How I Got Into the Christmas Spirit by Julie Cameron

Several years ago, while I was working with my manager in Los Angeles for my screenplays, she asked me if I had any that were holiday themed.

“They’re really looking for holiday movies right now,” she told me, which wasn’t great news for me at the time. I struggle mightily with the holidays.

But I didn’t want to lose momentum with my manager, so I said, “Uhhh… I can put one together.” Never say, “No” to your representation when you’re first starting out, right?

I ran away from home and holed-up in a condo in Winter Park, Colorado for a week to get it done. I brought in food, wine (lots of wine), and stayed in a place without internet access so that I could focus entirely on writing the screenplay. The pizza delivery guy and I were on a first name basis.

My first idea was to expose the commercialism around Christmas and make it an enlightening expose on how it’s all about the money.

Did I mention that I struggle with the holidays?

Or that I actually write romantic-comedies?

I wrote frantically at odd hours of the day and night, almost never leaving the condo for the entire week. When I finished the first draft, I was really excited about it. And so was my manager. And that was the birth of Christmas Spirit in screenplay format.

But, here’s the thing: It didn’t end up being about commercialism. I had interwoven all of my favorite family traditions and turned it into a love story, not only between the hero and heroine, but about Christmas itself. I realized that I love my family traditions, and that family is the very best part about the holiday season. My new screenplay was an homage to the holiday season.

The problem came, however, when I realized that, if I sold the screenplay, I would lose the rights to the story. I had become very attached to my story and the characters.

No problem, I thought. Simply “plop” it into novel format, put it in past-tense, add more detailed descriptions around all the dialogue, and voila! Instant book. Easy-peasy.

Not so much…

I did all of that, then sent it to my Content Editor for input. His response? “Yeah, you write like a screenwriter.” We worked, and then we worked some more. The book finally came together and was the beginning of a whole new series – and a whole new way of writing – for me.

Christmas Spirit is the first in the Landon Legacy series. The second book, Family Spirit came out in 2017, and also has a screenplay. The third book and screenplay, because, yes, I tend to write both at the same time now, is in-progress (I’ll probably need to run away from home again).

The screenplays for both Christmas Spirit and Family Spirit are currently with a production company in Los Angeles. (Nope, not Hallmark.)

Keep your fingers crossed for Christmas Spirit as a holiday movie in 2020. Putting it out there, gang. Wish me luck!

Julie Cameron is an award-winning author and screenwriter of contemporary romance and romantic comedy. She sits on the Boards of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers (RMFW), and Writer's Guild of Astoria.  She is a member of Romance Writers of America (RWA), the Rose City Romance Writers Chapter of RWA, Willamette Writers, and Oregon Writers Colony. 

As a content editor, writing coach and instructor through her company, Landon Literary, Julie is also a member of Independent Book Publishers Assn. (IBPA), Colorado Independent Publishers Assn. (CIPA), Editorial Freelancers Assn. (EFA), and Northwest Editor’s Guild.

When she isn’t writing or working with clients, Julie enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and fellow authors in the literary community.

To learn more about Julie check out these links:
Landon Legacy series
www.JulieCameron.net 
@JulieCameronAuthor 

@JulieCameron.writer