Featured Book # 5 - In Real Life

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My Real Life was becoming somewhat complicated and my love of reading and writing was in true peril. I'd gone from eternally single to a wife, two kids and a dog.

I was a little frightened that my schedule would be F&*#ed with.

Would I never be able to write again?

And I must admit, it took some moving around of things in the cluttered mental cage. I would have to write differently. I started carrying around note cards along with the black notebook.

On each note card I'd write a quote with just the chapter number on it. I'd have that card with me all week long. I'd jot down cute little things and push the story forward each day.

I also wanted to write funny again, and the story was about being disillusioned by life. In essence, we are not what we think we are.

And man, let me tell you, it was fun.

The most fun I've ever had writing a book, honestly.

My brother Jeff fed me a lot of lines for the book as did my college roommate, Mike Palmer. They are all over it.

Yet, Leo Brown worked himself into a real life, sort of by mistake. It actually mirrored what was going on in my new madhouse.

One other funny thing I recall about writing In Real Life. My beautiful wife was pregnant with Sam and her moods sort of jumped around (she would read just pages behind me back in those days) (don't ask about now-she hasn't picked up Dogs on Main Street!)...and In Real Life was about 4 chapters from being done.

She read what I wrote that morning and she came down the stairs with tears in her eyes.

"What's going to happen?" she asked.

"I don't know," I answered.

"What do you mean you don't know? They're people you have living in your freaking head. What happens?"

"It happens as I write," I tried to explain.

"Well then get your ass back up there and finish it because I wanna know what happens."

The book came out on September 10, 2001.

Jake got sick in early October.

My favorite book to write...and the first one where I thought, I can really do this, died on the vine.

I never actually liked the cover of this book, either. I hardly ever complain about how someone else does their job, but the cover didn't do it justice.

But the book is great!

It really is.

In Real Life!

Get your copy today.

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