Jeremy Rodden's Blog, page 7

LitRing Facebook Teamhop & Free eBook!

Just writing a quick note on the blog to encourage people to check out a fun event I am involved in over on Facebook! A large group of authors have joined up to do battle over what team is better, Unicorns or Dragons! I, myself, have joined Team Unicorn because the upcoming sequel to my debut novel, Toonopolis: Gemini, is called Toonopolis: Chi Lin (Chi Lin being a unicorn that was oh-so-briefly mentioned in the first book).

That being said, if you want to participate and jump into the Teamhop (which includes prizes and a ton of awesome authors from multiple genres), head on over to LitRing’s page: https://www.litring.com/teamhop/. Follow the instructions, gain entries, and have a chance to win some awesome prizes (A Kindle Fire is up for grabs!). In addition to that, a lot of the authors will be hosting other prizes and fun on their Facebook pages as you travel through the Teamhop. Be sure to hit them all for maximum chances to win and to maybe even discover your next favorite author along the way!

As for my contribution, this particular Teamhop falls during a special time for me and Toonopolis in general. Gemini was released on May 30, 2011, so this Hop runs through the six-year anniversary of its release. To celebrate, my publisher has made the Kindle eBook version of Gemini absolutely FREE from today (5/26) to the anniversary date (5/30). In addition to that, anyone who comments on the Facebook post pinned to the top of my page (linked here) will also get a chance to win a signed paperback copy of Gemini!

So that’s that. Head over to LitRing, check out the pages, and be sure to vote for Team Unicorn because unicorns are totally more awesome than dragons and we all know it!

Steelheart (Reckoners #1) by Brandon Sanderson, Books for Boys Review

Introduction

Title: Steelheart (Reckoners #1)

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Genre: Urban Fantasy/Dystopia

Release Date: September 24, 2013

Synopsis (from Amazon):

Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary people extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. Epics are no friends of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man, you must crush his will. Now, in what was once Chicago, an astonishingly powerful Epic named Steelheart has installed himself as emperor. Steelheart possesses the strength of ten men and can control the elements. It is said that no bullet can harm him, no sword can split his skin, and no fire can burn him. He is invincible. Nobody fights back . . . nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, the Reckoners spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them. And David wants in. When Steelheart came to Chicago, he killed David’s father. For years, like the Reckoners, David has been studying, and planning, and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience. He has seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.

Why I Think Boys May Enjoy This

Brandon Sanderson in his Reckoners series has done an amazing job of turning the prototypical superhero genre on its head. His concept is simple enough: random people start getting superpowers. After that, comparisons to your typical superhero stories end. He does a great job establishing immediately in the prologue that Epics are not the X-Men, Avengers, or Justice League. There is enough familiarity to the concept of super-powered humans to rope a young reader in, however. The unique powers granted to Epics (bulletproofing, flight, fire manipulation, etc.) can easily make one feel they are reading a comic book story.

At the same time, the story as it follows David feels less like a comic book story and more like a guerrilla war story with the illusive Reckoners using strategy, knowledge, and a bit of unpredictability to fight against the Epics in the dystopian future left when the Epics take over the world, a city at a time. Fans of video games with a focus on weaponry (like Call of Duty or Battlefield) will enjoy how important weapons are in this world and how much attention goes into describing and using them. In a world where regular people are trying to fight against near-godlike entities, it makes sense that their weapons would become so important to them.

David is a wonderful main protagonist. He uses his knowledge of seeing Steelheart bleed (the only one alive who has ever seen this happen) as a bargaining chip to get in with the Reckoners. As one of many orphans in Newcago (the new name of Chicago after Steelheart takes over), David developed an unhealthy obsession with revenge and learning about Epics in general. He claims to not be a nerd (repeatedly) but his social awkwardness due to his singular focus on Epics is evident. He has a unique quirk wherein he is extremely poor at using metaphors that Sanderson uses expertly to demonstrate this throughout the book.

The story plays out almost like a video game, with some of the lesser Epics that work for Steelheart serving as mini-bosses and the downtime in between large-scale battles being filled with intelligence gathering and backstory filling. With this type of storytelling, gamers will definitely enjoy the flow of the narrative.

Content/Appropriateness

Steelheart is more than appropriate for late middle grade on up but will be most enjoyed by teenagers and up, I believe. There is violence and plenty of death (most of it “off-screen” so to speak), but Sanderson does not go into explicit detail or gory descriptions that would upset a delicate reader. Any youth who plays war-based video games will feel right at home with the heavy descriptions of guns and weapons and the military style tactics of the Reckoners.

There is no explicit language that I can recall (perhaps your occassional minor curse, but even then, Sanderson created his own vernacular for expletives like “Calamity”, “Sparks”, and “Slontz”). There is also no sexual content in this book. While David is a teenage boy and definitely notices girls (especially Megan, one of the Reckoners on the team), this is merely a minor plotpoint and romance (at least in the first book) is not really a major factor. David is too focused on his revenge to have time for it.

Rating

Buy Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | iBooks | Google Play | Kobo

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson, Books for Boys Review

Introduction

Title: Steelheart (Reckoners, #1)

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Genre: Urban Fantasy/Dystopia

Release Date: September 24, 2013

Synopsis (from Amazon):

Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary people extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. Epics are no friends of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man, you must crush his will. Now, in what was once Chicago, an astonishingly powerful Epic named Steelheart has installed himself as emperor. Steelheart possesses the strength of ten men and can control the elements. It is said that no bullet can harm him, no sword can split his skin, and no fire can burn him. He is invincible. Nobody fights back . . . nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, the Reckoners spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them. And David wants in. When Steelheart came to Chicago, he killed David’s father. For years, like the Reckoners, David has been studying, and planning, and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience. He has seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.

Why I Think Boys May Enjoy This

Brandon Sanderson in his Reckoners series has done an amazing job of turning the prototypical superhero genre on its head. His concept is simple enough: random people start getting superpowers. After that, comparisons to your typical superhero stories end. He does a great job establishing immediately in the prologue that Epics are not the X-Men, Avengers, or Justice League. There is enough familiarity to the concept of super-powered humans to rope a young reader in, however. The unique powers granted to Epics (bulletproofing, flight, fire manipulation, etc.) can easily make one feel they are reading a comic book story.

At the same time, the story as it follows David feels less like a comic book story and more like a guerrilla war story with the illusive Reckoners using strategy, knowledge, and a bit of unpredictability to fight against the Epics in the dystopian future left when the Epics take over the world, a city at a time. Fans of video games with a focus on weaponry (like Call of Duty or Battlefield) will enjoy how important weapons are in this world and how much attention goes into describing and using them. In a world where regular people are trying to fight against near-godlike entities, it makes sense that their weapons would become so important to them.

David is a wonderful main protagonist. He uses his knowledge of seeing Steelheart bleed (the only one alive who has ever seen this happen) as a bargaining chip to get in with the Reckoners. As one of many orphans in Newcago (the new name of Chicago after Steelheart takes over), David developed an unhealthy obsession with revenge and learning about Epics in general. He claims to not be a nerd (repeatedly) but his social awkwardness due to his singular focus on Epics is evident. He has a unique quirk wherein he is extremely poor at using metaphors that Sanderson uses expertly to demonstrate this throughout the book.

The story plays out almost like a video game, with some of the lesser Epics that work for Steelheart serving as mini-bosses and the downtime in between large-scale battles being filled with intelligence gathering and backstory filling. With this type of storytelling, gamers will definitely enjoy the flow of the narrative.

Content/Appropriateness

Steelheart is more than appropriate for late middle grade on up but will be most enjoyed by teenagers and up, I believe. There is violence and plenty of death (most of it “off-screen” so to speak), but Sanderson does not go into explicit detail or gory descriptions that would upset a delicate reader. Any youth who plays war-based video games will feel right at home with the heavy descriptions of guns and weapons and the military style tactics of the Reckoners.

There is no explicit language that I can recall (perhaps your occassional minor curse, but even then, Sanderson created his own vernacular for expletives like “Calamity”, “Sparks”, and “Slontz”). There is also no sexual content in this book. While David is a teenage boy and definitely notices girls (especially Megan, one of the Reckoners on the team), this is merely a minor plotpoint and romance (at least in the first book) is not really a major factor. David is too focused on his revenge to have time for it.

Rating

Buy Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | iBooks | Google Play | Kobo

Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary, Books for Boys Review

Introduction

Title: Dear Mr. Henshaw

Author: Beverly Cleary

Genre: Literary Fiction/Epistolary

Release Date: August 1983

Synopsis (from Amazon):

Beverly Cleary’s timeless Newbery Medal-winning book explores difficult topics like divorce, insecurity, and bullying through the thoughts and emotions of a sixth-grade boy as he writes to his favorite author, Boyd Henshaw.

After his parents separate, Leigh Botts moves to a new town with his mother. Struggling to make friends and deal with his anger toward his absent father, Leigh loses himself in a class assignment in which he must write to his favorite author. When Mr. Henshaw responds, the two form an unexpected friendship that will change Leigh’s life forever.

From the beloved author of the Henry Huggins, Ramona Quimby, and Ralph S. Mouse series comes an epistolary novel about how to navigate and heal from life’s growing pains.

Why I Think Boys May Enjoy This

I decided to review this book as the first one on my Books for Boys blog for a very personal reason: this is the book I recall that both got me in love with reading and also made me want to be a writer. In preparation for this review, I reread the book to see how different it is with 35 year old eyes instead of 8 year old eyes and this is what I learned:

I am still Leigh Botts, but grown up. In one of the first letters, Leigh wrote “when I grow up I want to be a famous book writer with a beard like you.” And that’s what I became! Also, I remembered a major reason why I felt this story connected with me as a youth. Leigh’s experience with a hard-working single mother and an often absentee (but likable) father mirrored my childhood exactly. Cleary handles this situation that has become more and more common in complex family structures and does such an amazing job of filtering it through the eyes of a middle school boy.

I also think that the first-person perspective and epistolary (meaning, a series of letters presented as a story) makes the material extremely accessible to any young reader. Further, it handles very challenging pre-teen situations such as divorce, being a new kid at school, & being bullied (his special lunch foods being stolen repeatedly) with a finesse that makes you feel like it actually was written by a sixth grade boy. She even does a great job of demonstrating some of the angsty rage that ebbs and flows in such a person throughout the book.

Content/Appropriateness

This book is more than appropriate for anyone even younger than middle school. Since it is written in first-person from Leigh’s perspective, the language selection and sentence complexity are simplified as well. This adds to both the realism of the book and the ease of accessibility.

Obviously, as is well known with an author like Beverly Cleary, there is no age inappropriate content to scare away parents that might be concerned about such things. The most difficult emotional material stems around the divorce and broken promises by Leigh’s dad, but you can tell by the end of the book that Leigh is well on his way to accepting the positive aspects of his father along with understanding his shortcomings.

Rating

Buy Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | iBooks | Google Play | Kobo

Now presenting: Toonopolis, the Blog’s Books for Boys reviews!

I am excited to announce that I have added a new feature to my blog: book reviews. Here is a quick explanation as to why I am doing this from my new Books for Boys review page:

“While searching for book blogs for submitting my own works, I realized that the majority of middle grade/young adult blogs out there were very female-centric. This is in no way a critique or complaint, but it led me to think that someone should create a blog that reviews books that can intrigue and engage young male readers.”

As a father of three boys (the eldest of which is a middle schooler) and a former high school English teacher, I know firsthand the challenges that educators face in finding books that encourage young males to read. Yes, this is a generalization, but it is one based on life experience and very few educators will disagree with me on this one.

That being said, I decided to start using some of my online real estate to highlight books that I think will engage this challenging group of young people. Some of my recommendations will be based solely on my own opinion, others will be from books I’ve seen my pre-teen boy read (or encouraged him to read), and others will hopefully/gladly come from recommendations on this blog and/or social media.

To authors/publishers, I am open to review requests and, as an added bonus, I am specifically hoping to highlight titles that don’t get the big PR pushes from the big publishing houses. Yes, we all know Rick Riordan and Eoin Colfer are fantastic (and generally good books to encourage young male readers) but as a small, independent publisher of books myself (targeted for the MG/YA audience and generally enjoyed by males), I would be remiss if I did not offer space and time to help those small press/independent/self-published authors when I could.

That being said, I intend to start soon with some books I’ve already read but I look forward to adding new books to the TBR and reviewing them. Feel free to Contact Me if you’d like to suggest a book! Let the giant cartoon mallets roll!

New Project – Toonopolis Pixel Art Comic

Gemini Sprite Concept

So I’ve always wanted to do a webcomic. It’s true. In fact, Toonopolis: Gemini was originally supposed to be a comic or graphic novel or something along those lines. Going back to when I was in college in two-thousand *cough cough cough*, I’ve wished I could work on a comic.

The problem is I can’t draw. Have never been able to and, maybe if I practiced more and tried hard enough I’d be able to do so. As it stands, however, I’m talent-less when it comes to that particular medium. So in order to do a comic I’d need an artist. There are only two ways to get an artist to work on your comic: pay them or beg them to work for free (“exposure”). I don’t believe in the latter and I’m not prepared for the former so it leaves me with ideas but no art.

Z Sprite Concept

Over the weekend, though, I began experimenting with the idea of doing a sprite comic. Yes, like Bob & George or the millions of copycats that came after. Of course, I didn’t want to just borrow sprites from vid

eo games and what-have-you and modify it (not that I have an issue with it, it can be very well done and create awesome parody comics). I once wrote for a friend’s comic back in college (Farmboy, a Harvest Moon-inspired spritecomic she did) and I loved that one.

G Sprite Concept

So I began playing with creating my own sprites and my own pixel art. I began with the two core characters that will star in my comic (tentatively titled G&Z: A Toonopolis Pixel Comic… might need work), G (a ghost) and Z (a zombie). The general premise of the comic is that these two both came from the same dead person and are connected but very different. At its core, it will be a classic bosom buddy style comic but I do intend on having an actual story as well.

And, because it takes place in Toonopolis, there is always the possibility of people from my other works showing up or them visiting other sections of Toonopolis. It will take place mostly in Gothicville (as seen in Toonopolis: Gemini) and Dystopia (which will appear in Toonopolis: Chi Lin, which I expect to be published in 2017). So I’ve done some initial concept art and mockups for the two main characters as well as the main characters Gemini and Jimbob the Talking Eggplant from the novels.

Please let me know what you think. I hope to kick off the comic in the very near future but have some work to do creating the pixelart for my sprites and backgrounds and see how it comes together. And to any concerned this may detract from me getting additional writing done, don’t worry… I am well under way with Chi Lin (over halfway done first draft) as well as other projects I expect to complete this year. Thanks for reading!

Jimbob Sprite Concept

 

 

Listening to Green Day and Realizing They’re Old Like Me

So a funny thing happened the other day. I purchased tickets to the upcoming Green Day concert near me for my 11 year old son and I. He has been enjoying listening to Punk Pop bands (started with Fall Out Boy and started working into ‘older’ material) so it’s been awesome introducing him to some of the stuff I listened to when I was, quite literally, his age. I was 11 when Dookie was released back in 1994 and it was one of the first two CDs I ever owned for myself (the other being Weezer’s Blue album).

 

But as I’ve listened to the progression of the lyrics, I’ve realized how much both the band and I have grown in the subsequent 23 years. I also realized that it has been 23 years since Dookie came out and that alone gave me pause. So as I’m listening to their newest release, Revolution Radio, the very first song tells me that they realize it too. “Somewhere Now” opens with this verse:

I’m running late to somewhere now

That I don’t want to be

Where the future and promises

Ain’t what it used to be

I never wanted to compromise

Or bargain with my soul

How did a life on the wild side

Ever get so dull?

This coming from a band that I connected with as an angsty pre-teen for lyrics like this from “Having A Blast” on Dookie:

I’m taking all you down with me

Explosives duct taped to my spine

Nothing’s gonna change my mind

I won’t listen to anyone’s last words

There’s nothing left for you to say

Soon you’ll be dead anyway

Notice the subtle difference in tone and desired intention? It may be a little hard to miss but it’s there if you look deep enough. Granted, I felt in some ways similar to the way I’m feeling now after their 2009 release of 21st Century Breakdown… but that was more of the “man, Green Day and I are getting old” whereas Revolution Radio is in full-on, “we’re old and we realize it” mode.

All that being said, I’m totally excited for taking my son to see them live in March. Truth be told, even though I’ve been a fan for 20+ years I have never had the chance to see them myself! So, old or not, I’m ready to rock with them. It’s made me wonder if this is a normal progression for bands that last as long as this one. When did Baby Boomers realize how old the Rolling Stones were becoming? Does anyone else out there have a similar experience with a band?

My son and I shipping King Midas and Medusa

So earlier today my 11yo son and I were in the car together on a long road trip for the holidays. The following conversation in transcribed to the best of my ability:

11yo: If King Midas and Medusa had a child, would the child be able to look at you and turn you to gold or touch you and turn you to stone?

Me: Well, we need to figure out how they could even reproduce to begin with.

11yo: True, if they tried to touch he would just turn her to gold right away.

Me: I suppose they could use artificial insemination maybe.

11yo: Wait, but if he touches himself would he turn to gold?

Me: I’m not sure. I think his own body is immune to the ability in the same way a superhero who can produce fire is usually fireproof as well.

11yo: Okay. Well, maybe they just remove the sperm with a needle.

Me: Okay. I suppose that would work. Now the next question is whether or not they could even reproduce. King Midas is human and Medusa is a Gorgon.

11yo: But Gorgons are mostly human, right?

Me: I suppose so. Especially in more modern applications of the Medusa mythology, she’s basically just a human with snake hair.

11yo: Okay, so then say they can reproduce so now what?

Me: Well, next we have to explore how they have their powers. Medusa’s power is natural and she just has it. So clearly it’s part of her DNA. Midas’s power was granted to him as a wish. Would his DNA be changed?

11yo: Well, it could be like a mutant from Xavier’s school or the kids from Miss Peregrine’s Home. He’d be a mutant, right?

Me: Maybe. How does his power work anyway?

11yo: He has extra kinetic energy in his body that alters the atoms of whatever he touches into gold atoms.

Me: That makes sense. But if it’s anything he touches, wouldn’t that include liquids and gases?

11yo: Well it turned water to gold in the myth. Why not gas? Shouldn’t he just immediately suffocate from the gas around him turning to gold?

Me: I guess the myth didn’t consider that. I’d say he probably would suffocate.

11yo: Unless his power just doesn’t work on gases. Maybe the energy isn’t enough to affect gas molecules.

Me: Okay. That works. So getting back on track. If he has been mutated by his wish to now have this power, would the DNA in his sperm change to potentially pass along that power to any offspring?

11yo: Sperm is made constantly, so if his DNA changes so would the DNA in any new sperm. It’s not like a woman’s eggs that are already there, right?

Me: Also true. Okay. So his DNA is changed and so that change would be present in any new sperm. I guess the next question would be whether or not the magical trait would be dominant or recessive. And what chromosome the change is on.

11yo: I guess we can’t know that.

Me: Okay. Let’s assume dominant I guess. The only way to know would be to continue to breed them and see what special powers any children have. Maybe we’d need multiple generations to really know.

11yo: So what would happen to the child? Would they have a combination of the powers?

Me: I guess we don’t know. Maybe a combination, maybe one or either. I really have no idea.

11yo: Did we just spend an hour talking about this and not get an answer?

Me: I think so. But it was a fun conversation!

11yo: We’re weird, aren’t we?

Me: Of course we are. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

11yo: Me either.

~fin~

Anyone else have any thoughts to add to the conversation?

Writing In Life’s Margins

When I last wrote on my blog, I talked about how the election of Donald Trump helped me end my imposter syndrome. Since then, I’ve continued to feel way more confident about who I am as a writer and continued getting back to work on the second book in the Toonopolis Files series. Of course, confidence and motivation are only two of the parts of being an active writer.

Apparently one also needs to find the time to write in addition to the confidence and motivation. As a stay-at-home dad of three boys, this is easier said than done for me. So I’ve worked at finding ways to write in smaller bursts of time. And writing in the margins of life. For example:

My 6yo was at a birthday party a few weeks ago and instead of sitting around playing on my phone, scrolling through Facebook, and filling out a quiz to figure out which flavor potato chip I am, I brought my laptop with me. Amazingly, I seem to have forgotten over the years that my laptop was portable and could come with me places.

I got to multitask watching my kid play at an indoor soccer field and got a big chunk of writing done at the same time. This made me realize that I was capable of writing in smaller bits in a way that I didn’t do when writing the first draft of Toonopolis: Gemini.

Back then, I only had two children and my youngest was a newborn and didn’t really do anything but sleep and eat all day. I was able to take long stretches of time to write and could dedicate a lot more time to it. But now I rarely have large stretches of time to even go to the bathroom by myself, let alone have hours of consecutive time for writing. So if I am going to continue to call myself a writer, I have to find new ways to write. Luckily, technology is awesome and I have access to things like Dropbox and Word on my smartphone. And it’s helped me do things like this. —>

I may have only gotten 50 words or so down while I was sitting waiting for to start a field trip that I was chaperoning with a group of first graders, it was that little bit of progress that keeps me going each day.

I have been putting together little bits here and there to continue working on the first draft of Toonopolis: Chi Lin and it’s led me to already hitting about 30,000 words on it. Considering I just finished chapter eight today and I have eighteen chapters mapped out, this puts Chi Lin on pace to be longer than Gemini was (of course, editing can take a serious chunk out of a first draft so that remains to be seen).

But I have to say, finding ways to write little bits at a time and changing the way I operate has led me to be even more confident that this is something I can do, even with the time constraints of being a stay at home dad of three boys that eat up the majority of my day. Sometimes it’s on my dekstop while I’m in between games of Overwatch with my eldest son. Sometimes it’s on my phone while I’m parked and waiting for a kid to finish a program after school. And sometimes, like earlier today, I find a way to write nearly 4,000 words while sitting in the passenger seat of my own car in a parking lot while waiting for my kid to finish at a Laser Tag birthday party:

Writers gotta write, right? Even if it is in the margins of life. What ways have you found to get writing done in your busy lives?

 

How Donald Trump Helped End My Imposter Syndrome

So I have to admit that I’ve been struggling these past few years to really get my bearings back under me as a writer. Even on my blog here I’ve had numerous false starts. Such as this one back in March of 2015 or my memorial of my best friend in July of 2015. A lot of it stems from a post I did years ago about Second Novel Doubts. And when I say years ago, I mean back in August of 2011, the same year my debut novel Toonopolis: Gemini was released.

I’ve blamed any number of things on my inability to get more written, even though I’ve had a few short stories published since then as well as the Anchihiiroo: Origin of an Antihero novella. I am, after all, a stay-at-home dad to three boys and spend a good chunk of my time caring for them, my house, and my wife who works a lot of hours in a very high stress job. I mean, who could blame me for not getting more significant writing done, right?

But the truth of the matter is that I’ve been struggling with some serious imposter syndrome. For any unfamiliar with the term, it basically is a case where someone internalizes their accomplishments for fear of being found out a fraud. Despite my “success” (which I put in quotes because that term is extremely subjective) as an author, I still don’t even tell people I’m a writer when they ask what I do. Even the marginalized stay-at-home dad position feels less fraudulent to me than telling people I’m a writer. Which, in and of itself, is a silly thing.

I’ve been working on Toonopolis: Chi Lin, the sequel to Gemini and continuation of my Toonopolis Files series off-and-on since 2011 (mostly off) and up until last week I had about 17,000 words done on it in that period of time.

But then something happened. I’ll sum it up in a text message conversation I had with a friend shown below (NSFW language contained therein):

And there you have it. Politics aside (that’s a whole can of worms I’d rather avoid in this forum), I can thank Donald Trump for snapping me out of my funk. Since the election last Tuesday, I have added around 7,000 words to Toonopolis: Chi Lin and have found new ways to break the excuses that have been keeping me from writing. I still have kids to take care of. I still have plenty to occupy me. But I won’t allow my own mind to convince me that I am a fraud for wanting to be (cause I already am!) an author.

I wrote about 200 words on my phone while waiting in the carpool lane to pick up one of my kids at school a few days ago. Over the weekend, I took my laptop with me and worked while my 6yo was at a birthday party. I’m finding ways to write. I’m finding the motivation and desire to tell my stories again. I’m not an imposter. I’m a writer and I’m gonna do what writers do! If we can elect a reality star with zero experience as our next president, why the hell can’t I call myself an author and write my books? No reason.

#ThanksTrump