Derek McFadden
Professional
Editor
The Santa Claus Agreement
“Derek McFadden’s The Santa Claus Agreement is a holiday story about the search for love and acceptance. Love must begin within, but no one is better equipped to show you how than McFadden’s Santa. As a writer and working Santa myself, I can vouch that this story will warm your heart like hot cocoa and chocolate chip cookies beside the fire.”
– Bradley Harper
Author of A Knife in the Fog
Winner, Silver Falchion, 2019 & 2020
Edgar Finalist
Ten-year Santa Veteran at Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, Virginia
An agreement 40 years in the waiting…
What’s a boy to do when Santa Claus lets him down? He strikes an agreement. When he was seven, Davey Boyd asked Santa for just one Christmas present: “Please make me normal.” Because Davey had always believed—always known—Santa could do anything. Until Santa didn’t. Because even Santa couldn’t. Instead, Santa and Davey struck an agreement.Now, forty-eight-year-old David Boyd’s time as a mall Santa Claus ends tonight. He loves the kids, the magic, the season. But it’s time. It’s not the cerebral palsy he has learned to live with bringing this time to a close; it’s not the heartbreaking ending of his relationship. No, it’s time to begin the agreement he made forty years before.So, tonight, Davey is going to tell the kids who’ve gathered what happened that night, forty years ago, when he was whisked away to the North Pole. It’s his last chance before the agreement is due to come into effect. Well, that is if one small detail doesn’t void the whole thing. But there might be an elf—a cute one—who can help, if only Davey can truly see her before it’s too late…
A holiday fable chock full of magic, whimsy, and heart, The Santa Claus Agreement chronicles the adventures of a boy destined for a magical experience… if, all grown up, he can keep his end of the bargain.
From Derek McFadden, award-winning author of What Death Taught Terrence, comes this enchanting novel about what it means to love and believe with your whole heart, even when your whole heart is shattered. Perfect for fans of Richard Paul Evans, Donna VanLiere, Julie Salamon, and Mitch Albom.
