, live it.

Rocco Leonard Martino

October 5th, 2009

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