Robert May accepted the assignment for the giveaway Christmas story about an animal. His wife was battling cancer and died shortly after, leaving May to raise his four-year-old daughter, Barbara, alone, struggling under a mountain of medical bills. May’s employer encouraged him to turn the project over for completion by someone else. He refused, saying, "I need Rudolph...more than ever!"

Squanto's story is not the simple story of helping the Pilgrims that I thought it was. It involves kidnappings, pestilence, politics, and power struggles.

The framework of the novel is based on the real “Rajah” quilt, the appliqued coverlet now in the care of the National Gallery of Australia. The quilt depicted in Dangerous Women is the only extant, historically documented quilt made by convicts.

Given the suggestive evidence compiled from scholarly articles, popular opinion, and anecdotal evidence, I’d like to reconsider Santa’s role as a good guy. He is taking credit — with a wink and jolly guffaw — for work he doesn’t do. You’ve heard the old phrase, “Behind every good man is a woman?” Mrs. Claus is at home slaving away, paying attention to details. All Santa does is sit and supervise, then drive around in a fancy vehicle one night of the year.

Nathan Evans has made the sea shanty and whaling songs popular again. There's a reason this sing-along, rhythmic art form has lasted for centuries.