It’s all Alan’s Fault!
OK, let me explain. When Alan was born, he took over my blog page for the first 12 months and wrote ALL about himself and his adventures. “The Chronicles of Alan” he called it. Pretty self-serving for a newborn, but it could have been worse.
Now, I believe it was Chapter 4 of “his” blog, where he wrote his own children’s book in honor of me. I think it was a Father’s Day thing……
“Daddy Needs a Beer” was brought to the world in all its glory. Now I was happy he thought of me and leaving the story there was good enough for me. However……
It’s Amanda’s Fault!!!
OK, I’ll explain more. Amanda loved what Alan wrote in honor of me so much that she decided to reach out to a co-worker of hers, who just so happened to do graphic design, and asked if she would help make the story into an actual book! Now, keep in mind, I had NO part in this. Amanda took this ball and RAN with it! And so, without further ado, Daddy Needs a Beer was brought to life:
This book was private, only lived in our home, and was never for sale. I was good with that, I never in a million years thought I had what it took to SELL a story of mine. I’d read it to our kids, they loved it, and that was good enough for me. Until……
I hit this place in life where I needed to do something for myself. I’ve tried many things to feel like I left something behind, and having children is DEFINITELY tops in that category. Still, I was restless. I felt like I had more to offer, all this crazy talent in my head that I never really did anything with. I also had family and friends always telling me I should be a writer. It took me a while to take that whole idea seriously. So, one day (I’m not sure if it was day 1 or 58 of my mid-life crisis) I decided it was time. I was going to get my….well Alan’s story out to the world. Just one thing was stopping me. I don’t know the first thing about designing a book. This leads me to…….
It’s Jesse’s Fault!
OK, follow along with me. Jesse is a POWERHOUSE in the world of graphic art. His artwork, drawings, and designs are some of the greatest I’ve ever seen. Jesse was a great friend to me back in the day, and even though we grew apart, I would always give my last dollar to a guy like him if it meant he could eat. Now, with all the trade shows, cons, and events he goes to promoting his work, there was no WAY he’d have the time or bandwidth to take something like this on. But Jesse is who I wanted, he was going to be my first choice then I’d be lost after that. So, one day, I reached out to him on a whim to see if he’d be willing to take this on.
HE SAID YES!!!!!!!
I couldn’t believe it, Jesse had the time to do this! That made this book SO MUCH MORE real now! There will be stories as time goes on about what we went through, the back and forth with artwork, doubling the story, etc. But, the end result is this. I get to work with one of the most talented people I’ve ever met, and he made creations out of my words I never thought possible! Plus, getting to see an old friend after 32 years (give or take) was pretty amazing too!
And now, “Daddy Needs a Beer” has come to life. It’s available for sale on Amazon as a paperback, Ebook will be out soon, and this is only the beginning.
I’m now on a journey unlike anything I’ve ever done, and I don’t know the last time I felt this happy about being in control of something. There’s no one else over me telling me what I’m doing is wrong, or not good enough, this is MINE! The success or failure of this falls on the effort I put in and how badly I want this. For the first time, I feel like I have what it takes to be truly successful. I have a great friend working alongside me, all kinds of ramblings in my head that deserve to be on paper, and most importantly, I have the support from my wife/best friend/life partner Amanda, who has stood by me through this whole thing and done nothing but encourage me.
There are so many great stories to tell around this book, and please stay tuned as there WILL be more. For now, please pick up a copy of the book for yourself, someone you know, or just to support a starving artist. Well, not starving, but it’ll be nice to afford onion rings instead of fries now and then π
I can’t wait to hear from you and see what you think of this book!
My friends, thank you for being here!