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It's the new year and time for the new you. You've thought about running for political office but don't know where to start. Before you start any planning, you need to secure your name online with a yourname.vote web domain. This means your constituents will know they are learning about the real you when they surf the web. Secure your domain from godaddy.com today. Welcome to another episode of Breaking Battlegrounds with your hosts Chuck Warren and Sam Stone.
Merry Christmas, everybody. Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Leading into what we hope will be a fantastic new year for everyone out there listening.
On the line with us right now, a guest Chuck and I are both very excited to have on the program, hopefully spread a little bit of Christmas cheer alongside your affable hosts here. Richard Paul Evans, number one New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, best known for writing The Christmas Box, and most recently his book The Noel Diary is the number one movie on Netflix starring Justin Hartley. So Richard, welcome to the program.
Glad to be with you. Thank you. So, Rick, it's been quite a journey from the years you were doing campaigns for Norm Bangerter and Senator Bob Bennett, hasn't it? Quite the journey. Oh, my goodness. Yeah. I never thought I would end up here. You didn't mean it wasn't written out on a yellow pad.
You know, I thought I was going to be in politics, actually. Right. So if you remember, I ran for state legislature when I was running Bob Bennett's marketing campaign. I lost by 100 votes. Best thing that ever happened. That's when I wrote The Christmas Box. Well, what's amazing about that, and that's a good lesson, so here's a book idea, just how sometimes we think we have a path, and God takes us a different direction, right? And you probably have done more good
For so many people versus if you have been in the state legislature and maybe beyond. Certainly has fewer gray hairs. Yeah, I'm completely gray. But this is, I'm sure, a lot more fun. This is, you know, we started the Christmas Box House. We've helped more than 135,000 abused children. And it's it's been an amazing ride. It still is.
Well, we want to talk about your book, The Noel Diary, that's on Netflix. It was number one the week it came out, and then we also want to talk about The Christmas Miracle. But as I was doing a little research for this interview, you told a story, which I hope you'll share here, about how you were up at a filming for one of your movies in Canada, and you had dinner with the producer after who had done hundreds and hundreds of movies. He was well-known. You asked him the question, what did it cost you? Could you share that with our audience? Sure.
Yeah, yeah, it was really touching. And I'm a little uncomfortable sharing it because it was a private conversation, but obviously it's out. You know, he was telling me about the movies he's produced, and he's done some amazing, amazing things in movies that you've seen. And it just struck me. They said, you know, you're that successful, what did it cost you? And he got very serious, and he looked down and he said, everything.
He said, my wife's leaving me. And it was a really powerful moment. It was a really powerful moment about choices and decisions. And I felt... It was just a very moving thing. It was a good life lesson as well. So...
That story, I think, would be a good basis for many of your Christmas books. They're about redemption. They're about introspection. They're about forgiveness. Why is this theme so familiar and so paramount in the novels you write? Well, I mean, my book, The Christmas List, that was about seven years ago. That's completely the thing. And...
You know, the idea of staying with what matters most, you know, because when you're looking for joy, I mean, I think right now in my life, it's like what breaks me most joy. And Carrie and I are empty nesters now, and we're really enjoying it. And she got a dog. And we get up in the morning, and our little calipoo jumps in bed with us. And the other day, I just leaned over and said, you know, Carrie, I'm really happy.
I'm just really happy. We have a good life. Our daughter, we have our first doctor in our family. We went to Texas to TCU and graduated. And when they said, you know, Dr. Allison, it's like, what a thrill. And, you know, we worked hard, as you know, we worked hard in those early days, but always staying focused on life.
family and just doing our best as parents. And of course, we screwed up. But there was never a lack of love there. And to see it pay off and the fact that we have good relationships with all of our children, they like it. They like to come over. We still get together. I mean, that is really the thing as you get older. It's really, you see, it's the greatest blessing.
Well, hopefully in a family conversation, the comment will not come out that you and your wife are very happy that you're empty nesters and the dog jumps up on the bed. You're really happy now. Oh, they know that. That's the other thing. We're very honest. And they think it's funny. My son calls the dog my second son. Let's talk about the Noel Diary and
Yeah.
I always dreamed that we went to the Hollywood walkthrough with the red carpets and all the celebrities and all the stars. And it was like, it was so much fun. And Justin wasn't supposed to be there because he was doing all the New York TV shows, right? Promoting the movie. Right. He showed up. He got on a plane and flew out, which was really...
cool of him. And so Kerry was saying, yeah, too bad Justin isn't here. I wanted to meet him. I said, well, turn around. And he was right there. And I go, Justin, I go, wow, you're really tall. He goes, yeah, he's taller than you think. I hear that. I said, you're very handsome. And he said, well, so are you. And I said, no, you're clawing your eyes out. I go, you're at this whole other level. And he said,
He was really cool. And see, Jamie here in our studio is shaking her head because he hasn't been in any Star Wars features. So she does not care. He'd be good in Star Wars. He'd be good in Star Wars. Well, he'd certainly be better. What was the guy who played Anakin, the paster board in those three? Oh, that was terrible. So tell us about the Noel Diary. What happened?
How do you come up with these ideas? Well, you know, they say every book is about the author, and that one is really true. In fact, director Charles Shire found out that he asked me that. And I said, well, it's partially my life. He's like, what? I go, are you serious? I go, yeah, it's based on my life. When I was a baby, my mother was hospitalized with depression. My mother really struggled with mental illness. And
When I finally had my four years ago dad, who watched over me? I said, wait, I'm a baby for that two years. Who? Someone had to have me. And his response was, well, I didn't have anything to do with you. I said, yeah, I know that, dad. It's like, so who? I mean, you didn't just like leave me there. And he goes, Pam. And I go, who's Pam? And she was an unwed mother.
And my dad was a social worker. And back in those days, if a girl got pregnant out of wedlock, they would just send her another city. They just didn't think she existed. They just wanted to hide her. Because it brought so much shame on the family. And so we would bring in these unwed teen mothers. And so Pam took care of me. And the thing is, I had glimpses of this woman.
You know, it's like there were times I would have these memories. It's like, I don't know who that was. So when holding me, it was deep in my memory. And then the year before I wrote the book, the baby that was in her stomach showed up just like in the movie. She showed up at my father's house looking for her mom. Wow. The thing is, her mom had denied that she ever existed. She did find her mom and her mom said, no, I didn't have a baby. And my dad being a counselor, he said, look,
Back in those days, she had so much pressure. Her husband may not know she was ever pregnant, and so she would deny you. And she was just heartbroken. Wow. Just heartbroken. So, I mean, it was such a basis of a story, but it's a basis in reality. This woman existed, and I've met her. I mean, it's... So it's... Yeah, I mean, the best things come from real life. I was going to say, I mean, I think when you talk to most authors...
That is such a central element of writing a really gripping novel or something that really imparts knowledge to people. It's just basing it on at least on some level on your own experience, right? How much – you've written a ton of books. Do all of them have some element of that personal experience in them? All of them do to some level or something I'm exploring, like my walk series.
My walk series was my exploration of why we live during one of the most difficult times in my life, my health. I mean, seriously, I went at a company that went bankrupt. I lost millions of dollars. It just about bankrupted me. I was having panic attacks. My health went down. I came down with rheumatoid arthritis. I could barely walk.
came down with diabetes. I mean, the stress, it's like in one year, it's like my life was over. And I was trying to recover myself, which I have. But boy, if you saw me back then, Chuck, I weighed 70 pounds more and I was walking with a cane. Oh, my goodness. It's like I was ready to die. It's like, okay, it's gone. And I was down at my ranch, which is my one safe place, and I was walking. And this idea came to me. This voice said, you need to write more.
Like more than one book a year. It's like you need to write more. And I decided to write a book about walking. I'm out there walking. It's like, what about what if you took away everything that that a man valued? You took away his job, his name and, you know, not that not that order. But you took away. First of all, you take away his wife. You take away his family. You take away his home. You take away his job, his reputation. Take it all away. Why do we live?
And that's what the walk was. And it sold more than a million and a half copies. And to this day, it sells like crazy. I'm hoping we'll do a miniseries on it. But it's one of those powerful things. And it was my exploration of why am I still alive?
And by the time I finished that, I mean, I found other people who, one woman came up, she goes, you need to talk to my daughter. Her daughter had decided to commit suicide. She decided to wait for the end of the series, the five-book series. And at the end, she goes, I'm going to follow this man's path and decide if life is worth living. And I said, so, did you? It was the last book. She goes, yeah, it's worth living. And I get stacks of mail every week from prisons.
Because the men in prison relate to the story of losing everything. And so, you know, when we connect to our deepest selves and to our cores, that's when we really connect with others. Boy, I hate to suggest a new assignment, but that seems like a book in itself is those letters.
You know, I kind of did that with one of my, with the Christmas box books, with the Christmas box book. I wrote a book called The Christmas Box Miracle. There were so many miracles and people showing up. I mean, it was amazing. People were hearing voices telling them to go in the store and buy the book.
I heard that at least six times. They walk into a mall and a boy says, go in the bookstore and buy the Christmas box. And they went in bought having no idea because the Christmas box is healing for people who have lost children. And in every case, they just lost a child. I saw so many miracles like that, that it was almost, it got to the point that you couldn't deny it. It would be absurd to deny it. And when I wrote the Christmas box miracle, Simon & Schuster actually hired a private eye.
Well, actually, they had a law firm going to make sure everything was true. And I hired a private eye to track everything down. And what we came up with is the miracles were actually bigger than we thought. Wow. Wow. We're with Richard Paul Evans, New York Times bestselling author. He is the author of The Noel Diary, which is the number one Christmas movie on Netflix. I've watched it. Kylie's watched it twice. He's also just come out The Christmas Miracle. This is Sam and Chuck with Breaking Battlegrounds. We'll be right back.
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And make sure you tell them that Chuck and Sam sent you so we can keep the lights on over here, folks. Absolutely. I'm with Richard Paul Evans, New York Times bestselling author. His most recent release is The Christmas Memory. I got the name incorrect in the previous segment. And also The Noel Diary, which is on Netflix now. Highly recommend you watch that with your family. It's a great, great, great, great movie. Rick, so you've written dozens of Christmas novels.
What have you learned about Christmas now from your first book three decades ago? What's changed your perspective of the holiday? Not a thing. And I love that because that's what makes it beautiful. It's one of those unchanging things. Christmas, when I was young and my book, Christmas memory, you'll see what my childhood was like. And we were very poor. And it was like the one magical time of the year.
And the fact that that can remain. I love this season. It just...
So one time I can kind of let myself down a little bit. The one big change is because ever since the New York Times coordinated me, the king of Christmas fiction, of course, I'm, you know, like I had 22 media videos yesterday. It's just like it's become insanely busy. But it doesn't change the fact that it's such a beautiful season. I got to ask, then, how decorated is your house?
It's not. We have beautiful lights outside, and I pay a friend to do our tree. They're gorgeous. But Carrie suffers from really intense OCD, and she can't do clutter. So we do this compromise. Because my first job is taking care of her, right? That's right. So my house would be insanely decorated. In fact, I had a room in my office building that was Christmas year-round. I'm very much Christmas-ish.
But out of love for her, it's like our home is very simple. And then she pushes herself. It's like she brought up two reindeer. Oh, she gives me nutcrackers. I have like the coolest nutcracker collection.
And she was the one saying, let's bring them out. And it's like, okay, you're pushing yourself. I love it. But she said, you know, you've met Carrie, Chuck. That's why Chuck can call me Rick because we know each other. Carrie is, you know, she's my girl. She's my person. And, you know, that comes first. So decorations,
They come and go. She doesn't. Rick, you mentioned earlier that the beautiful thing is Christmas hasn't changed. You've always loved it. It's this magical season. You are the founder of the Christmas Box International that helps foster kids, abuse kids. Is that something hard for you to see that many of those have not experienced the magic of Christmas among many other things they've not experienced it? Is that hard for you to witness and see?
It's hard and it's also beautiful that we're doing it. As I get older, this becomes more and more my priority. In fact, that's where I'll be today, down there working with kids. Something we added on, I don't know if you're doing this, when you
When you were around, Chuck, we took over from the county the Christmas program because the Christmas Box House is so efficient. It runs so well. The people are just such good employees. They're so dedicated. They've all taken pay cuts. And because of that, we have the trust in the community. So we were bringing in all the donations almost for the county for Christmas for these abused children. And they finally said, why don't you guys take it over?
We do Christmas for about 2,500 abused and neglected children and teens every year. And it's amazing. But you asked if it's hard. I remember we used to go down. We don't like to keep kids in the shelter. We usually get them with families, but sometimes you can't. And we went down there, and there were two boys in the Christmas box house. And when we came in, we were going to decorate cookies. They didn't want to have anything to do with it.
And they went over and they turned the TV off and said, the Evans are here. He's going to go decorate cookies. And they turn it off and the kids pulled hoods over their heads. And I go, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, no, turn the TV back on. I said, they don't have to do anything. It's their Christmas. And then I walked over to them. I had these two cans of frosting. I go, Hey guys, you guys don't have to help, but I bought these for you. And it gave him the cans of frosting. And they're like,
These are ours. I can't you can eat it. Don't eat it all at once. So make you think. And they're like, really? And then one of them said, well, we could help. And they came over and they had such good time with my daughters. And I remember walking out afterwards and we spent about an hour just decorating cookies. They did like 20 cookies. It was great. And we walked out and my daughter was crying. She was, Dad, how could someone be mean to those boys?
And I said, it's just awful. I said, yeah, it is, honey, but aren't you glad that we have a place for them to protect them? And she just turned to me and goes, I love you, Dad. And it's like, those are the kind of moments you never, I get choked up. You never forget. It's like, yeah, there's always going to be pain in this world. It's just the way it is. It's like, but if we can step out and try to make it better. And now I'm old enough that these kids come to me as adults and watch
And will come to me and say, you have no idea the part you played in my life and the hardest time in my life because of what you did. I got through it. And it makes life so worthwhile. It's just like, you know what, I could die now and feel like I made a difference in this world and I blessed some lives. And that's what it's about.
How do people donate or volunteer at the Christmas Box International, Rick? Oh, you can go down there. You can donate like on a one-time basis, and otherwise we have to do background checks. We protect those children at all costs. But just go to thechristmasbox.org.
thechristmasbox.org and there's ways to give. But check more than 84% go directly to the kids and then we magnify that. The program is so good. It's just so good. It's so smart. It's one thing to have heart, but
But this has brains, too. It's a program that we can magnify any donation and do more good. It's the only way we can help that many kids. Right, and you use your resources wisely. Charity Navigator has given you guys a great rating. It says you can donate with confidence, and a lot of charities are not that way. I think the law requires 10% to be given away, and you're doing 84%, so fantastic.
Yeah, I love Christmas box. The only thing that was down on our charity was it says they might be unstable because they have big loans. The big loans are to me. I load millions of dollars to keep it going, and I haven't required they don't pay interest. I haven't required to pay back because this is what we want to happen someday. I would like it if it becomes bigger that they pay back my kids someday. Right.
Right.
And, folks, definitely get out there. Log on to, I think, Richard, you said thechristmasboxinternational.org? Actually, just do this. That's thechristmasbox.org. Just go to richardpaulevins.com because I have all the things we do. I have the charity. There's everything. So that's easier to remember, richardpaulevins.com. You can even get free cookie recipes. You can't beat that, folks. Free cookies and cookies.
Good things for the holidays. More with Richard Paul Evans when Breaking Battlegrounds comes back. You deserve a home that's beautiful and stylish. At Overstock, you don't have to choose between low prices and quality. Find new on-trend home goods that reflect your taste and don't compromise on value. You can be proud of your home and design a space where you feel like you, all under budget. Plus, you get free shipping on everything in the continental United States. Overstock is where quality furniture and decor cost less.
Welcome back to Breaking Battlegrounds with your host, Chuck Warren. I'm Sam Stone. On the line with us right now, Richard Paul Evans, number one global bestseller, bestselling author of The Christmas Box. He is also the founder of Christmas Box International. Folks, as we were heading to break, as Richard told you, go to richardpaulevans.com. You can find all of his books, all of his works, but also you can support this incredible organization doing this great work for the holidays. And there is still time to make sure that
that a bright Christmas morning happens for at least a few more kids in this country. And that's about as worthy a thing as you can possibly do today. Rick, I have two questions. One's technical. So you're right. You put out a Christmas book every year. Have you started next year's Christmas book already?
I haven't. I'm a little bit behind. I also have a young adult series, Michael Bay, which is a number one New York Times series, global. And I have to write that first. Richard writes like my mother shops. So, Rick, are you the type of author that wakes up in the morning, gets moving and blocks out three hours? Or is it like I have a flash of brilliance and I'm going to go hold myself up in a hotel room?
You just completely described me, the latter. Like Mary Higgins Clark, and I knew Mary, loved Mary, but she would have this routine. She would get up at six every morning, get up to have some tea, write until like, until 10, have breakfast. You know, it's like me, it's like, oh, I guess I better write on a deadline. Right.
Sort of like how we do the show. Well, my book out right now, A Christmas Memory, last year at this time, Chuck, I had pneumonia. And after three weeks of getting worse, I caught COVID. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, and I had a friend who had the same thing, passed away. He's my age. And it's like, I may not make it. I was so sick. I've never been that sick in my life. And then the book, A Christmas Memory, started coming to me. And I got a notepad, and I wrote it laying in bed.
And when I thought it's probably COVID fog, it's probably stupid. Two months later, when I started to recover, I read it and I thought this is the best thing I've ever written. And so that's how that one came last year. So I might have to get sick again because it's my favorite book in 20 years. Just go to the ranch and walk. We're going to recommend it as getting sick again. Next thing you know, we're going to have authors all over the globe getting COVID again.
Do you write, do you, are you, you said you took a notepad. So do you write by longhand on a notepad or do you do computer? Both, both. Um, I have, this is really weird. I have Tourette syndrome, as you know. Um, and one of the things when they diagnosed me, they said, do you have to, do you like to touch sharp things? Do sharp things bring you comfort? And I took seven sharp things out of my pocket. So I, I have lined up like a couple dozen really sharp pencils. I have four pencil sharpeners in my den. Um,
I collect pencil sharpens. So I have to write what's really sharp. I edit. But you have to put things on a computer these days to be able to move them around and edit and things. So I actually write it and then have someone type it into the computer. It's interesting. With every author, and I've talked to a few of them, everyone has their own process for it. But there's a surprising number of authors who at least start their first draft with a paper and pencil instead of a computer. I think there's something about it.
There's something about the feel of it. Do you feel connected to it? I can't even describe it. I love pencils. I actually literally collect pencils. My kids give me pencils for Christmas. I know it sounds weird. Do you have a favorite pencil? Is there like some special pencil that's your favorite pencil? Yeah, there is. And oh my gosh, it's something so strange. Same pencil that John Steinbeck used. And I love their slogan. It says, if you have to ask why you pay $5 for a pencil, you won't get it. Yeah.
So this is the company that makes the pencils that Steinbeck used? Yes. They've been making pencils for 100 years. It's the most amazing pencil ever. The razor doesn't look anything like it used to. They're amazing. Okay. Now, we're going to have to back channel this. I need to know where this pencil, where I get this pencil. Yeah. Rick, we have two minutes left. Share with our audience what Christmas means to you.
And give them a challenge this Christmas. Is it being introspective? Is it going out and reconnecting with family and friends who've been lost in the past? What does it mean to you? And what's the challenge for our audience?
Christmas is a time of introspection. I'm a Christian, and to me, even though it wasn't really Christ's birth at that time of the year, it doesn't matter. It's a time that, as Dickens said, we see each other as fellow passengers to the grave, and I think that's what it is to me, that we step aside, we step back from our businesses, from our causes, step back and just extend grace.
One thing I found on the road this year is people are really angry. I actually had a woman shove me at the airport. I mean, they're really angry and unhappy. And it's really the time that we need to step up, that we need to just look to act in sincere kindness and to look at each other as like, hey, we're not here forever. Let's take care of each other.
Yeah, fantastic. Thank you so much, Richard Paul Evans, folks. You can follow all his work and support the charity, the Christmas Box International, by going to richardpaulevans.com. Richard, thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate having you on the program, and I think hopefully look forward to having you back in the future here, possibly sometime around next Christmas. We would love to, and it's been a lot of fun connecting with you again. Thank you.
Fantastic, folks. Breaking Battlegrounds will be back in just a moment. Welcome back to the podcast-only segment of Breaking Battlegrounds. Today, we have Brennan Evans joining us to sing her new single, Christmastime. Brennan is 21 years old, was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised in Wisconsin, moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where her family resides, but recently she moved to L.A. to make her music dream a reality. ♪
Christmas time
♪ Santa brought me you ♪ ♪ Don't know what I'd do without you ♪ ♪ Christmas told us to ♪ ♪ Santa told me to ♪ ♪ In love with you ♪ ♪ In love with you ♪
Christmas time is too Santa
I don't wanna sing along this Christmas night Even strung the tree with Christmas lights Hoping you just hold me
You told me you'd die And I know I'm falling deeper than this This must time us to stand up for me You don't know I live through here without you This must time us to stand up for me To end the few
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