Lee W. Allen

I originally wrote The Special Guest for my two older children back when they were in grade school. After reading it to the extended family that Thanksgiving in 1992, I put it on the shelf for posterity, never dreaming of actually publishing. A couple of years later my wife Donna, an artist by profession, stated she wanted to dabble in becoming a children's book illustrator. I suggested she illustrate The Special Guest and we self-publish the book. That was December 1994. The following Christmas we published and released the first edition placing it in a local grocery chain in Richmond called Ukrop's. It was a standout local bestseller. We made the local TV news, had newspaper write-ups and sold 6,500 copies.

Soon after New York publishers came courting. Eventually we decided on Kensington Publishing after the editor-in-chief flew down to Richmond and promised a full blown publicity campaign for the book the next Christmas. A few weeks later Hollywood got the news and producers came courting. We agreed for CBS to option the book for a Movie of the Week adaptation. Christmas 1996 was an exciting year for The Special Guest with a two edition hardcover 300,000 printing and a movie deal.

Now 20 years later from when The Special Guest was first published, Donna and I have reissued a special 20th anniversary edition of The Special Guest. This coincides with plans to produce a full feature film adaptation. Something I as the author have dreamed of doing for many years now.

So stay tuned and after reading The Special Guest we hope you will become a fan of the movie project. Thanks for stopping by.

Our current social media addresses:

Website: www.thespecialguestchristmasbook.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/LeeWAllen

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheSpecialGuest

Look out for The Special Guest sequel Legend of the Camel's Bell to be released Christmas 2015.

Happy Reading!