When the first Christmas in My Heart book rolled off the press seven years ago, initial sales were modest. By late November, however, the books really began to move, and by Christmas we were gearing up for a third printing. Because of widespread interest in the stories, Wheeler was asked to compile another collection each year.

Along the way the series was a Gold Medallion finalist at the Christian Booksellers Association; it became a much-loved part of Focus on the Family Christmases; Doubleday began a hardback series; and Tyndale House began distributing the paperback editions to the Christian market.

So it is today, in thousands of homes, the Christmas in My Heart books and audiotapes have become part of the very fabric of Christmas.

Stories in this book include: Red Shoes, Anetka’s Carol, The First Creche, Kashara’s Gift, The Red Envelope, and 11 more.

Despite the blizzards of commercials and type that advertisers engulf us in each holiday season, demand for Christmas in My Heart books increases every year. Typical of letters written me is this one from Mount Vernon, Ohio:

Yes, there is a great hunger out there for Christ-centered Christmas stories. To write about Christmas but leave out the reason we celebrate–or ought to–is a travesty.–Joe L. Wheeler

Joe Wheeler’s writing career started in the fall of 1992 with a collection of heart-tugging stories called Christmas in My Heart, a series that he has become well-known for. Joe Wheeler has been called everything from "Keeper of the Story" to "Father Christmas."  He has been a frequent guest on Dr. James Dobson’s radio show "Focus on the Family", and today is considered to be one of America’s leading story anthologizers, editing collections for nine publishers: Doubleday/Random House, WaterBrook/Random House, Guideposts, Focus on the Family, Tyndale House, Harvest House, Review and Herald Publishing Association, RiverOak Publishing, and Pacific Press Publishing Association.

When asked how he got started, Wheeler tells interviewers that it all dates back to being home-schooled by a remarkable woman, Barbara Leininger Wheeler, his mother (both a teacher and a missionary) in Latin America.  His mother, an elocutionist of the old school, memorized thousands of pages of stories, readings, and poetry, and frequently recited in public.  But her specialty was the old-time, sentimental, Judeo-Christian short stories.  And his mother poured herself – and her stories – into her son, inoculating him with a terminal case of the ‘storyitis virus.’ 

Wheeler has a bachelor’s degree in both history and English from Pacific Union College, a master’s degree in history, a master’s degree in English from California State University, and a Ph.D. in English from Vanderbilt University.  Today, Wheeler is senior fellow for cultural studies at the Center for the New West in Denver, Colorado, and professor emeritus of Columbia Union College in Takoma Park, Maryland.

Wheeler and his wife, Connie, make their home in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado where they receive 200 inches of snow a year.