“You know sometimes luck, fate, chance—whatever you want to call it—shines down so bright it makes life seem like something from a storybook.

That’s how it happened for me and the city of Abilene. By chance, I set my book Santa Calls there. The main character’s name was Art Atchinson Aimesworth and I wanted him to wear a cowboy hat. So obviously he couldn’t be from New Jersey or Boca Raton. Abilene, Texas fit like a four Beaver Stetson. It sounded just right. Of course, I’d never actually been to Abilene. I don’t often visit the places I write about. Not the North Pole, Mars, or the Lost City of Atlantis. How was I supposed to know Abilene was a city of cock-eyed optimists and dreamers? 

The book had been out for about two weeks when I got a call from the Mayor. The next thing I know they’d built a museum, and erected a statue of my characters.The NCCIL is a great achievement. They put art and literature on a pedestal there. They’ve made life more vivid and dreams come more alive for countless children and grown-ups.Things like that don’t happen in real life very often. So in true storybook fashion I’m sure that the NCCIL and the town from which it sprang will live ‘happily ever after.’”