Christmas Tale's time is now !

by Tim Healy Newsday

Thirty-five years ago, Jayne D'Alessandro wrote an English  assignment at Farmingdale High School and received a 95%, with encouraging words from her teacher, "With some polish, changing some words and phrases, a little more alliteration, perhaps a more steady rhythm, and some illustrations, this would be  enjoyable as a children's book.

This holiday season, that suggestion became a reality!

D'Alessandro, then 16, grew up, married a young chiropractor from Ohio and settled in Charlottesville, VA, where she is raising two daughters and working as a weight trainer.

She would take her Christmas essay out every few years to look it over and polish it, even draw some preliminary illustrations for it. She eventually decided to send query letters to 34 publishers. They showed no interest in the story description.She decided to try again a few years later, focusing on Christian publishers. Once again, 32 query letters and 32 "no thank you's"!

At a friend's urging, she sent one more letter to Tate Publishing, in Mustang, OK. Tate requested to read the manuscript in December 2006, and immediately agreed to turn her story about the experiences of Tina the hyena into a book. A Miracle in Bethlehem, A Christmas Story, was released  last month, just in time for Christmas!

Jayne D'Alessandro-Cox returned to Farmingdale High School last week and met with students of the Journalism and English classes. "It started out as just a dream, then a huge project, always in the back of my mind, pestering me to pursue publishing it," she told them. "I followed my dream, and I didn't give up on it until the project was finished."