Just a Few Words...

... to kick this off.

First off, the reason for this blog:

In July, my friend Chelsea gave birth to my goddaughter, Hana Love. The image below is Hana right at three months.

Anyway, I've been writing pretty steadily for the last six years - mostly fiction novels - and when Chelsea decided to get started on the good ol' hardwiring for Hana's brain by reading to her, she asked if I had any stories that would be child-appropriate.

Well, long story short, I don't. Not that at the tender age of three months, Hana would have any idea what's going on, but still, why take the chance, right? Wouldn't want to scar the poor girl before she even knows what a scar is, amirite?

So I decided to write a book just for Hana, and while searching for a plot, Chelsea suggested that I write the story of our childhoods. Growing up in as small a town as we did, they were quite intertwined, and it seemed like a good idea. Also, being the black sheep in our families, we insisted upon learning things the hard way and such a story would be just chock full of morals and therefore good for Hana.

I readily agreed, but as I set about adapting these stories to a child's comprehensive levels, I realized something: a lot of my best stories are no good for that. Especially not the more recent ones.

So, I started this blog. It will contain all of the stories from growing up strange that could not be passed off as children's stories. I hope you enjoy, and to the black sheep of the world: this one's for you!