After Sharon Crites daughter watched a television broadcast about homelessness, her daughter asked Crites if she could bring a homeless person into their own home for Christmas.
Youve gotta be kidding, was Crites initial reaction.
Because there are so many different things that factor into that decision, she said.
But Crites novel, Somethin Warm for Christmas, tells the story of a mom who answers yes.
The story is about Carol Brentwood, once an orphan, who eventually allows her daughter, Sarah, to save a persons life.
The novel is a wholesome, family, feel-good story that is both appropriate for adults and middle schoolers, Crites said.
Some readers have mentioned the plot would make a great Christmas movie.
Marketing is such a hard part of it that I just enjoy the writing, she said. And, if nothing else, my kids will get it, but I never ever tried to write a movie script.
Crites wrote the book to give to her nine grandchildren as a Christmas gift this year.
The 140-page paperback will be for sale at the Cortez Cultural Center, 25 N. Market St., until supplies last. Crites will be available for a book signing at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, during the Cortez Cultural Centers Merry Miniatures Art Show.
Crites has given seminars the past two years at the Cortez Cultural Center about her passion for keeping family stories alive.
Ive always written since I was little, she said.
The Crites family lived in Phoenix when the news program about how difficult it is to be a homeless person aired in early December 1986.
If you dont have an address, you cant get a job, Crites said. And they talked about the commercialism of Christmas, so thats why I got the idea (to write the book).
Crites and her husband were living in Phoenix with their three children when their daughter asked to help a homeless person.
They have since moved to Southwest Colorado, where Crites has the time to pursue her hobbies: masonry, woodworking and writing.
But, in 1986, she wasnt able to forget the news broadcast that inspired her daughter to ask for help in bringing a homeless person into their house for Christmas.
They were asking people who had camp trailers in their backyard to help, and they gave examples from previous years of people who had taken in families, Crites said about the news show. So it was a really touching story.
She was able to draw inspiration from that news broadcast and several of her experiences as a mother of three to write and publish her first novel, Somethin Warm For Christmas.
I never got over the images, so I wrote a story about a little girl who wanted to help a homeless person, Crites said. And its also about a mom who grew up an orphan, who never had anything, so she vowed to help her daughter.
Crites self-published the novel through Bookstand Publishing in September 2011, after working on three drafts over the course of more than 20 years.
I always thought it would be fun to write my own Christmas book for my grandkids, so thats really why I did it, she said.
Every year at Christmastime, while her children were growing up, Crites would read them a chapter a night of a holiday-themed book.
She believes writing is important in order to pass history on to new generations.
And Ive been a member of the Cortez Writers Group for probably 25 years, she said. And were always trying to get new people to join us.
Reach Nathalie Winch at [email protected].
