“The Santa Committee” is a new Christmas book by a Cornelius couple, Tiffany Rhodes and McGhie Allan

Dec. 19. “The Santa Committee,” a new Christmas book by a Cornelius couple, Tiffany Rhodes and McGhie Allan, is coming in at No. 1 among children’s Christmas stories on Amazon less than one month after it was published.

The interactive book encourages families to participate in daily joy-spreading tasks in the 24 days leading up to Christmas. Think of an Advent calendar with daily acts of kindness that need accomplishing, but in book form.

“Our hope is that ‘The Santa Committee’ becomes a beloved part of many families’ holiday traditions,” said McGhie Allan.

He and wife Tiffany Rhodes live down Torrence Chapel with their two children.

“The Santa Committee” began as a story Rhodes told them and grew into a daily Christmas activity involving friends and neighbors in a mission to spread holiday cheer. The story follows Ann, a young girl who stumbles upon the Santa Committee—a secretive group led by Santa’s trusty elf, Elfanore, dedicated to creating Christmas magic through daily acts of kindness.

The writing duo say their book is “the perfect way to kickstart a new family tradition that emphasizes the joy, kindness and magic of the season.”

Background

Their back-story is interesting as well.

Allan launched and runs a luxury real estate leasing company in Beverly Hills called Spire Estate Services. Listings are billionaire-worthy mansions to be had for five- and six-figures monthly—mostly for the rich and famous who need a mansion with a pool and a view for a short period of time.

Rhodes is a noted filmmaker whose first screenplay in 2016, “Naked in the Dog Park,” was described as “a strong mix of Woody Allen meets Dan Gilroy,” the former lead singer of The Breakfast Club. Her follow-up screenplay, “Promise Me,” was shot in Sicily and was also her directorial debut. The film garnered both domestic and international laurels.

Her feature debut, “Match Struck” with David Koechner of “Anchorman” fame, was released in 2023 and is available to rent or buy on most streaming platforms. Her award-winning short film “Collision” is on Amazon Prime and her father just happens to be a sea captain, but that’s another story.

The couple moved from Los Angeles to here in 2020 when Rhodes was filming “Match Struck’ in Mooresville.

“She came back to LA and told me how great North Carolina was,” Allan says.

When COVID hit and she had to come back to film her movie, Allan and their son and daughter came with her.

Quotable

“I had never been here and the first time I saw our house was when we pulled up in the moving truck. I told her not to unpack the boxes because if this place wasn’t what she said it was, I was going back! Well, it was everything she said it was and we are never going back,” Allan says.

Their children are now 11 and 13 and attend Cornelius Elementary School and Bailey Middle School, respectively.

The Santa Committee comes out of their real-life experiences as children, Rhodes said. The couple made up a story for them about joy levels being very low—low enough that they needed a Santa committee to get ready for Christmas.

The new book helps keep the story alive now that they’re a little older.

“It was just going to die but it brought so much joy to our family that we couldn’t let it go. The ‘Santa Committee’ is a daily reminder of what Christmas is about,” Rhodes said.

Details

“The Santa Committee” is available for $24.99 at major online retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble and is also available on Kindle.

Book details

• Title: The Santa Committee

• Authors: Tiffany Rhodes and McGhie Allan

• Genre: Children’s Holiday Fiction

• Age range: 2-12 years old

• Format: Hardcover ($24.99) and Kindle ($8.99)