Giveaway ends June 07, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013 at 12:00PM My publisher (Thank you Spry Publishing!) is giving away autographed copies of 'Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal' to ten lucky Goodreads members... Looking forward to signing your book... Good luck!
-Scott
Giveaway ends June 07, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013 at 10:02AM 
Life Is Short for Kindle
Today, my first book became available on Kindle. It will arrive in paperback and on the rest of the eReader formats soon, but today was the first time that someone could actually buy the book and take it with them.
I haven't been able to get up from my desk today because of all of the well wishes, FaceBook posts, tweets and the rest of your outpouring of love and support. I keep saying, "thank you" but those words don't feel like they are enough. This is one of the most wonderful days of my life and it's completely due to all of you. I'm beyond touched.
One of you sat in your car this morning and began to read on your phone, a book on a phone - in a car. So excited to begin reading my book that you sat in a cold car and read on a tiny screen. There are no words to express how that made me feel. No words.
It's a funny line to walk when you write a book. I want you all to like it, but more importantly I want you to feel well served by it. I hope that after you finish reading that the experience feels worth your personal investment and kind support. The words in that book are my only chance to properly say thank you for the time you spend on this blog.
My Best,
Scott
Friday, February 22, 2013 at 5:44PM 
Industrial Steel Saw
An email arrived in my inbox, it was from a guy I worked with at the job I had 13 years ago, back before I became a stay-at-home dad. He was writing to tell me that he pre-ordered my book and wished me success with my writing. His note was wonderful and it opened my eyes to an aspect of the process that I didn't give much thought to, people were going to buy my book and read it. Obviously, that is the hope, but I just imagined that my mom would buy a copy, maybe my brothers. It was difficult to consider any success beyond that.
It felt strange when I read his email. My friend went online, clicked on a few buttons and just like that, bought a book that I wrote. Everything about that thought freaked me out. I felt very responsible all of the sudden because he spent his money on something that I created. I was overwhelmed by his words, they warmed my heart.
Since that day others have ordered, I get really nice tweets, FaceBook messages and other notes from a lot of you saying how excited you are for the book to arrive. The book even charted in the US and Canada as a pre-order a number of times! It's a great feeling that I wish I could share with each of you. You know what? Maybe I can try...
I didn't exactly grow up in a hot bed of creativity. Back then I didn't feel comfortable sharing my desire to write with most of the people in my life. Only ever speaking of my dream with my friend Mike. Today as I sit here writing to you, I find myself wondering what my parents would have said if I announced that I wanted to be a writer. I think that idea would have been so far outside of the norm that they wouldn't have known what to say. When I was sixteen I began working in my Uncle's sheet metal shop, I was okay at performing the work but each day reminded me that I wasn't where I belonged. The teenage me didn't hold out much hope that he would find any success outside of that factory. I wasn't hopeless but it was very difficult to be hopeful.
A lot has happened since then...
I began writing on this blog almost six years ago and that act saved me when I was lost. Then my salvation unexpectedly become my passion. I finally found a place where I "belonged" and I was writing. If you would have asked me two years ago, I would have told you that all of this couldn't get better - but then it did.
So when you reach out to tell me that you can't wait for my book, it feels like a dream coming true - each time. I'm instantly reminded that I was once a a young man cutting steel who would drift away in his head and envision himself sitting at a keyboard, but he could never imagine a path to getting there.
You guys have saved me twice so far, once from the isolation of type I parenting and again from the disappointment of a dream not realized. I can only hope that I've helped you somehow, because I owe you all a serious debt. Thank you.
#DOCLove
Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 8:00AM 
I've painted more than my fair share of rooms in my life and by all accounts, I've done a very good job. The trim is always straight and the walls are evenly covered. I don't skimp on primer and I have decent eye for what colors work where. Even with all of my experience, I'd be nervous to walk outside with a ladder and paint the exterior of my home. A job like that seems too big for me to tackle and I wouldn't want to take on such a monumental challenge unless I was sure that I could deliver a great result.
That's what sitting down to write Life Is Short felt like. I had writing experience even though it wasn't in the form of book writing. I had the determination and I was confident that my story was a fresh look at an interesting, emerging social issue. As I wrote I felt good, the words felt good coming out and the text was taking the direction that I'd imagined. There were benchmarks along the way, my publisher looked at that the first 15,000 words and provided feedback. She made me feel like I was on the right track, her support gave me the confidence to believe in the direction I chose for my first book. I was sure that my intent for the book was materializing on the page, I couldn't ask for more.
When the day came that my manuscript was due, I handed it in with a lightness of heart. The book really did come out the way that I envisioned. I was more than pleased with what I had written but I struggled to hold on to that positive feeling in the days after I submitted the file.
Soon my stress level was through the roof. What if they didn't like it? What if my writing doesn't measure up? Doubt rushed in and clouded my every waking moment. I began to experience a stiff neck and it's grip intensified each hour that I didn't hear back. I couldn't think about anything other then my manuscript. A week later I stopped wishing for someone to tell me that they liked the book, opting to hope for any response, good or bad. I needed relief and decided that it would be better to hear that people hated my book rather than hear nothing at all. I was quickly lost in the mindset of a sixteen year old boy who had just passed a note to a girl he liked. I wasn't able to wait patiently for her reply. Did I make a mistake trying to take on such a big project? Was my house now the laughing stock of the town? I should have stuck to painting rooms.
It is incredibly difficult to put yourself out into the world in a way that invites critique. In this case I wasn't prepared for how crippling it would feel to lay my heart out for all to see. I put so much of myself into my book, told so many deeply personal stories. I needed someone to either circle yes on the note that I passed or send it back so we could get the pointing and laughing over with.
I did not expect to feel so exposed by the process.
Some early reviews have been good and I've received a few wonderful personal messages from folks that are reading advance copies. Responses have been very positive and heart-warming... I am happy to report that I can once again turn my head completely to the left.
I expect that there will be people that won't enjoy my book and that some of them may well take to the Internet to voice their feelings, but I'm okay with that possibility now. This process has given me the confidence to say, and mean, "I wrote a book that I am proud of, some will love it, some will like it, a few may not - but I know it is good. Felt good coming out and I should have trusted that feeling".
Looking back I see that I couldn't help the doubt, but it didn't emanate from insecurity the way that I initially imagined. My fear was rooted in a desire to please the reader, to please you. I can see now that I care deeply if you enjoy the experience when you read. My fondest desire is for you to leave the text richer then when you arrived... nothing else matters. Today I'm confident that can happen. I'm no longer nervous, that terrible feeling has been replaced by excited anticipation. Look for my next entry, Life Is Short: Amazon sometime soon.
Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal will be in stores on April 2nd but you can Pre-Order today.
Thursday, January 17, 2013 at 7:28AM There are in excess of 70,000 images in my iPhoto library. I've taken so many pictures over the years for two reasons. I enjoy photography, and the thought of Kelly and I looking at those pictures later in life makes me smile. Here in present day, I don't look at them all that often because we are too busy making new memories. I love that they are waiting for us and part of me is excited to grow old so that we can spend our days watching the images that made up our life as they glide by on a screen. I hope that we all get that chance, a victory lap of sorts. Raising children is difficult and I imagine that getting to look back and remember the journey so vividly after we have the benefit of knowing how everything worked out, is going to be the icing on our life's cake.
But that's a long way off... opportunities like that, they come at the end.
That's why getting to write my book was such a blessing. Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal is a difficult book to explain, when you read it you'll be left with a feeling, one that I think you'll be very happy that you experienced. However I worry some times that you might not be able to quantify the book after you've put it down, at least not in standard terms. Some days I can't decide if that possibility is a concern or a triumph. Is it a memoir, yes but no. Is it a parenting book, yes but no. Is it an uplifting read, definitely, but it doesn't belong on the inspiration shelf. Is the book about diabetes? In some ways it is completely, but then not really. Did I write a book that's nothing more than stories from my life as a stay-at-home dad? No, they are so much more than that.
Privilege.
Far and away the most intense feeling that Lynne's phone call left me with was one of privilege. Perhaps my book will sell five copies, and maybe it will sell fifty-thousand, who knows. The one thing I do know is that it will be published, bear my name and forever be associated with me. If I were to step off of a cliff tomorrow, my book will stand as the culmination of what the last forty-one years has taught me. I took that responsibility very seriously. Is the book just a bunch of stories, no. Could it have been, certainly it could have. I've had some intensely funny and interesting experiences in my life and I could have easily told them in a way that you would have enjoyed, but then they would have just been stories. I wanted to put my name on a book that was more then just entertainment. I wanted to leave a record that my children could proudly read as adults. A book that you would enjoy, respond to and perhaps retain.
I wanted my book to be more then just a a way to pass a few hours.
So I did something that I wish for all of you. I spent time thinking about my life. Not just a moment of reflection, not a day, but months of days. I was able to look back through my mental photographs and locate the moments that impacted me, the process allowed me to retrace my steps and see, from a new perspective, where the knowledge that I've accumulated originated. I got to relive my life through my now more mature eyes. That time was a gift. This opportunity was a treasure, one that I worked hard to share with you. I hope that I did that, I guess we'll all know shortly if I succeeded.
Is the book funny, yes! Will it make you cry, oh yea. Will you think, feel, love? Will my moments cause you to look back at yours thoughtfully, I think so. I'm most proud that Life Is Short brings it's readers to these emotions without preaching, I desperately didn't want to be that person and I'm confident that I succeeded.
I don't want you to think Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal is some bore fest from an overly earnest guy. Because oh no it is not, these are entertaining stories full of truth and real life. It looks at parenting, marriage, sex, love, loss, renewal and the moments when all of those things begin to make sense.
Life Is Short is a love letter to the women that so thoughtfully do what I do everyday, a reality check for those who don't see that job for what it really is and my addition to the world of books that I'm getting very excited for you to be able to read it.
The next entry in this series is tentatively titled Life Is Short: Intent Meets Doubt.
Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal has its own FaceBook page, you can visit it at this link or kindly like it with the button below.
