Sheila Roberts --- the former owner of a singing telegram company and bestselling author of THE SNOW GLOBE --- reflects on her favorite winter ornament…and explains why, this holiday season, you should take a closer look inside a snow globe.Don’t you love snow globes? I do, especially ones with nativity scenes, winter landscapes, beautiful angels and Santas --- in short, snow globes with anything Christmas, which is my favorite holiday. There is something so comforting about shaking a snow globe, stirring up a blizzard, and watching as the scene emerges. It never changes: No avalanches ruin little Alpine villages, and no one catches cold from standing around in the snow. The people inside are always happy. (And they never gain weight, no matter how much they eat over the holidays…talk about a perfect life!) Maybe that’s one of the reasons why snow globes have such a universal appeal. We like to think that --- no matter what shakes up our world --- once the snow settles, all will be well. And I do believe that’s a good attitude to take through life: No matter what is going on in the now, the future still holds possibility.
And that is what the three main characters in my new book, THE SNOW GLOBE, find when they stumble on a snow globe in an antique shop that has quite a history --- this snow globe has a way of showing people just what they need to see. It’s been passed from generation to generation, and it always finds its way into the hands of someone who’s in need of a Christmas miracle. And now it’s going to pass between three women: Kiley, whose poor excuse of a boyfriend dumped her for her sister just in time for the holidays; Suzanne who thinks her overscheduled, oh-so-perfect life is just fine; and Allison, whose family puts the fun in dysfunctional.
I enjoyed writing this book so much partly because Christmas is my favorite holiday, so getting to tell a holiday tale was a real treat. But I also enjoyed writing it because I really believe the message behind it. This is the season of miracles, the season of hope.
When you look in a snow globe, what do you see? If you were given a magical snow globe, what would you want to see? When I look at a perfect little scene inside a snow globe, I see how life should be: filled with beauty and hope. And I feel inspired to do my best to bring good into the lives of those around me.
Life has a way of shaking our world and blasting us with blizzards just when we’ve packed away our winter clothes, but my wish for all of us this season is that, once the snow settles, we’ll come away from it encouraged and see the possibilities for a better future.
Have a Snow Globe making party with friends! Click here to learn the easy steps to make your own Snow Globe and enter to win a Thomas Kinkade Snow Globe and copy of THE SNOW GLOBE.
And don’t forget to check back tomorrow, as Melissa Clark kicks off the Hanukkah season with special story and a recipe for some truly delicious potato latkes.
