BLOG TOUR: Day 2: Guest Post with Author Ryan Jacobson + Giveaway!

Calling all readers....calling all readers!

*looks around*
Oops!  There you are!

^_^

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers, the place to get your fill of bookish treats any day of the week....and today, is no different.  Yesterday, we played host to a blog tour featuring a new addition to the choose-your-own-adventure genre in which readers are introduced to Jack London's classic wintry tale...with a twist.  The book?  Can you Survive:  Jack London's Call of the Wild...by Ryan Jacobson.  Fascinating story if I do say so myself...and I do; you can see my results from braving the "elements" in yesterday's review.  (Just click over to the post...I'll wait.... *tick*tock*tick*tock)

Today...well it's a brand new day and so we have something bright and shiny to bring to the table.  Are you game?  Good.  I was hoping you'd be.  Today, my friends, we welcome day two of the tour with a special guest.....author Ryan Jacobson!  That's right.  The author was kind enough to indulge my curiosity and share with us a few words on how he came to be the writer he is today.

Without further adieu....please join me in welcoming, author Ryan Jacobson!

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Guest Post:  Author Ryan Jacobson

I love guest posts, especially when bloggers suggest topics. Gina asked some great questions, which caused me to evaluate my path to authordom. I’ve decided that I can only be described as an “accidental author.” I mean, an author is someone who grows up devouring books, making up stories and dreaming of the day he finally gets published. Right? Um, not so much.



I grew up a reluctant reader—I started writing not because I loved stories but because I loved football. When I learned that our middle school sports reporter got to stand on the sideline during games, I volunteered. As it turned out, I rather liked writing and was pretty good at it.


Nevertheless, it took the rest of high school and three years of college for me to choose English as my major. I planned on writing radio commercials or greeting cards or mattress warning labels. Not once, though, did I think, “I should write a book.” And certainly not children’s books, as I’d never really read them.


Fast forward a few years, and I was writing radio commercials and greeting cards and mattress warning labels for Corporate America. Children’s books were the farthest things from my mind. But, as luck would have it, my wife’s brother became an editor for Capstone Press, assigned to work on history-themed graphic novels. He knew I was a comic book nerd and asked if I’d like to write one.


A comic book nerd asked to write a comic book? Are you kidding? I jumped at the chance. And, okay, I’ll admit it: The result was a boost to my ego that became addicting. (I remember my younger brother, whose said three nice things to me ever, saying it was “pretty cool” to look me up on Amazon.)


I did two more books for Capstone and realized (a.) comic books are more fun to read than they are to write, and (b.) I don’t love nonfiction. So I called it quits.


But then something funny happened. My kindergarten-teaching wife brought home the Magic Tree House book, Dinosaurs Before Dark. I don’t know why, but I read it—my first ever early reader chapter book. I simultaneously fell in love with the format and said, “I could totally write that!” And I did. I wrote a story called Santa Claus: Super Spy: The Case of the Florida Freeze. I loved it, stuffed it into a file cabinet and forgot about it.


That’s when heartbreak happened: infertility. My wife and I went through a very dark time, but we eventually found hope in the form of adoption. The problem? How would we ever pay for it?


We did everything we could, including several fundraisers, but the money didn’t come fast enough to keep our new dream alive. We decided to try something a little crazy. We dug out my Santa Claus: Super Spy manuscript and self-published it.


It worked! Twenty books (some self-published, some not) and two adoptions later, I’d say our gamble paid off.

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Wow...what a story.
From fan to creator, heartbreak to a life of fulfillment....sounds like it was quite the journey but one well worth taking.  Thank you for sharing your experience and I have to agree with your assessment of the middle grade format....you CAN totally do it.  ^_^  Now my fellow readers, it's time for you to discover that very same truth.  Drum roll please..... *ratta tat tat tat ratta tat tat tat ratta*
 
Thanks to the generosity of the author, YOU have the chance to win a copy of this fun-tastic book all your own.  Here's the scoop!
 
 
Prize:
 

(1) copy of Can You Survive:  Jack London's Call of the Wild:  A Choose Your Own Path Book by Ryan Jacobson

 

Rules:

Open to US residents only, no P.O. Boxes please.

Entries will be accepted from Saturday, October 29th, 2011 through midnight CST on Sunday, November 6th, 2011.  Winner will be emailed and have 48 hours to respond with their mailing information if it was not submitted with their initial entry.

How to enter:

Fill out the form below and POOF, consider yourself entered.

 

Special thanks to author Ryan Jacobson for the opportunity to participate in this tour.  It's been fascinating to say the least and has given me another great way to get young readers interested in the classics I grew up loving.  Be sure to connect with the author either via his site, Facebook, or Twitter!  Remember, next stop on the tour is Lost For Words...be sure to check it out!

 

Also special thanks as well to my friend and blogging buddy Danielle of There's A Book for making this connection possible.  If you haven't checked out her site, you definitely should...there's always something new and exciting from the world of children's literature.

Until next time...good luck....and happy reading!