Enni Tuomisalo’s book was recommended for Christmas reading on an American morning show

“You know, how come Hallmark movies have more Christmas decorations per square inch than anywhere else? There is a wreath on top of the microwave, a wreath inside the microwave, eight Christmas trees in the kitchen… This is a similar book.”

In these words, the writer John Searles began his presentation The Holiday Grump – from the book presented on the eve of the event on an episode of the Today Showin which Searles recommended five books for Christmas.

Today Show is the longest-running morning show in American television history, aired on NBC. It has an average of more than 2.5 million viewers.

A mention for an individual book Today Show’ssa is a big deal – especially if the author is an independent author responsible for the production of his books, such as The Holiday Grump author of the book Annie Amanda on.

From a Finnish point of view, it is particularly interesting that Enni Amanda is a writer who was born in Finland and moved to New Zealand 20 years ago Enni Tuomisalo.

Tuomisalo45, answers her phone on Boxing Day evening at her home in Hamilton, New Zealand.

His works are probably not familiar to the large Finnish public. The reason must be understood: Tuomisalo, who published his first work in 2019, has written all his books in English, and they are aimed at English-speaking markets, such as the United States.

Published this year The Holiday Grump is Tuomisalo’s tenth novel. There are Finnish influences in the book: the fictional small town of the book set in the United States has Finnish roots.

In addition to writing books, Tuomisalo, who works in his own design office, is a graphic artist by profession, and he is also responsible for the visual aspects of his books.

She originally moved to New Zealand with her husband at the beginning of 2006, when after a house renovation in Finland, they both felt that they wanted somewhere as far away as possible.

“We got a working holiday visa, and the idea was to move here for a year. When I got a permanent job, we stayed here,” says Tuomisalo.

Books Tuomisalo had already written his child, the first complete work at the age of 11. In New Zealand, he began to study the film industry and became interested in screenwriting.

“I thought that writing manuscripts is safer when they are not published anywhere. As a Finn, for a long time I had a certain kind of inferiority complex about whether I dare to write in English.”

In 2019, she was expecting her second child, and at that time there was a strong feeling that she wanted to write the finished story in her mind into a book. Born in A Tiny House on WheelsTuomisalo’s first book.

Tuomisalo professes to be a fan of classic romantic comedies published in the 1990s, and he wanted to tell similar stories in his own books as well. You can get a good idea of ​​this by listening to how John Searles describes it The Holiday Grumpia Today Show’ssa:

“The main female character’s name is Noelle, of course, because she has to have that name. She’s a runaway from her own wedding, who goes to a town called Hideaway Harbor. There she gets a job selling Christmas decorations, but her accommodation is not very pleasant. She is accommodated in the back room of a bookstore, but luckily the bookstore is owned by a great-looking but grumpy man who rescues Noelle, there are sparks in the air, and let’s just say there are some not-so-quiet Christmas nights.”

Today Show’ssa In addition to Tuomisalo’s book, Searles also recommended The New York Times bestseller BK Borison records Good Spirits and Charles Dickensin a classic A Christmas story.

How did a Finnish writer living in New Zealand end up in this group?

Tuomisalo says he doesn’t know. Many have asked him if he already knew Searles. According to Tuomisalo, he hadn’t even heard of Searles before the broadcast. After the program, he has communicated with him and also asked how Searles had ended up recommending his book, but has not received a clear answer to the question.

Tuomisalo’s book is part of a six-part book series called Hideaway Harbor, each part written by a different author. Tuomisalo’s book is the last part of the series.

Initially, Tuomisalo found out about his book being featured in the NBC program when he was contacted through the contact information on the website of the Hideaway Harbor book series.

“I received a message that NBC wanted me to send my book to their address. It seemed so strange that I thought it was a scam message. When I started to check the message more closely, everything seemed to be true. I was still skeptical, but I still sent my book to them because they didn’t demand anything else in the message,” says Tuomisalo.

On December 23, Tuomisalo had to testify that the message was not a hoax. His book was presented live for a minute.

“I was completely speechless. I had woken up at five in the morning to check the situation, and it didn’t feel real in any way. It’s hard to describe it otherwise.”