Karen Schaler

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Laura Yamin: [00:00:00] Welcome to the watch your next podcast. Today's guest is Karen from a rough royal Christmas, Christmas gardener. She loves Christmas. She Breathes Christmas is a perfect guest from our Christmas za. Hi Karen. Tell us what you went up. Tell us. Tell us who you are. 'cause we already recorded this episode, but it did not make it past the phase.

So we're rerecording it, not because it was bad, it's just because the audio was not existent. Karen, tell us a little bit about yourself and what you've been up

Karen Schaler: How could we not have audio working with all the talking I did. I might have

Laura Yamin: Yeah.

Karen Schaler: I mean, I'm so passionate when it comes to talking about Christmas because I love the holiday. I love this. Storytelling, and I feel like it's a one time of year that we can escape some of the chaos in the world with these cozy and comfortable stories.

So a quick backstory about myself is I started off as a journalist, still a journalist in, in my heart always, but. I was a hard news journalist, meaning I was a war correspondent. I was in Bosnia. I was in Afghanistan embedded with the troops. [00:01:00] I was investigative reporter. I was on the southern border. I won three Emmys.

I've done executive produced and created three or two documentaries, one a half hour, won an hour about being in war zones. Bringing you those human stories from the soldiers. So I've always been a storyteller. Even when I was very, very small, my mom said I was writing stories and I would like wanna tell everybody and chat, chat, chat.

But it wasn't just about me. They were like these fantastical, imaginative stories and. Always loved Christmas movies as my therapy. I have a travel show called Travel Therapy and it inspires and powers through travel and it was after I left TV News, I had gotten out of Afghanistan and I had done my documentary and it was time for a change.

I wanted to do stories that inspired and empowered and I had been doing, working in war zones and really difficult situations. But when I would come home from those experiences every Christmas I would. Escape into the Hallmark movies. I would get on my little jammies. I would get my favorite drink and [00:02:00] cookies.

And it was just literally a way to disconnect and just kind of lock into that feeling that made me feel safe. I love that you knew what was coming. I love, they were cheesy. I, I love it. That that's what I wanted, that comfort. So when I left TV news, I started a travel show. I traveled to 68 countries. I'm still doing this.

And that to me is inspiring and empowering. But all of a sudden, Laura, I couldn't travel. I had a small medical thing and I'm like, what do you mean? And it was three weeks happened to be over the holidays. I'm living in New York City in a studio the size of a tin can, and I am watching Hallmark movies.

And I said, wait, I've always wanted to write one. Is this my chance? So I studied it like a reporter. I literally had an old school notebook and I'm like, oh. The first commercial breaks here. This is how many commercial breaks they meet within 10 minutes. This is the near Miss Kiss. I basically studied the genre that I love so much.

I always, that's the tip I give when I'm teaching classes or talking about writing these movies and books that I do, and that's when I really leaned into it. I wrote my [00:03:00] first story. I started. Researching, who do I send it to? And if kind of from there, it's history. I sent a story called The Christmas Prince.

I thought it was gonna be on, on Hallmark, and it ended up being Netflix's first original Christmas movie. I quickly did three other movies and within 18 months Christmas camp for Hallmark. And then every day is Christmas and rediscovering Christmas for Lifetime Christmas Camp. After the movie, I wrote the book.

And then after Lifetime, the movie starring Tony Braxton. I wrote the book Every day is Christmas, and recently when I was talking to executives that buy the movies asking what they wanted, they wanted another royal story like Christmas Prince. And honestly, Laura, as you probably know, the fans of a Christmas prince.

I love them so much and, and on TikTok where you can follow me, they're like, when do we get number four? We had one, two, and three and I said, you have to talk to Netflix. I have no control. I'm really blessed that while I started with Harper Collins, I also have my self-publishing company. So a rough Royal [00:04:00] Christmas is this year's story.

It is the answer to the fans that wanted a Christmas Prince four because it has all the royal hijinks. It has a royal twist that no one sees coming. And I'll be honest, that is not easy. It features stormy this amazing rescue dog. And I'll just tell you like really quick and what it's about. It's, it's kind of a flip of what we see on these royal romances.

So we have a princess. She's pretty uptight because she's planning this fabulous ball for her dad who has passed away. It's in his honor, so she wants it perfect. Understandably. However, her mom, the queen, is not your normal queen. She's quirky. She's fun. She's a little wild. So the princess has to have like more of a.

A mother role kind of to keep an eye on her mom, and that's why people say it's giving Gilmore girls because of the mother-daughter banter and some of the things that we see in hear. But meanwhile, the mom, God bless her, brings home an adorable little border Collie rescue pup named Stormy, only Stormy.

Likes destroying Christmas decorations and all the preparations the princess is doing for the ball. So after Stormy is [00:05:00] taking everything out, the princess says, mom, we can't, I have my engagement party. This has to be perfect in dad's memory. And the queen's don't worry. I hired an American dog trainer.

He's a dog whisperer. He's gonna come pick up Stormy. He's gonna be fine. He'll be a perfect little angel. But then the mom takes off to Paris for a quick last minute shopping. The dog trainer doesn't show up on time. So when he does, the princess and him get into it, of course, and while they're arguing, stormy disappears.

So now the princess and the hot dog trainer Justin, have to work together. They're definitely fish out of water and opposite of track kind of situation for tropes. And they have to find stormy before the princess finds out they have lost her new. Favorite member of the royal family and it still has those small town vibes 'cause it takes you through the kingdom and the Christmas markets and all of that.

But here's where it's different, Laura, because I was looking at it for a movie, I really raised the stakes a lot more so than in my other, and when you read it, there are some big stakes and there's also a twist that nobody sees coming. And I'm so proud to say that the book came [00:06:00] out, right at the beginning of October and no one has ever seen the twist coming.

And so people are saying, wow, this is a, a different. Royal romcom. It's also not the Queen, not wanting her daughter, to marry a commoner. It's up the queen. I think of it as like Princess Margaret back in the day, and Princess Elizabeth, she's, I kind of love the queen. She's one of my favorite characters.

And I did, I did POV of the Queen. I put the queen's POV in here, which isn't usually probably normal. So I'm so grateful to share this story, and thank you for letting me share the little blurb about it, because. To me, I, you actually said it best, princess Diaries meet Gilmore Girls. And if you like to Christmas Prince, I'm like, I'm done.

That's easy. I could've just said that because, and it's making people happy and it's an escape and it's one of those reads that you do in a day, less than a day, you can just get your cocoa and all of that. And Yes, I did write the movie first and so if you want, depending on where this conversation goes, I can tell you where I am with that.

But. I feel so blessed because the year prior I broke [00:07:00] my hand on Christmas Eve and I wasn't able, it was the first time I wasn't able to have a Christmas book for people since my debut in 2018 and that I was heartbroken. And I know some of my fans that reach out, they were really sad too. So that's why this means a lot and it's the dedication probably means the most.

There are two women that are lovely, Elisa and Terry that I met. At my dad's care home and they have six rescue dogs, and they haven't had vacation in years because a lot of them are sick and they don't feel comfortable leaving the pups at home. And so it's dedicated to them and all rescue organizations and veterinarians and trainers.

For our forever furry friends and for everyone out there that has a pet, I think they would really love the story and connect with it. We even have recipes in this, as and treats for stormy healthy treats. They include like fresh mashed blueberries and flaxseed 'cause only healthy for our pups.

I, my dad ate one. He's there's nothing bad in here. It's almond flour. Can I try it? I'm like, you can if you start barking after I'm done.

Laura Yamin: So you gotta talk to us about [00:08:00] the story of how this book got inspired because it was a pt, it was when you were yelling

your hand, you were watching, infomercials for, for rescue animals. And we were like, Hey, this could be a story. The dog came

Karen Schaler: Well, I wished I was, I wished I was that smart, Laura, because honestly, my brain doesn't really work that way. I mean, that's not true. I'll see one like a handkerchief on the ground and I'll all of a sudden have an entire movie. But in this case, 'cause I was sort of out of it, I'm in physical therapy and they had a show on called Lucky Dog if anyone knows it.

And it was just silent. And like I said, it was just this and it was just captions. But there was this really nice looking young man trainer and all these little dogs that had issues and even the people have issues. 'cause we know it's really the people. This is my philosophy and as I'm watching it and then.

Fast forward when I had to come up with something last minute on the fly live. It'd be like if you said, Karen, I have an opportunity to write a movie. What do you got? I need to know right now. Because that was my experience and I had just been with Elisa and Terry [00:09:00] talking about their dog, and they have a dog I affectionately named Devil Dog because it terrorizes things.

And that's where Stormy is, devil Dog. \ And he's like a little. I'm not sure what he is. He has a little black tough on his head that looks like little horns. The real live devil dog and devil with love, of course, his real name, Sadie her real name. So I think that when I was, doing this, it all kind of came together and I love dogs so much.

So thank you for saying that. I wish I could say I watched it and went, I'm gonna make this movie. This is brilliant. But it came out of desperation and then I think. The best stories I say, and I'm sure from all of the stories that you share has a personal connection. Like a Christmas prince, I was a reporter and I was sent out to get the dirt on all the bad things, right?

Whether it's war or investigative. And so obviously in a Christmas prince she sent to get the scoop on the Playboy prince. I had been to the UK with tourism. I had covered where Prince William and Kate lived on the Isle of Angle Sea. Real life imitating. Art is, I think, the most important.

So when you tell a [00:10:00] story, it comes from your heart and something authentic. And I think, and I hope the readers and then the people, if it's made into a movie, can feel that too.

Laura Yamin: So talks about being Christmas all year round in some ways. 'cause you're, this is your high season, this is your peak season. We're just in that Christmas time. , You have created Christmas camp, which is in real life event. You have written movies, which are renaissance. Certain times of the year, you're writing books and you're only writing Christmas books.

Ro Kongs, which is delightful for readers who just love, to read Hallmark movies in bookmark. So how does it do, how does it work? Because you don't live, in a cold weather, and like state, I, we're not discussing where you live, but you're not, you live in a warm weather state for the most part.

Karen Schaler: And you're right. When I started this, I was in Manhattan. And what more magical place in the world to write a Christmas movie than New York City? I literally could walk outside in Central Park. I would go to Macy's and see the magical lights. There's so many free, I was just in New York a couple weeks ago [00:11:00] before everything was unveiled for Christmas.

But that's magical. But right now, yes, I am in the desert. I am in Scottsdale, Arizona, and so I do have a cactus that has Christmas lights on it. But a lot of people ask me, the majority of these movies are shot in June and July and Christmas camp, my first for Hallmark was shot in upstate New York and it was 85 degrees.

And I remember they were, had to wear. Sweaters and all of these kind of things. And they were sweating and you're putting out either fake snow that's melting or this quote snow blankets or things like that. And these movies are shot in 14 days and they'll translate that to the book.

So the movie's being shot. And when I wrote Christmas camp, it's July. So people are like, how do you stay in the mood?. I wish I had it with me. I do five things to kind of get me in the mood and it's the senses. I didn't even know I did this until I started teaching about how to write Christmas movies.

I, I do this for Story Summit. We have arts coming up and I'm so proud to say that some students that had never written books or [00:12:00] movies took the courses and these aren't my courses. I'm not selling anything here. It's a way to give back with Story Summit and they are all about empowering, inspiring writers by bringing in mentors like myself.

But they've sold movies that are on Hallmark. Have been on. And I gave them the same tips that you have to immerse yourself in Christmas. I don't care if you have screaming children, a screaming husband, screaming sisters, brothers, roommates in college, you've gotta find a space and surround yourself. So when I look up, I even had started an Etsy store and it's called oh my gosh, I should know my store it.

You put Karen s Show. But it's like writing for, I think for success. But it's because people said, well, where do you get these things? So I created art with an artist that had inspiring quotes. So when I look up, there's inspiring quotes. Then I have Christmas ornaments. I have a candle that's a Christmas movie watching candle that has pine scent.

Now, you don't have to buy things from my Etsy store, but what you can do is what I did. Trader Joe's has this amazing little pine candle for 3

Laura Yamin: Oh, it's so good. It actually had hand soap. I just got the hand soap. So you can wash your

[00:13:00] hands and smell like Christmas?

Karen Schaler: what you do and Costco has like a trio with little people on it.

So what I do, Laura, is I buy that for all year round and I surround myself. So when I wake up in the morning, I put on Christmas music, I have a playlist, and right now I'm running, the upbeat, fun, hallmark movies. So you know, lifetime Netflix, pitching to all the people and Audible and Blackstone's.

My new audio publisher just. So many fun things. I get in the mood and then I like the smell, so I do the candle, I like the visual. And then I have, okay, don't mind, I'm gonna go outta screen 'cause not planned. Okay. I have things I can touch. I know he's my comfort gnome. I have a little snowman.

I don't know if people know from Costco. There was this awesome snowman for $9. He's like this big and he is like a hug. I won't come totally off camera to get him, but it's sort of a tactile and I have like just. Special little things and I will even make, because in like my new book, I have the recipes that are in the story.

So I started this with my first one and people can go [00:14:00] on my website@karenshaler.com. It's a free download and you can go just find my books and it'll say free gift at the top. It signs you up for my newsletter, which is all the fun freebies as well. But you get, it's now Laura, it started off as five pages.

'cause it was from my first book, like a couple recipes. I think it's 35 pages now. 'cause it's recipes from cocktails to cookies to Christmas activities. And it's a Christmas camp guide. We could talk about that. My real life Christmas camp. But like this one is, and this was the first time I've, this one's Sky Dova Christmas Butterballs.

They were in the story. Okay. This was the one I'm most proud of. Dark chocolate, peppermint bliss donuts.

Laura Yamin: So

Karen Schaler: I had never made donuts before. Okay. And I have to admit this, and some people are gonna love hate this just because that's how people are. I was watching Meghan Markle Netflix a special, which I not her her show, which I loved, and she showed baking donuts.

'cause I don't fried. I'm like, wait, she made it look so easy. She do, do, do. And it was like a cake. So she inspired me to put these donuts in [00:15:00] because then people could make them easily. And then of course, dark chocolate, peppermint. It's Christmas and they're delicious and they're so easy. And I have pictures of them, like when you download the recipes, but.

Besides stormy dog treats, which are awesome. And then I bought little hearts like cookie cutter so you can give the dogs because I think it matters the visual. I shot some video of trying 'em on my friend's six rescue dogs. 'cause then now you're like, oh my gosh, are the dogs going to eat 'em? I mean, I, I mean I, I was researching, 'cause these are all my original recipes.

So it, that's, I think, so for me it's a very long answer of, I immerse myself in Christmas. I love Christmas, and if anybody gets bored of it, I say I look around the world of what's going on, and there's, it's just, it's so hard for all of us right now, and Christmas is a one time a year that brings comfort.

So why not immerse myself as much as possible? I am working on a new series, a couple different series that are not Christmas. That are book series and TV series and it's not Christmas, but it's still comedy, drama, family, all the things. And there'll be Christmas [00:16:00] specials in both of them.

But yeah, it's exciting and I think I'll always want a Christmas story. It's one way or the other because it brings me joy and it's my tradition now, part of my.

Laura Yamin: I love that you have emerged into a portfolio career. Like it's not just a one thing or one job or one specific. You have multiple, like not diverse income stream, but like diverse places where you're actually pulling, feeling your creativity, where if one place you burn out, you can go to another medium or you can try something else and it allows you to have this artist way of. Portfolio of a career where you're able to kind of like do a little bit of everything and still be successful in that sense because you have the creative fulfillment of being able to pursue different projects.

Karen Schaler: And I think that's so important for creatives. As a creative, whether you're an artist, a writer, a screenwriter, an actor, it's so hard and you're seeing a lot of us do multitasking. I think it really started during COVID. I ha. It here because this is, I'm donating this to the children's organization I was sharing, even though it's an adult coloring book.

I was just [00:17:00] showing this in my last Zoom and it, but it's made like for adults, but it has these Christmas quotes, which I'm probably the most proud of because it has everything from Helen Keller to Washington Irving, Benjamin Franklin. And so a good example is AI told me to do this.

Okay. I don't write with ai, but I use AI all the time for like how to fix my refrigerator 'cause I don't wanna call a repairman.

And so it was interesting, there was a trend going around saying like a side hustle, what you could do. And as an independent author and someone that couldn't work for almost a year with a writer's strike, and then the broken hand, I'm like, I could use a, a side hustle, an extra income.

What do we got? And you put in who you are. And what your skills are. And AI told me I should do a Christmas coloring book, an adult Christmas coloring book. And I, 'cause I said I had $200, that's how much I had to invest in this project and I wanted to make a certain amount of money. And so at that point, I'm already entrepreneurial.

I'm thinking, I write Christmas movies, I write books, I write audio, which I love. I have an. Audible Original Once Upon a Christmas Carol, that's multicast. I'm so proud of that. It came [00:18:00] out a couple years ago. I got to bring in Ryan Pavy for the Hallmark Stars. He has such a sexy voice and so I got to kind of help produce that as well.

And I just love it. All of my, all of my stories audio, have audiobooks and this year's audiobook with the Rough Royal is an award-winning British actress and audio specialist. I just loved working with her. She's phenomenal. It just kind of gives. Don't we love those British voices. But then I turned Christmas Camp.

Hallmark movie is all about people that go to a special place to kind of disconnect. To reconnect with what matters most before Christmas. And you have all these different things that you do in the like little checklists so you can really know, get your heart into the spirit of the season. So after I wrote the movie and the book, so many people said, oh, I wish there was a real Christmas camp for adults we could go to.

And I. Told this to a local hotel, and this was when I was in Manhattan and I, I knew somebody in Arizona. It was the Phoenician, a luxury collection, part of the Marriott. And long and short, we decided to create one, a little Christmas camp experience, bring the movie to life where you felt like you were in a [00:19:00] movie.

And we just had three or four days, we put it up on the website and we hadn't told anybody, but I tweeted there is, and I gave the link. We hadn't even put programming and it sold out like 200 room nights in a half hour. And we were like, oh my goodness. So we had to make it 10 days and create the program.

And we did that 2018 and 19. And then we went into the pandemic and I was looking at bringing it back the last couple years. And every time I, I get ready to bring it back, it has to be right because it's. Just such a magical experience. Something will happen, which I think is the, the energy of, okay, this isn't the right opportunity.

Let's just wait for the perfect one. So I'm talking to different people here in the country, out of the country and just really wanting to bring that. So for me, it brought my love of travel and experiences because at Christmas camp, whether it's making cookies or cocktail mixology, or we bring in a florist that shows how you can buy flowers at Trader Joe's or in your own yard and make.

Things collect pine cones, different things that you can do, very affordably. And we've always wanted [00:20:00] to make it accessible to everyone. That's why I have the, the DIY Christmas camp Guide came because 18 and 19 people came and all of a sudden, 2020, nobody could came, could, came, could come. So I put that on my website and I was really happy.

I, to be honest, this year already we're just into December and I forgot to tell people about it just because I, I added so much to it back in July, maybe for Christmas in July. Thank you for the opportunity to share that because I hope people download and get stormy's favorite recipe, the cookies and the donuts and all the, all the good things.

So I think that any creative, I just encourage them that it's really hard and so maybe especially movies, one in a million get made, so maybe your movie's not getting made so you could write a book. Or even a novella, or a short story, or a Substack or, I was approached to do a TikTok shop, so now I have this book, a special edition with a bookmark that you can only get on TikTok shop.

And so that was something fun and something new different from, Amazon and Barnes and Noble and I, I partnered with [00:21:00] independent bookstores where to get autographed coffees, and this year I partnered with a bunch of libraries. Where I got to be in-person events, sign books, and then it goes back, the donations go back to help support them.

The only regret I have, and I shouldn't say that 'cause I got 25 days, 'cause we're filming this early in December, December 1st, is that I really wanted to do something with local SPCAs and for animal adoptions and find a way to give back. But there's lots of time we'll figure out

Laura Yamin: You can do it next year.

Karen Schaler: this and has ideas, reach

Laura Yamin: Yes. And these are evergreen books. Like you, you

don't have to just read the latest book. There's, you have a back list of Christmas books that you can go back to and you have a back list of Christmas movie that you can go back to. So they're evergreen. The thing about Christmas is that we love, if we love a story, if we love a movie, we.

Tend to watch it over and over because they bring us comfort and that's the

beauty of it. It's like, You just, you kinda like just keep it going and keep it happening. It is normal to see the same movie like 20 times. Like I've seen the Christmas Prince multiple times. It is normal.

It,

Karen Schaler: I mean, I love you for that. I love you for that. And [00:22:00] I wanna say you helped inspire me because , I'm new to self-publishing, so when people were saying, can you put it in Kindle Unlimited? I didn't even know what that was. The first year and, and that most everyone knows, especially your people that are listening and watching.

And so I put the first book, like after it came out for a year, then I put it in the next year, and then the new book would be, would wait a year. But this year is the first time because so many people ask, I put a Rough Royal Christmas immediately in Kindle Unlimited, so I have. Five books now of in Kindle Unlimited.

And that makes me so happy. And each one has a piece of the next one so you can keep reading. None of them are series, they're all standalones. But to your point, and so many people say there's several books that lean themselves to a tradition and of all my movies. I actually watch every day as Christmas, which is on Amazon Prime Now for free.

It's a lifetime movie starring Tony Braxton. She wanted to be the Scrooge, and it's the book right here. Every day is Christmas and it's the one the closest. When I teach a class, I say. Look at the [00:23:00] movie. Look at the book. They're identical except the book has a little more, right? We get to know more. Some behind the scenes and some more, but I wrote both of them.

I was on set for that movie. The other extreme is when you read Christmas Camp up here, I wrote the movie first and the book identical just like the other. However, so much changed because of budget, because of weather, I always say, read Christmas Camp first and you could get it so inexpensive. Besides Kindle Unlimited, your local libraries, thrift books always has, I love thrift books.

I love supporting independent bookstores. They have 'em for half price. I say, go get 'em, go get a used one. Just, or ask your library. But if you read Christmas camp and watch the movie, you will. See a lot of differences. The overall story's the same. There's no new characters, but little things were, taken out for budget, and some of it's so cheesy because I had to tell one scene really quick.

It's really short. 'cause when I met the director we talked about it. So I, the whole idea is Hailey is our. Our star, I, I still call it stars. I don't say protagonist 'cause it seems like such a weird word, but she is our [00:24:00] star in Christmas camp, but she is a star advertiser and she isn't into Christmas.

She's just too busy. And so she wants this Christmas toy account and her boss is you Christmas toys? No, no, you, no. And she's begging. So he is okay, go to Christmas camp. Graduate from Christmas camp and I'll let you pitch for the toys. You have to find your Christmas heart and all that. And she's oh, this is so crazy.

And there's a checklist. So she thinks she's gonna go in one day instead of six and she's gonna knock it off the list. But of course, the handsome son right, is of the, of the innkeeper, who's of Christmas camp is making sure she's not cheating and going through all of that. But when she goes in a room the first time, just picture this Laura.

She doesn't like Christmas. She's not into Christmas. And I say there are angels everywhere. There's angels here, there's angels there. And I'm describing, in this, in the movie for the director, all these angels even, she looks up and this angel is hanging from the ceiling, staring at her. And so when I saw the movie, you guys have to see it.

She goes into the room and there's angels and it's kinda so you know they got that right. But when she looks up, the angel is like this [00:25:00] big, like a paper a, I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. I mean, I pictured this, this beautiful, angel that was kind of big and floaty, and I'm like, so I meet the director.

I'm like, what the heck is that? It looks like it came outta a gumball machine. He goes, I think it did. We ran outta money. I'm like, oh my gosh. So those are the kind of stories that. I think you're so much fun, and thank you for letting me share that. 'cause it's one of my favorite one. I watched it for the first time, it actually released in a movie theater, so it's a Hallmark movie, but it was shot as a feature film and I got a call in Canada that it was releasing in a movie theater, and I was in New York and it was in Toronto.

I'm like, no, no. Mine is a television movie. They're like, Willie, your television movie is on a marquee at a movie theater in Toronto. So I flew to Toronto, bought a ticket popcorn with some friends, and I saw. A real life theatrical release, which was amazing for six months prior to Hallmark releasing it as part of Christmas in July.

But when that scene came, I have never seen it. Right. I just, I was like, whoa. I just started laughing so hard because I was like, [00:26:00] is this like a joke? And then I met the director and he was so cute and he talked about they ran outta budget. They were using their own clothes, all the, all the stories.

One story he just told, he came on people that pre-ordered, I had a special zoom where they could talk to him, the director of Christmas camp. I thought that was a fun way to thank people. I didn't know this story. He probably wouldn't have told it when it first came out. Right. But now it's, years later he said, I goes, tell us something we didn't know behind the scenes.

Funny stories. He goes, well, we had the inn just like you had in Christmas camp had described it. We had it perfect, but we arrive ready to go. We're shooting in 16 days. And we lost it. We couldn't shoot there. I'm like, what? And he goes, so we're driving around this town knocking on doors saying, hi, we're a Hallmark crew.

Can we rent your home? So they had to last minute, literally door knock to find it. And that explains why when you see the house in Christmas camp, that was the other thing, I'm like it just wasn't what I envisioned, and he is it's not what I envisioned either.

So these are the stories I love to share.

I know people that follow me [00:27:00] when I'm doing tiktoks and I'm always sharing these, 'cause I think that's what's fun to, especially if you're binge watching these kind of Christmas movies. There's so many great behind the scenes I love these behind scenes, so my gosh, they had to door knock. That actually could be a book. You're writing

I know,

Laura Yamin: a Christmas movie and you have to like, everything is shot and you're like, I gotta knock

on the door and

maybe the hot neighbor.

Karen Schaler: this was July as well. And, and he was going to inns 'cause it couldn't be a house. 'cause it had to be like an inn. So you have to find somebody that's not booked up. And they're like, I apparently they're like, well when are you shooting? They thought they'd be shooting at Christmas 'cause of Christmas movie.

Silly people. He's tomorrow. Tomorrow. We need the house tomorrow, like now. So I was grateful. I, I would love to meet the people that made their home an inn available, which is amazing. But when you see the exterior of it, so I'd like people to go back and watch it because it's so much more fun when you know the behind the scenes stories.

Look for the angel. Hmm.

Laura Yamin: Awesome. Alright, Karen, tell us where you about, tell us what you're planning for next year. Do you have ideas? So where? [00:28:00] Where's the rock? Royal Christmas is going. Maybe like a little hint for next year, 2026 moving forward.

Karen Schaler: Oh, I'd love to share. I have so many projects. I think the biggest thing as a creative is you're always looking forward, right? And you're trying to find the next story or it finds you. Because I thought of this as a movie first this year we are reaching out. Normally, the way that I have sold my movies is they buy 'em.

And as a writer you're sort of off the picture. You might get to go on set and in, in a television movie, the director, the network, they're the ones that do the casting and pick the actors and all of that, but this time we're actually finding our. Star, our princess because she's amazing.

And so we are looking at casting and, and having someone and putting the package together for several potential buyers. We're sort of in on it together. I have also reached out for the first time to I can't say too much, but internationally I wanna shoot internationally and really, use my travel destinations and lean into that.

You're seeing a lot of [00:29:00] that on Hallmark. I had pitched that 10 years ago when I started, but nobody was doing it. And I'm like, let's take people to other locations and, and see. But I'm also, as much as I love Christmas, I am also looking at a book series. I think I say it's kind of like Big Little Lies.

I mean, Virgin River ish, that type. That type of a vibe where it's a series, it'll be my first series and I'm gonna write it as a book series first. And I already have interest in the TV side, but I really want to my readers first. And so I'm actually, it's the first time, Laura, because this is out and I'm, I'm promoting of course, my book and projects and, and volunteering and doing all the Christmas things.

But this is the first time I'm writing a non Christmas movie. During Christmas. So it's a kind of opposite of what I've ever done. 'cause this book's done and so I'm really excited about that. And I also have some other things percolating I can't tell too much about. But I think the most important thing is I just wanna keep telling stories that are feel good and are escapist and will take people to a place [00:30:00] and just bring joy.

Whether it's a little more drama, a little more comedy. It doesn't have to be Christmas, but Christmas will always find a place in my heart. I even thought, well, maybe next year because I'm doing these other things. Skip a Christmas, and some of my readers were like, you'll do

Laura Yamin: No, no. you take a break, either novella or a little

audio book like.

Karen Schaler: They're like, you do what you do, but I want at least a novella,

Laura Yamin: Or you can incorporate the novel Nevada in the series because ton River has Christmas books.

It's part,

Karen Schaler: they do. Well, any series, I promise you this, any series that I do will have a Christmas special episode. And you know who did it the best? Schitt's Creek, which I thought was genius. I was very late to the party on that one, just 'cause I was, I think that's when I was doing four movies at a time and a publishing deal.

I tell everybody Christmas has to be a character. It has to have a heart. Whether you're writing a book, an audio, or a movie. So many people just take, oh, I have a romcom Christmas is selling. Well, I'll throw a Christmas tree. It doesn't resonate If Christmas isn't a character, it is not a Christmas movie just because you put [00:31:00] in a Christmas setting.

And so what I love, I tell the example of Schitt's Creek when I give favorite Christmas movies that I have. I say, my honorable mention is Season Four's Christmas. And I encourage everyone to watch it. It's 20 minutes. And it shows in this comedy that is so brilliantly written, it catches all the heart.

It, and, and they're Jewish. They have, they have everything, but it catches the heart of what Christmas is about, and it shows that any format doesn't matter what your TV series is. You can still lean into Christmas, and that's what I love. Christmas. You can count on it and if you do it right, it can fit anywhere and people will connect with it.

And it's actually one of my favorite episodes of Schitt's Creek. Obviously I'm biased with Christmas, but I thought the writers did such a beautiful job with it. And I mean, I never go on fan things, and I've never done that and I, I wanted to, this time I just wanted to be like, you nailed it. I'm so proud.

But every time I do any teaching, I bring up that episode because some people write like dark, or comedy. They've never done Christmas, and I'm like. [00:32:00] Watch and you can see how Christmas can fit in every single story because it's the one thing that we all connect with. And that's why I say put nostalgia, put traditions in.

Even if you're doing a really irreverent comedy and it, might still be a Christmas movie, make sure you still have some of those things that tie to the heartstrings, because that's why we love it. Like when you look at Elf and it's silly and it's fun, but it's really about a boy. Looking for family to belong.

And his dad, there's that through line and there's some Christmas traditions in there, and that's even, and even though it's silly in the spaghetti against the wall, but there's so much more to that. And that's why we all go, oh, and we don't even know why we love it so much, but we do.

And then you watch other ones, you're like, yeah, yeah, there's another Christmas. And it doesn't connect with you. And it's because it doesn't have that. So my goal, and I know my readers and watchers will let me know if I. If I nail it or I need more work, I'm, I'm always growing. I'm always listening and learning, and that's why I ask for reviews so much on my book.

They, they matter so much to help other people find it, but also so I can learn. I do read 'em, a lot of actors say, I don't read the good or the bad, so I [00:33:00] don't get neurotic. I believe in reading them. If it's toxic, I just say, well, I feel bad for that person. They obviously have some issues, if it's just a toxic rant, which I.

Don't get, 'cause I write Christmas, but you know, I know other people do, but I appreciate everybody's comments and everybody's voice. It needs to be listened to, doesn't have to agree with mine. So I, I always love to always say, please, please do reviews. 'cause that does matter so much. And I think it's how we grow as writers.

Laura Yamin: Yes, you do. Karen, tell us where you find.

Karen Schaler: Oh, thank you. Well, TikTok has been super fun, you guys since starting my TikTok shop with this one little book and Harper Collins has my book on TikTok shop. I'm like, go Harper. I'm good for them. But TikTok is at Karen Shaler. All of my other handles. Karen Shaer official is my Facebook page. And Karen Shaler is thread.

And the weird one is travel therapy for Instagram, and that's from my travel show when I started it is trademarked, just like Christmas camp. See,. I have my merch for Christmas camp, my cute little logo, and I have travel therapy stuff as [00:34:00] well. And I love, love, love hearing from people. So please come on, ask me questions and I'll be, I'm always posting and.

Especially I do, TikTok. Lives have been really fun. I need to do some Instagram lives where I bring on other authors and try to support them and, and I just wanna say thank you, Laura, for all that you're doing. You continue to empower and inspire all of us because we're, we can only do what we do with people like you that share our stories to help us get out, we write these 'cause we wanna share 'em with as many people as possible. And you have worked so hard, you and your team and what you're doing is fantastic and I'm excited. You need to tell people some of the exciting things you're doing in the new year. I know you're probably not telling yet, but I'm so

Laura Yamin: Oh my gosh. Thank you. Thank you so much. I really appreciate. And the team is just me, myself and I. So I'm the engine that can produce a

lot.

Karen Schaler: the same, just so you know, I don't have a social media team. Somebody will go somebody on your social, I'm

Laura Yamin: like, it's just

Karen Schaler: somebody on your this, me.

Laura Yamin: I'm the editor, I'm the producer, I'm the guest pitcher, and just talking [00:35:00] about it and all the different things.

Karen Schaler: It's a, that's even more amazing because you do so much. I mean that is phenomenal and I am excited because I love when we met. I'm like, oh man, I think we're kindred spirits 'cause we both care so much. That's what matters to me, is someone that yes. Oh, it as always is always a pleasure talking to you and I hope to have you back next year to talk, whether it's not Christmas and whether it's Christmas time, so who will wait and see. So thank you Karen, for being in the show.

Oh, thank you so much you guys, and happy holidays.

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