When I originally began writing A Christmas Story: The Fourth King --it was for my grand kids. Probably twenty-five years ago we went to a Christmas display in what was then known as Twitty City ( a compound that country music star Conway Twitty built for himself and his family). At Christmas they decorated the grounds with thousands of lights and invited the public to come in and walk through to see all the Christmas scenes on display. Near the end you would come to this huge statue of Santa Clause knelling at the manger of the new born Christ child.
When I saw it I was mesmerized by it, what a great idea for a story (I thought) and I wondered why no one else had thought to write it. After many years of waiting for someone else, I decided to try writing it myself.
The story idea came very quickly, an unknown fourth king from a country far to the north ( a Nordic country), traveling south, following the Christmas Star. As he travels the breadth of ancient Europa to reach Bethlehem, he gives away all that he has to those in need. When he finally finds the child, to his dismay, he finds he has nothing left to give the new born king. He has given everything away only to find that through his kindness, he has given the greatest gift of all.
I wrote the story in about two weeks and when I put it out on the Internet, I was amazed at the reaction (the first weekend it had over five hundred people read it). Surprisingly, I received tons of emails, mostly from parents who loved it. I decided finally to publish it in a short book. It is out on Amazon now—It’s entitled; A Christmas Story:The Fourth King.
To my surprise many people bought the book (which cost about as much as a Christmas Card) and gave it to friends in place of sending a Christmas Card, signing the inside cover with their personal holiday message. I never thought about it at the time, but later realized what a great way to celebrate friends and Christmas–a card that is actually an original gift.
Praise for A Christmas Story: The Fourth King
These are juts a few of the many emails and responses that I received:
“Thank you so very much for this story. You touched my soul and my heart. I cannot stop crying because this is so very beautiful. It is like music that is touching my heart deep inside. Thank you for blessing me. Merry Christmas , frohe Weihnachten”
S J
“Wow….that is a great story…I love the way you combined the Biblical events of Jesus’ birth with a very interesting and entertaining story about how Santa became Santa. You need to publish this one for sure…I loved it….
K. Sargent
“This is Wonderful. I’d love to buy this in a book sometime to give as gifts to my Children and Grandchildren, and my friends children etc., My husband Harold read it out loud and was so moved by it, he may read it in church. Even though it is long, our preacher wants him to.”
Diane S
“I do not claim to be a literary critic but as a lay person, I truly enjoyed “The Fourth King.” The concept of mixing the biblical story of Christ’s birth, the three wise men and the northern folk story of St. Nicolas was ingenious. Your descriptions of King Nicholai’s travels were so believable that I traveled south with him. “The Fourth King” will become a family tradition. Bless you at this Christmas season and always.”
Tina D.
This is marvelous. It is like a parable inside a parable. For those of us who really believe in keeping the Spirit of St. Nicholas (Santa Claus) alive and kicking, it has a profound meaning. Today I celebrated the closing of my personal Christmas season and finally read this. It has deep and wonderful meaning for me. This needs to be published on a large scale.
Julia R.
For those searching for a “fresh” approach to tell your children the oldest and grandest story ever told along with the wonderful kindheartedness of dear Santa, this is a MUST READ! Kim Michael has captured the innocence and greatness of two stories and combined them into one that is destined to be one of the most wonderful children’s books of all time. My hope is that everyone who sees my comment will be blessed, as was I, by this wonderful Christmas “gift.”
Denise O.