Scott Township resident authors Christmas novel
A Scott Township resident and Observer-Reporter columnist has published his first novel, a holiday-centered tale of a comedy writer journeying home to Connecticut for the seasonal festivities.
“All I Want for Christmas” was picked up by Boroughs Publishing Group and published in September. It’s Mike Buzzelli’s second book, the first being “Below Average Genius,” a collection of his columns for the daily newspaper in Washington, Pa., which publishes The Almanac.
The novel began life as a screenplay, Buzzelli said, and he decided to modify what he had for the printed page.
“I always wanted to write a book,” Buzzelli explained last month. “I didn’t think it would be a romance. That was the surprise to me.”
It was a matter of “just expanding things,” he said.
“I wanted to put in as many Christmas things as I could,” Buzzelli added. “Christmas is a wonderful time of year. But there’s a lot of frustration.”
In his book, the main character loses her luggage, loses her job and loses her front teeth when she collides with a man in a Santa suit. But that collision could lay the groundwork for romance.
There are some autobiographical elements in the book, most notably that Kate Nolan, one of the protagonists, is a Los Angeles-based screenwriter.
Buzzelli himself spent some time on the West Coast, doing some screenwriting and stand-up comedy and working in development and business planning for the Walt Disney Company. He eventually returned to the area and resides in the home in which he grew up. As a comedian, he has performed as such storied venues as the Improv and Comedy Store in Los Angeles.
Along with his columns and the novel, Buzzelli writes theater and arts criticism for the online magazine ‘Burgh Vivant.
Buzzelli began the process of reworking “All I Want for Christmas” into a novel last December, “just to get in the head space” of the holiday season, and wrapped it up in “the hottest part of July.” It’s sold well in the Pittsburgh region so far, and Buzzelli is looking toward penning a second novel, this one set in Washington, D.C.
“We’ll see how that goes,” Buzzelli said.
For additional information on “All I Want for Christmas,” go online to boroughspublishinggroup.com/books/all-i-want-christmas.