O-R columnist pens his first novel
Danielle Steele. Nora Roberts. Barbara Cartland.
These are some of the names that come to mind when thinking of romance novelists. Now, another can be added to the list – Mike Buzzelli.
The Scott Township resident and Observer-Reporter columnist has published his first novel, “All I Want for Christmas,” and it’s a holiday-centered tale of a comedy writer journeying home to Connecticut for the seasonal festivities. As they say, complications ensue. She 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.
“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.”
“All I Want for Christmas” was picked up by Boroughs Publishing Group and published in September. It’s Buzzelli’s second book, the first being “Below Average Genius,” a collection of his work for the Observer-Reporter. The novel began life as a screenplay, Buzzelli said, and he decided to modify what he had for the printed page.
He said it was a matter of “just expanding things.”
“I wanted to put in as many Christmas things as I could,” Buzzelli said. “Christmas is a wonderful time of year. But there’s a lot of frustration.”
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 column and 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,” visit boroughspublishinggroup.com/books/all-i-want-christmas.