Lee Allen

Lee Allen originally wrote The Special Guest for his two older children back when they were in grade school. After reading it to the extended family that Thanksgiving in 1992, he put it on the shelf for posterity, never dreaming of actually publishing. A couple of years later his wife Donna, an artist by profession, stated she wanted to dabble in becoming a children's book illustrator. Lee suggested she illustrate The Special Guest and we self-publish the book. That was December 1994. The following Christmas they published and released the first edition placing it in a local grocery chain in Richmond called Ukrop's. It was a standout local bestseller. They made the local TV news, had newspaper write-ups and sold 6,500 copies. Soon after New York publishers came courting. Eventually they decided on Kensington Publishing after the editor-in-chief flew down to Richmond and promised a full-blown publicity campaign for the book the next Christmas. A few weeks later Hollywood got the news and producers came courting. Lee and his wife agreed for CBS to option the book for a Movie of the Week adaptation. Christmas 1996 was an exciting year for The Special Guest with a two-edition hardcover 300,000 printing and a movie deal. Now 30 years later from when The Special Guest was first published, Donna and Lee have reissued a special 30th anniversary edition of The Special Guest. This coincides with plans to produce a full feature film adaptation, something Lee as the author has dreamed of doing for many years now.

Joined AMPlify August 2026