Sapulpa Writerâ€™s Novel Adapted for CBSâ€™s â€˜Hallmark Hall of Fameâ€ Special

Christmas arrived early for a local writer this year. Marilyn Pappano's romance novel, "A Season for Miracles," has been made into a movie. The Hallmark Hall of Fame feature airs next week on KOTV

Thursday, December 2nd 1999, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Christmas arrived early for a local writer this year. Marilyn Pappano's romance novel, "A Season for Miracles," has been made into a movie. The Hallmark Hall of Fame feature airs next week on KOTV Channel 6.

When CBS airs its Hallmark Hall of Fame holiday special this year, a Sapulpa romance writer will be tuned in closely. "A Season for Miracles" is Marilyn Pappano's story of a woman named Emily who has custody of her drug-addicted sister's children. The family is down on its luck until one night, caught in a snowstorm in a little town called Bethlehem, an angel directs them to a vacant house. "I like angel stories,â€ said Pappano. â€œAnd I love small towns, so I just decided to put them all together.â€

"A Season for Miracles" is one of about 45 books Pappano has turned out since she began writing romance 13 years ago. She's sold about four and a half million of the books, which are now published in 15 different languages.

Some of the stories are inspired by her own romance with her own husband Bob who does research for her. Pappano says storytelling has always come easily to her, partly because she's writing what she's read since age 14: love stories with happy endings. "No matter how bad things get during the story, you know that everything's going to turn out right,â€ said Pappano. â€œI think that's something we all need."

Pappano's agent sent "A Season for Miracles" to Los Angeles film agent in 1997. Hallmark was among three bidders. Several months passed until Pappano heard from her agent a few days before Christmas last year. "She said, 'Hallmark has exercised the option,â€™â€ recalled Pappano. â€œâ€™You're going to be getting a check before the end of the year. Get ready for it.â€™â€

Pappano says the movie is faithful to her story. "I'm thrilled with it,â€ she said. â€œThere's absolutely nothing I would change. The characters are all wonderful and the town looks great. It's all just fabulous." The cast of "A Season for Miracles" includes Laura Dern and Patti Duke.

Pappano has watched it several times now and says it has replaced "It's a Wonderful Life" as her favorite Christmas movie. It was a big thrill to see her name in opening credits. â€œI was just so shocked that this was my story and those were my characters,â€ she said. â€œIt's really a neat feeling, but after a while, you just get caught up in the story."

You can watch "A Season For Miracles" Sunday, December 12th at 8:00pm on KOTV Channel 6. The Pappanos tell the News on Six they're thinking about hosting a big watch party for their friends.