Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 01/06/23

A novel idea. Already celebrated worldwide as the author and co-creator of the bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul book series, Mark Victor Hansen is not resting on his laurels. In fact, he recently launched Savannah Valley, an inspirational and innovative series of novels set at a fictitious 55+ affluent retirement community in Georgia. Though the initial six books feature a common local and share some characters, they are all written by different authors with different life experiences.

Hansen, who is 74,  says “Despite the number of new fiction books published annually, those over 55 rarely see ourselves represented in print, much less in the principal roles…We still live, laugh, learn, and love, yet our stories seldom see the light of day. At Mark Victor Hansen Library, we are changing that with the release of the Savannah Valley book series.”

Among the first six books being released is Maestro: Storyteller of Savannah Valley which quickly became an Amazon bestseller and which Hansen praises as “Pure magic, for those of us who believe that we are forever young.  Beautiful.”

Written by married entrepreneurs Rick and Stacie Fessler, their contribution to the series centers on a man named Goddard who is mourning the loss of his wife and decides to retire from his role as a world-renowned orchestra leader. Though he is retiring to one of the world’s wealthiest retirement communities, he is unsure about the next chapter of his life. In creating the story, the couple incorporated lessons they learned from their own lives – such as, like a symphony orchestra, everyone of us has a vital role to play in this thing called life. (Note: You can read a brief synopsis of the five other books in the Savannah Valley series following my conversation with the Fesslers.)

JWK: So, tell me about the Savannah Valley book series project and how you guys got involved?

Rick Fessler: The Savannah Valley book series is a series that Mark Victor Hansen, the co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul, kind of came up with and created. The series is based in Savannah, Georgia but Savannah Valley is a made-up fictitious retirement community in Savannah. It’s one of the most exclusive and wealthiest retirement communities in the world. The who’s who of the world retires there.

So, we got involved in the series (when) I was introduced to Mark Victor Hansen by a mentor of mine that has been trying to convince me to write a book for years. I fought him on it long enough and I finally caved. I had a conversation with Mark and his team. After telling them my story, they suggested it would be easier for me to write it in a fictional series (that) they were getting ready to launch. They asked if I would like to join that.

What was so cool and so amazing…is that as I was telling my story I mentioned my wife so many times – how she’s been there for me through thick and thin for everything I’ve ever done, always supported me – which this book is kind of based on they said “That’s amazing! Wow! Do you think she would want to co-author this with you?” Whereas, she’s very successful in her career and I have my stuff, we’ve never had the opportunity to do something together. So, I just thought this would just be really cool so I ran the idea by her and she looked at me like I had three heads and said “Are you crazy?! We’re gonna write a book?!” and I said “Yeah, it’ll be fun. Let’s do it.”

JWK: How long are you guys married?

Stacie Fessler: Twelve years.

JWK: So, what was it like writing a book together?

SF: Challenging I think is the probably the first word that comes to mind. We both are very independent people and we kind of both had our ideas about how we wanted this to go. Through it, we had to learn to work together on projects. Like Rick had said we had never done that before. So that was kind of challenging and exciting and lots of tears, lots of laughter through the whole process.

JWK: You’re both entrepreneurs.

SF: I’m a real estate agent here in St. Louis.

RF: I’m a serial entrepreneur.

JWK: So, this not just your first time working together but sort of an exercise of of different talents in a different venue.

RF: Very much so. It was the Mark Victor Hansen Library that really helped us along the way because neither one of us are writers. We had the idea. We would write. They would fix.

JWK: Tell me more about how your relationship with Mark Victor Hansen came about.

RF: A mentor of mine – Dr. Tom Hill – co-authored Chicken Soup for the Entrepreneurial Soul with Mark Victor Hansen. They stayed in touch and in each other’s lives ever since then and so he really thought if  that if anybody was gonna help me to write a book it would be Mark. So, he made the introduction.

JWK: I guess you guys hit it off. So, I gather your contribution to the series – Maestro: Songteller of Savannah Valley  – is inspired by true events in your own lives.

RF: Yes. The character Goddard – who is the maestro – is fictional. (He’s) the form the character took as we were writing because the maestro sees everybody that stands before him – or he stands before – as vital. That’s kind of the way we view our world. That’s the way we view all of our businesses (including) this latest venture that we’re doing (called) vīdl – viewing everybody as important, everybody as essential and treasured to pulling off this thing we call life. So, the maestro stands in front of a hundred different people all with different backgrounds, stories and talents and it’s their job to pull the best out of each and every one of those people. It’s not like a maestro could stand up there and at one point say “Okay, you know what, today we’re just gonna pull this whole thing off with just the string section.”…It doesn’t work like that. They have to try to get the best out of everybody to pull off the perfect concert. So, that’s just kind of our view and philosophy. There’s just a powerful message there that we believe is the message of Our Lord and Savior.

JWK: A good message for our present time. If we helped everyone to use their talents to their best, our country would be better off.

RF: That is 100% of what we’re trying to achieve with this book and with this character. It’s just trying to get people to realize that we are so much better together. Just think of the beautiful music we could make if we all just looked for the best in each other instead of always having to look for the worst.

JWK: True. So, the Savannah Valley concept is kind unique. There are six books being introduced pretty much at the same time with  common locale, some crossover characters but written by different authors with different experiences.

SF: There were six books that have been released (initially)…The neat thing about it is they’re all different authors. We actually had never met any of the authors prior to a couple of weeks before the launch date. So, that was kind of exciting – to be able to see that. What the Mark Victor Hansen Library did was as each individual author was writing they (curated) things to make it into a series at Savannah Valley, meaning they made sure all the streets were the same, they made sure all the restaurants were the same, different characters make different cameos in different books but each individual author was able to tell their own story in their unique way.

JWK: So there’s sort of a continuity editor overseeing the series.

SF: Yeah. The series in unique in another aspect in that they’re not in sequential order. You don’t have to read the books in any particular order to get the stories.

JWK: It’s sounds almost like an episodic TV series. Is there any thought about taking the Savannah Valley concept into television?

SF: We would love that.

RF: There’s a very big effort in trying to do that – nothing we can legitimately talk about but…

SF: …it would be a lot of fun.

JWK: It seems to me that there is very little new, you know, pop culture aimed at the 55+ audience – which, of course, is huge. Do you see that as an under-served audience and does Savannah Valley address that a bit?

RF: Yeah, that’s exactly it. Each of these books in the series deals things that we don’t feel as though are written enough about. That is as you enter in towards retirement, maybe you’re entering into the retirement you’ve always dreamed of (but) most likely you’re not. Sometimes there’s loss there – you know, that you’re entering into retirement without a loved one that you thought you were going to spend the rest of your life with. A lot of times you enter into that phase of your life lost and confused about your next step. What’s your purpose now that you’re either thinking about retiring or are retired?

As you get closer to that point in your life, those things start to really take effect on you mentally. That’s why we’re so excited about this series in that it’s targeted toward a demographic that is coming of age (and) maybe doesn’t feel that they have anything else to offer, that they’ve kind of done it all or seen it all. That’s why this series is written in the way that it it – that this is the wealthiest community on the planet because it’s going to show it doesn’t matter how much money you have. It doesn’t matter your level of success. You still deal with loss. You still can be lost and not knowing what you’re next purpose is in life – even though you have all the money in the world. So, yes, that’s exactly what this series is targeting and hoping to give people some hope.

SF: It’s not the end. It’s the start of something new.

RF: Right.

JWK: So, hopefully, this will be a successful series. Would you like to write more episodes?

SF: (laughs) Everyone asks that question.

RF: (laughs) The answer is yes. I have already started writing! My wife is going to kill me. I’m already running ideas past her. She’s like “We launched this one! Will you just relax and enjoy this!”

JWK: Anything you’d like to say as we wrap up?

RF: The reason we chose the character (of a) maestro (is this). Picture going into the most amazing concert hall, looking around at the architecture and not even believing that someone could even dream this up. What we love about this character…is that, as all the instruments are warming up, it can be perceived as just noise but, with the tap of a baton, a maestro brings silence and with graceful strokes just creates this amazing concert. Metaphorically, we just believe that that character – that Maestro – is Jesus (who) comes in and just calms the noise. If we all would just follow His lead together we absolutely could pull off the most beautiful concert – and, obviously, the concert hall that we are all joined into is this amazing world that God has put before us. That’s kind of our hidden hidden metaphorical agenda.

SF: It’s to bring that peace and harmony to all.
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FYI, The other five books in the initial Savannah Valley series include:

Rich Widows of Savannah Valley: You’ve Earned It, Ladies by Mitzi Perdue
A laugh-out-loud tale of four independent, wealthy women who come to Savannah Valley to enjoy the next phase of their lives but discover that all is not what it seems to be.

All About Henry: Rich Widower of Savannah Valley by Lyle Lee Jenkins
Henry and his beloved wife of almost 50 years are preparing for their golden years when the unthinkable happens. Now he must move on with his life.

Ruby: Magic Comes from the Heart by Randall Kenneth Jones
Ruby is a woman of mystery whose almost effortless impact on the magic of Christmas is a spectacle to behold.

Nightingale: Say Goodbye to Yesterday by Tony Lopes
A tale of intrigue, personal drama, emotion and generational wealth unfolds when residents try to force Adelia out of Savannah Valley.

Love After: Dreams Still Come True by Russell Gray and Mona Guarino
A widow and widower are taken by surprise when the love between them erupts like a dormant volcano.

John W. Kennedy is a writer, producer and media development consultant specializing in television and movie projects that uphold positive timeless values, including trust in God.