There’s never a dull moment in the life of former gubernatorial candidate, Soraya Diase-Coffelt. One would think that after the grueling campaign season she would take a break and head off island for vacation. No, instead, Coffelt went straight into launching her brand new children’s book, titled, “It’s Not About You, Mr. Santa Claus”.
As the name gives away, Coffelt says her book is about the true meaning of Christmas, an effort she said that began as a play she wrote for the children at the church she attends.
“It’s Not About You, Mr. Santa Claus” — New children’s book by Soraya Diase-Coffelt.
“It started out as an idea God gave me some years ago,” the former judge said. “I started out with the book as a Christmas play for the children at church, and then the idea came to me that we celebrate many different holidays each year, and each holiday has a Christian foundation for it. So, I started off with Christmas.”
But Coffelt did not stop at Christmas. In fact, the book was the starting point of what would become a 10-part series of books, revealing to children the deeper meaning of the various holidays celebrated each year, Coffelt explained.
“I started doing research on other holidays, I’ve written two other books, which will be coming out next year–one is on Thanksgiving and [the other] is on Halloween,” she said.
If we didn’t know better, we would believe Coffelt never participated in the gubernatorial election, as she makes no mention of it during our interview until asked, and seems to operate effortlessly in her new role as author.
She revealed the reason behind the book’s release right after the election, telling VI Consortium that, although it had been completed a while ago, it took her agent two years to find a veritable publisher, Morgan James Publishing, “who was interested in the series of books and that caused a delay in the book being released; [however] it was always to be released in the fall because it’s a Christmas book,” Coffelt said.
Coffelt continued with a clearer explanation of the series of books, making known that the basis is outlined as a child writing a “love letter” to a particular character generally associated with the holiday.
“This one is Santa Claus, and the child is telling Santa Claus, ‘Christmas isn’t really about you,'” Coffelt explained. “And that’s why it’s called love letters, because being a Christian and believing in Jesus… Jesus is full of love, so that’s why it’s called a love letter.”
Coffelt went on: “For example, for Thanksgiving, its’ the child writing a letter to a turkey; the one for Halloween, it’s a child writing a letter to a pumpkin; and for Easter, it will be a child writing a letter to an Easter bunny. So, I take off of these different characters throughout the holidays.”
The books are available for purchase directly on Coffelt’s website, located here or on Amazon, located on this page.
Parents looking to purchase the Christmas book for their children will find it to be a “fun” read, Coffelt said, and “a twist on Christmas, because it does involve Santa Claus and Jesus, and it doesn’t say that Santa Claus is bad, but it’s the child explaining to Santa Claus the true reason for the season is Jesus.”
She went on to share her background in children’s ministry.
“As a children’s minister, I always believed that I was an evangelist, and at the end of the book, there’s a simple prayer that, whoever’s reading the book could accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior,” Coffelt said.
The conversation could not be ended without talking briefly about politics. When asked if she felt “happy” to be out of the political fray, Coffelt said, “It’s not a matter of being happy. I believe very strongly [that] God has given us different gifts; He didn’t just give us one gift. And, one of my gifts was being a lawyer and a judge, and the reason why I ran in this campaign was to show people that you can have a candidate who is honest, [who has] moral values and could be a good leader. You don’t need to have the usual politician who is going to say whatever the politician believes people want to hear.”
She continued: “So that’s the reason why I ran, and I am very glad that I ran, because I was able to get out a different perspective, and let the people know that there was somebody with integrity and honesty out there who is very interested in serving them.”
Coffelt added that she “believes we have gone away from public service” and instead moved to “self-service” in politics.
Asked if she had endorsed any of the two gubernatorial candidates who will go head-to-head in a run-off election on November 18, Coffelt said, “No, I have not and I’m still trying to decide about that.”
[It’s Not About You, Mr. Santa Claus]
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