I have been waiting for this day! As many of my readers know, I have been following Hallmark Publishing since its inception, and while I adore the novelizations of their movies and have favorably reviewed several, it is with much joy that I introduce Hallmark readers to one of the writers who will be bringing one of the first original books to this publishing company! Alys Murray and I connected over Hallmark movies, When Calls the Heart, and the Hallmarkies Podcast, and the moment I discovered that she was in the midst of writing an original Hallmark book for Christmas, I snatched her up for an interview!

RH: Why did you decide to become an author?

AM: I was always a writer! When I was a little girl, I absolutely devoured books, taking several trips a week to the library during the summer. So as I grew up, I wanted to write stories of my own. I started my undergraduate degree pursuing a career in directing for the theatre, but as I took more and more playwriting classes, I realized writing was my true passion. Eventually, my love of writing and my love of love stories connected and I started writing novels!

What kind of training have you had and what education are you currently pursuing?

I graduated cum laude from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BA in drama (playwriting specialization) and a minor in political science. Though I spent my first two years at NYU on the New York City campus, I was accepted into a co-operative training program with NYU London, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, where I extensively studied playwriting. Currently, I’m pursuing my Master’s in Film Studies at King’s College London.

What was (or will be) the first thing you ever had published? 

I’m absolutely thrilled that The Christmas Company will be my debut novel!

How did you get connected with Hallmark publishing?

I actually saw them post on Twitter about their open submission period, and I knew I had to submit! About two weeks after I sent my book to them, I signed with my wonderful agent, Rebecca Angus, who helped me through the rest of the submission process. I’ve always loved Hallmark movies and as soon as I started writing The Christmas Company, I knew I wanted it to be a part of the Hallmark family of stories.

Please tell us about the current Hallmark book you’re writing and what inspired it.

The Christmas Company is a modern, romantic take on the “Christmas Carol” story. After inheriting his uncle’s company, Clark Woodward wants to shut down the Christmas festival his family owns, seeing it as a waste of money and resources. However, the plucky festival assistant, Kate Buckner, isn’t about to let someone take away the festival that’s so important to their town. So, she resolves to show him the magic of Christmas and win the festival back.

The inspiration for The Christmas Company actually came to me when I was in a sad place in my life. At the time, I was living in a tiny, sad, lonely apartment in London. Because I worked from home, I was always in this tiny, sad, lonely apartment, which meant I, in turn, was often sad and lonely. So one day, when I just couldn’t get out of bed because I didn’t want to open my eyes and look at that room anymore, I just closed my eyes and thought to myself, “Okay. If I could be anywhere else in the world—anywhere else—where would I be?”

From there, I started to envision a town square. A cute one. With lots of friendly people. Oh, and it had to be Christmas. (Christmas is my favorite time of year.) And there would be a clock tower and a town hall at one end of the square. And maybe there’d be some kind of event going on, something fun and festival for the holidays.

Soon, I’d daydreamed the town square of Miller’s Point, and before I knew it, Clark and Kate and their story were in my head. I knew I had to write about this place.

So, before I knew it, I was jumping out of bed every morning to go to my computer and visit Miller’s Point. Writing about the place and the people who lived there made me feel so happy. It took me away from my sad, lonely apartment and filled me with the spirit of Christmas, even though it was only October!

I understand you are a Hallmark fan. Please tell us why you first started watching Hallmark and what you love about the network. Maybe even your favorites?

I absolutely love Hallmark. For Christmas on my twelfth birthday, my grandfather gave me about eight Hallmark movie DVDs. At the time, I didn’t really understand why he’d given them to me. I’d never seen a Hallmark movie before. But Poppy knew me too well! I am a sucker for a heartwarming love story, and I eventually watched them so much I could recite them from memory. Of those, A Boyfriend for Christmas is probably my favorite. More recently, I’ve loved The Lost Valentine, Harvest Moon, and A Princess for Christmas.

Also, I’d never watched When Calls the Heart, but all of those #hearties tweets piqued my interest, so I’ve just started watching it! I’m still on Season One, but I absolutely adore it!

Any other projects/books you are working on currently?

Currently, I’m working on two projects: the first is a series that follows The Anderson Family, who owns a flower farm and a few flower-related businesses. Each book is about a different Anderson sister and each is inspired by a different Jane Austen novel. The first, Full Bloom, is currently under its first round of revisions with my agent!

The second project I’m working on is a royalty romance. I don’t want to give too much away, but if you love movies like A Prince for Christmas, Once Upon a Prince and My Summer Prince as much as I do, you’re going to love it!

Since you’re in England, any favorite spots you’ve visited while there (or plan to visit)?

at Windsor Castle

So many! I was just in Windsor for the Royal Wedding and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Bath is also a beautiful, quaint city with so many wonderful museums and sights! Oxford is similarly lovely; I once spent an entire day in the Ashmolean Museum, when it was only supposed to be my first stop of the day!

Who are your favorite authors? How have they inspired you?

There’s so much pressure in this question! I don’t want to leave anyone out! I love Claudia Gray, Elizabeth Gaskell, Winifred Watson, Therese Beharrie, Sarah Addison Allen…

But I think my Desert Island Read Author is Sarah Sundin. She writes 1940’s Inspirational Historicals, the first of which I picked up entirely by accident! Her writing voice has a strength and clarity to it that is hard to describe, but every time I pick up one of her books, I find myself laughing and crying and feeling for the characters as if they were my friends and family. My copy of With Every Letter has been read so many times it’s literally falling apart!

What is your writing process like? Or what would a typical day of writing look like?

I have to be very disciplined with my writing or else I’ll never get anything done! Typically, I start my day with exercise of some kind because it clears my mind and gets me ready to write. Then, I take a sheet of paper and at the top, I write the book’s name and the word count I need to hit for the day in order to make my deadline. Below that, I write out everything I think I’ll need to make my writing easier—the scene beats, character motivations, etc.—and then I just sit down and write the thing!

Do you have aspirations to write in other genres or styles or maybe even write a screenplay?

I would love to write historical romances! Before I ever read a Sarah Sundin novel, I’d wanted to write 1940’s Historical romances and even wrote several plays set during that time period, so if I could write my dream project, it would be a World War II set romance. I would love to write a screenplay! I’ve written several for university projects, but never something I expected anyone but a professor to look like, so I would love to write one for real!

What is your guilty pleasure?

A toasted blueberry pop-tart with butter! It’s the absolute best treat!

I am thrilled to the core to discover that Hallmark is about to begin publishing original books, and the way in which Alys has described this Christmas book of hers…I can hardly wait to be in first in line to read it! While I have not ever read anything that Alys has written (with the exception of these insightful interview responses), there is something about the effervescence of her infectious spirit that prompts me to gravitate towards her. In truth, I am convinced that if we lived nearer each other, we would be genuine friends as she and I have a lot of similar interests and likes (of course, that pop tart does sound quite unusual in one sense, but I have no doubt it must be a delectable treat). I have always had an affinity for A Christmas Carol, and the backstory of this novel is an entrancing tale in of itself. Therefore, I suggest that everyone who is reading this should visit all of Alys’ links listed below and follow her at once. After all, I have no reservations in assuming that all of you want to be amongst the first to read an original Hallmark Christmas book, right? I mean, if you’re reading this already, you are more than likely a devoted and discriminating Hallmark aficionado, and there is nothing more appealing to a true Hallmarkie than surrounding himself/herself with crave-worthy Christmas stories year ’round while supporting gifted creatives like Alys in the process!

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