What Makes Santa Tick

The surest way to get Santa to spend more time leaving lots of toys and goodies at your tree is to fill your home with fun, loud Christmas cheer -- just like this family:

We get so much joy from videos like this. The elves really need to see how much you need Christmas. Otherwise they'll get lazy and make really stupid toys you would never want to play with.

To the family that shared this video, thank you for being so Merry!

What I'm Thankful For

To all my friends in the U.S., I wish you a Merry Thanksgiving.

The festive turkey feast is quite important to us here in the North Pole -- because so many of you can't seem to get serious about Christmas until you get this other holiday out of the way. So after today, no more excuses. You'd better haul out the holly.

This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for many things.

I'm thankful that Taylor Swift won a special award at the AMAs this week, because that girl really needs a little recognition.

I'm thankful that none of my friends at North Pole High have been drafted to fight in the War on Christmas. I'm thankful for eggnog and mistletoe and peppermint milkshakes and candy canes dipped in chocolate.

I'm super thankful for reaching 3,000 followers on Twitter this week!

And I'm thankful to each and every one of my 3,000 followers. Including you, if you follow.

I'm super-duper thankful to the Kindle elves for fixing a bug in the Kindle edition of my critically acclaimed book, North Pole High: A Rebel Without a Claus.

On some Kindle devices, the ending was cut off. If you think you may have been affected by this, contact me using the 'Contact Me" form in the sidebar on the right hand side of my web site and I'll help you upgrade to the brand new 2nd Edition!

In addition to the technical fix, this edition, which is also available for the Nook and other eReader devices, includes a brand new, exclusive, in-depth interview with the author (me), as well as a handy Reading Group Guide with questions and topics for discussion!

If you purchased the paperback edition from Amazon, you can get the Kindle version, with this fun bonus content, for just ninety-nine cents.

And if you're new to North Pole High, be on the lookout for a super generous Black Friday discount on the ebook in all formats tomorrow! Who knows? The price cut might even be in effect by the time you finish your turkey tonight!

Gobble, gobble!

Even Stoplights Blink a Bright Red and Green

Less than a month to go! Soon it will be Santa's big day! It's definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmastime in the city. When you finish your turkey tomorrow, you'll no longer have an excuse. Put up your tree, string up the lights, and SING!

I love this bouncy, snappy rendition of one of my favorite classic carols, Silver Bells, by Canadian singer Meaghan Smith, from her 2009 release, It Snowed. See how she makes the trees light up just by touching them? She might really be from the North Pole.

Everybody Nose The Christmas Song, Right?

As saxophonist Dave Koz and his friend, South African singer/guitarist Jonathan Butler, prepare to embark on their annual holiday jazz tour, they have a hilarious disagreement over some of the lyrics to The Christmas Song.

For the record, yes, reindeer really do know how to fly.

My Writing Secrets

Want to find out about my writing process and what inspires me to write and how I went about finding a publisher? Gee, you're nosy. Well, okay then. Go read this interview I did with my friends at Book Goodies!

While you're there, take a look at all the great free and bargain-priced ebooks they list, and sign up for their newsletter too. You won't want to miss their jam-packed YA holiday book buyer's gift guide. (Guess whose book was selected to be featured in it?)

Merry Reading!

Say, Was That a Wink?

Recently unearthed video of Christmas singing sensations Idina Menzel (Holiday Wishes) and Michael Bublé (Christmas) when they were kids shows they always liked to dance to winter favorite, Baby, It's Cold Outside. Weren't they adorbs? They even changed the controversial date-rape line to "Say, was that a wink?" How cute!

You can tell this is really Idina & Michael by their voices, and because when they look in the mirror, they can see their future selves. I'm still waiting for the elves to make me a mirror like that. They say they have one but it won't work for me because I never age.

Don't Worry, Be Merry!

I absolutely adore Pentatonix's mash-up of "Winter Wonderland" and "Don't Worry, Be Happy" from their new release, That's Christmas to Me. It's a very McFerrin Christmas. My only suggestion is they should have changed it to "Don't Worry, Be MERRY."

What are your favorite new Christmas releases?

Holly Jolly Jennifer Lawrence

When asked to demonstrate her vocal talents while promoting The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 on Late Show with David Letterman last week, Jennifer Lawrence chose one of my favorite Christmas songs to massacre.

Hope you have a holly jolly Christmas, J-Law! And a glass of beer? :)

Contest Deadline Extended

 ’Tis the month before CHRISTMAS.

I hope it comes fast.

Let’s start getting JOLLY

’cause Halloween’s past!

Merry November, everyone!

Guess what? By popular demand, we have extended the deadline for entering the North Pole High Video Contest!

Those of you who pre-registered in October, thank you. I can't wait to see your videos!

If you did not register in October, it's not too late. Just post your video any time during Round One and send its link to videos@northpolehigh.com as soon as it's up.

Round One begins at midnight, Pacific time, on November 1, 2014, and ends at midnight, Pacific time, on November 30, 2014.

The earlier in November you upload your video, the more time you will have to gather likes, views, and comments needed to become a Finalist, so don't wait till the last minute. Could you imagine what would happen if Santa and the elves waited till the last minute to bring you Christmas?

Be sure to read all the rules and terms and conditions and stuff first.

Good luck!

UPDATE: As of November 11, submissions for this contest are no longer open.
(The elves sincerely regret any inconvenience this may have caused.)