Today on the blog, we are so honored to have the wonderful Toni Blake here to tell us about her writing The Christmas Box and some of the revelations that came along with it. Toni, take it away.
People often ask me, and probably all novelists, if events or people from my real life make it into my books. The answer has always been no, that while my personal experiences certainly color my work in various ways, actual “real life stuff” does not usually appear in my stories.
But never say never, because suddenly, forty or so books into my career, that has changed with the Box Books. In The Christmas Box in particular, this began with the setting: The small, rebounding-from-hard-times town of Winterberry, Kentucky is loosely based on my own hometown of Williamstown, Kentucky. Mostly, it inspired the geography of the fictional town, but my old hometown is also slowly bouncing back after many years in decline. That’s been amazing to see, and it was fun reflecting that in The Christmas Box.
And before I knew it, more aspects of my youth began creeping in to the story as well. Maybe that’s because I spent so much time mentally in my little town while writing, or it might just be about the current season of my life. My parents passed away a few years ago, officially severing my ties with the area where I grew up, and as I’ve mourned them, I think I’ve also mourned that connection to the place that made me.
Either way, when I wrote about the farmhouse where Travis grew up, I found myself visualizing a farm outside Williamstown where I once lived. When Travis thought through a cherished memory of his father, I realized how closely it mirrored a memory of my own. And so on and so on.
More of my real life appeared on the pages as I described Travis’s visits to the nursing home where his father lives. His emotions are my emotions when I would walk into the facility where my mother was cared for the last few months of her life. And some of the things that take place in that part of the story were strongly inspired by events that really happened there.
Of course, there’s plenty in the book that did not come in any way from my real life: a resilient heroine opening a Christmas shop, a rugged hero forced to confront his past, an adorable stray dog named Marley, and a box that makes wishes come true. But it’s a lot of those little “around the edges of the story” elements that really came from my personal experience.
And I would go so far as to say writing this book became cathartic for me, and the same is true of the other two Box Books, The Wedding Box (already available) and The Valentine Box (coming in January 2025.) I didn’t plan that – it just happened. The writing of these novels has helped me to work through grief of many kinds – in some cases allowing me to tell better stories than what really happened, righting some wrongs in the world as best I can, even if that’s only through words. At other times, I suppose I’m just attempting to honor the places and people that are a part of me.
So I can no longer say I don’t write about my real life. Up to now, I think I never found that life interesting enough to put into books, but as times change, so can one’s perspective about their own journey.
I have no idea if this is a change in my process that will persist beyond these three books – only time will tell. But these stories have become very near and dear to my heart. An early review of The Christmas Box called it “authentic and awesome,” and I couldn’t ask for any two more complimentary adjectives! Overall, I think the true heart connection I feel with this book is something that comes across on the page and makes it sing. If you love a heartwarming, romantic, funny, small town Christmas read, I hope you’ll check it out and that it will make your season bright.
Want to learn more about The Christmas Box? Check it out below:
She loves Christmas!
He hates Christmas!
Can one wish upon a Christmas star change everything?
Toni Blake’s love of writing began when she won an essay contest in the fifth grade. Soon after, she penned her first novel, nineteen notebook pages long. Since then, Toni has become a RITA™-nominated author of more than twenty-five contemporary romance novels, her books have received the National Readers’ Choice Award and Bookseller’s Best Award, and her work has been excerpted in Cosmo. Toni lives in the Midwest and enjoys traveling, crafts, and spending time outdoors.
You can find her on her website, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Bookbub!
