Inspiration can be found at the strangest times and in places you’d never expect. You might not even realize it. As a husband and father of two young children, my wife and I always do everything possible to set positive examples for them. Let me preface this by stating that our children are the lights of our eyes, and like most parents, we love them unequivocally. That being said, like all children, they have good moments, great moments, and moments when you, as a parent, question your entire DNA lineage dating back to the cavemen.

 

Which brings us to a warm December night in Miami, 2023. We were at a fancy restaurant waiting patiently to be seated. Customer service in that town isn’t exactly their number one priority, so let’s just say my patience was wearing thin after forty-five minutes had passed since our reservation time. The couple standing next to us at the bar were equally frustrated and, for some reason, began talking about their income taxes. I know, not exactly an exciting conversation to overhear when you’re incredibly hungry and standing shoulder to shoulder with a hundred other people who feel the same. Anyway, the husband mentioned to his wife something to the effect that if they moved back home, their state would claw back three years of state income taxes. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, other than being glad that wasn’t me, and that “clawback” was a term I’d rarely heard and had never used in my life. That was it. End of story, right? Wrong.

 

A few weeks later, my children were misbehaving, to say the least. Their Elf-on-the-Shelf had already made his way back to the North Pole, they had received all their gifts, and they felt incredibly empowered, especially for seven-year-olds who don’t have their own YouTube channel and whose only source of income came from losing teeth and placing them under their pillows. The warning came swiftly and directly: “Sit down and eat your dinner! Don’t stand. Don’t run around the house with food falling out of your mouth. Sit in your chair and eat the dinner that Mommy spent three hours preparing.” That should have been enough, right? Wrong again.

 

My daughter said, “What are you going to do? Stanley, the Elf-on-the-Shelf, is gone. We already have all our presents.” My son repeated the sentiment: “Yeah, Stanley left. You can’t do anything about it now.” I was stunned. What were these words coming from my ‘perfect’ children’s mouths? “Well, someone is going to take those toys if you don’t sit down, listen to your parents, and behave!” I said, not so convincingly. “Really, who?” my daughter asked. “Santa Clawback, that’s who!”

 

To this day, I don’t know how I freely associated those words with that moment in time, but the rest was history. “There’s no such thing as Santa Clawback,” both of my children protested. “Oh yes, there is!” I replied.

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The story then took on a life of its own. The children wanted to know everything about this mysterious Santa Clawback they’d never heard of, and I was more than happy to oblige. I told them, “Santa Claus lives at the North Pole. Santa Clawback lives at the South Pole.” I went on, “Santa Claus is carried by eight flying reindeer. Santa Clawback travels under and over the sea on fanged seals.” Most importantly, and as a way to deter bad behavior, I reaffirmed that “Santa Claus gives well-behaved children gifts at Christmas, but Santa Clawback steals toys from children who behave badly all year long.”

 

They kept wanting to know more. And when they misbehaved, a mysterious being would sneak into their rooms, take their favorite toys, and leave a note behind explaining why they had been taken, signed by none other than the infamous Santa Clawback. The more they pressed on, the more stories I told, until I finally said to myself, I have to get this down on paper. So, I broke out some old Dr. Seuss books, read them again for the umpteenth time, and started writing an original story of my own: Santa Clawback: Mysterious Origins and Dastardly Deeds.

 

Later that year, I was contacted by one of my oldest and dearest friends, Debbie Morton. Debbie is a successful documentary film producer and art gallery owner in Philadelphia. She was representing a world-famous artist, Ashvin Harrison, and asked if I could help her get him a live painting gig during Art Basel, an international art fair held in Miami every year. I told her I’d do my best and mentioned that I was looking for someone to illustrate my book. I sent her the original draft, and she loved it. She passed it along to Ashvin, and he loved it too. Shortly thereafter, he agreed to come aboard and provide the most beautiful artwork and illustrations for Santa Clawback: Mysterious Origins and Dastardly Deeds.

 

My wife, Lizabel Young, holds a degree in computer animation and motion technology, previously worked for the Chicago Tribune’s Spanish-language newspaper, and now serves as our publishing company’s Editor-in-Chief. As editorial designer, she meticulously laid out every detail of the book with remarkable care and precision.

 

By the time the book’s first printing rolled off the press two years later, I couldn’t have been prouder of what we had accomplished and the team we had assembled to bring Santa Clawback’s story to life.