Write On!

I'm very proud of my literary boys this week. Mike finished the second draft of his science fiction novel about accidental time travel. I read the first draft and was pleasantly surprised at how engrossing it was even for me, a non-sci fi nerd. He's sending copies out to friends and family now for input before he starts soliciting agents. He has started writing at least 3 novels since we've been together but this is the first that he has actually completed so I'm especially proud of him, even if it never gets published beyond the Kinko copy he is carrying around doing line by line edits as we speak.

A great inspiration for Mike's perseverance is one of his best buddies Brian Katcher. This shot is from our New Mexico Adventure last summer with he and his super sweet wife Sandy. Brian has had 2 Young Adult novels published with another on the way next year. He's also working on a sci fi series with another publisher but I'm not sure about that release date. Brian recently won the 2011 Stonewall Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award, which is given to "works of exceptional merit for children or teens relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience."

“A young adult novel about a transgender girl—told from the perspective of the straight boy who falls for her—“Almost Perfect” is exceptional. The writing is sensitive, haunting and revelatory,” said Stonewall Children’s and Young Adult Award committee chair Lisa Johnston.

He's been getting a ton of great press since the award including this write up in the St. Louis Post Dispatch and even a mention on the Onion AV club. It really couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Brian and Sandy are probably the most easy going and non-judgemental people I've ever been fortunate to know.

If you have teenagers I would highly recommend his first two books, including Playing with Matches, which is actually my favorite by a slim margin of the two so far. Kai lists Brian as his favorite author on Facebook and has actually read Playing with Matches multiple times which is unheard of for him.