Love and Memories
How does Woobee represent legacy and memory, especially after someone is no longer physically present?
In Woobee’s Journey, Isaiah’s special blanket, Woobee, symbolizes cherished memories, the time spent together, conversations, and the love shared between him and his grandmother. Woobee serves as a reminder that those special moments and memories never fade away. It encourages children to carry on the legacy of their loved ones, ensuring they are never forgotten.
How do the illustrations help children understand time, growth, and continuity?
The illustrations in the book help children grasp the significance of the time spent with loved ones, particularly grandparents. They emphasize that while we may no longer physically share moments, the love and memories persist. This understanding fosters growth in children, teaching them that even though someone may be gone, their presence and influence remain in our hearts and lives.
What do you hope children learn about love from this story?
I hope that children learn a gentle lesson about love, life, and loss, understanding that all these experiences are a natural part of life’s journey.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website | Amazon
But one day, Grandma goes to passes away.
In Woobee’s Journey, Isaiah learns that love doesn’t disappear. It lives on in memories, faith, and the comfort we carry in our hearts.
This beautifully illustrated story gently helps children understand grief through family, prayer, and hope.
Perfect for:
• Children ages 4–7
• Faith families
• Kids coping with loss
• Bedtime reading
This book helps children:
• Understand death with peace, not fear
• Feel emotionally safe during grief
• Learn about heaven in a gentle way
• Strengthen family bonds
A comforting story about love that never ends.
Off-The-Wall Plans
Stop Snoring, Dad! follows a determined and imaginative young boy who has his sleep disturbed by his dad’s thunderous snoring, so he comes up with creative ways to try and stop the snoring. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Growing up, I spent many nights trying to sleep as my dad snored loudly across the hall. I had no idea that years later, those sleepless nights would become the inspiration for a children’s book.
Louie’s plans escalate in wonderfully absurd ways. How did you tap into a child’s “anything is possible” mindset?
Children are curious and imaginative, so I combined the two to come up with Louie’s off-the-wall plans. I had a mindset of the crazier the idea, the better, while keeping his solutions easily accessible.
Beneath the humor, the book carries a message about control and adaptation. How did you balance that without becoming too serious?
I think I balanced control and adaptation without becoming too serious by showcasing a different idea on every page. Not having Louie dwell on his failed ideas kept the story moving in a fun way and shows how kids can quickly adapt when things aren’t going their way.
Do you see Louie returning in future stories—or tackling new everyday “kid problems”?
He might! I’ve been thinking about a few ideas that I think kids and adults alike would enjoy.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
Snuggle with your favorite blanket and join Louie on this imaginative adventure, as he searches for a way to finally drift off into sweet, snore-free dreams.
Moral Danger
The Founding Scroll follows a ledger-trained merchant’s daughter who accidentally touches a run-shifting guild scroll labeled Vow of Accord / Twelfth Hand, leaving her Oathbound and forging the beginnings of the Vowforged. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The inspiration came from a blend of gaming, anime, and real-life responsibility. I’ve spent years playing games like New World, World of Warcraft, and Elder Scrolls Online, and I’ve always loved how life-skills, crafting, and non-combat systems give players identity and purpose beyond fighting. Those systems feel lived-in, and they make the world believable. I wanted that same feeling in The Founding Scroll.
Anime such as Shield Hero also influenced the story, especially the idea of power that isn’t glamorous or chosen, but forced upon someone who never asked for it. Seren doesn’t begin as a warrior or a savior; she’s trained to track, record, and survive through systems. When she touches the scroll, the power she gains isn’t freedom; it’s obligation. That idea mirrors real life far more than traditional hero narratives.
Seren doesn’t just gain power; she gains public responsibility. How did you approach writing leadership as something morally dangerous as well as necessary?
Leadership in this story is shaped by my own experiences with responsibility, particularly decisions made through co-parenting, where the right choice isn’t always the one that benefits you personally. Sometimes leadership means choosing stability, protection, or fairness for others, even when the outcome costs you something. That tension is at the heart of Seren’s growth.
I wanted leadership to feel exposed and irreversible. Once Seren becomes visible, every decision she makes carries public consequences. There’s no version of leadership where she can please everyone or walk away unscathed. That moral danger, knowing that even the best choice will still hurt someone, is what makes leadership necessary, but never comfortable. Power in this world isn’t about dominance; it’s about carrying the weight of impact.
What role does the in-world codex play for you as a storyteller?
The codex is the structural backbone of the world. As a storyteller, it allows me to build a setting that feels governed rather than improvised. It defines how oaths function, how systems interact, and why consequences exist. Instead of magic being vague or reactive, it operates through rules that characters must learn, challenge, and sometimes exploit.
Beyond the page, the codex represents a larger creative vision. It’s designed to support expansion into multiple formats, whether that’s tabletop storytelling, interactive experiences, or visual adaptations, without losing internal consistency. I’ve always felt that many fantasy worlds are missing connective tissue between mechanics and meaning. The codex lets me fill those gaps, creating systems that feel discoverable, intentional, and alive.
Where does the story go in the next book, and where do you see it going in the future?
The first book is designed to complete a full rise-and-trial arc. Seren’s journey establishes her as a leader whose influence comes not from force, but from trust, trade, and the systems she helps shape. By the end of the story, she earns legitimacy, but that legitimacy comes with a visible cost. The world begins to recognize that her voice doesn’t just affect people; it affects how power itself moves.
The next book expands the scope of the story while deepening its relationships. As Seren’s influence grows, so does the complexity of leadership, particularly around partnership and responsibility. The world is structured so that growth feels earned, layered, and discoverable, where progress comes from systems, cooperation, and long-term choices rather than brute force. This is also where familiars take on a more prominent role. They aren’t pets or accessories; familiars aren’t pets in this world, they’re reflections of trust, role, and responsibility. They reinforce identity and function, shaping how individuals and groups operate together rather than acting as isolated sources of power.
Looking further ahead, the series explores legacy. It asks what happens when systems, oaths, institutions, and alliances become larger than the people who created them. As influence scales, those systems begin to strain, and Seren must confront whether they can evolve without losing the values they were built on. The familiars, like the people bound to them, become part of that question: what is chosen, what is inherited, and what endures.
Each book builds outward from personal survival, to shared leadership, to long-term consequence, while leaving room for future stories that explore different perspectives within the same world. At its core, the series isn’t just about gaining power, but about deciding what kind of world that power ultimately sustains.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | Amazon
Seren has spent her life balancing ledgers, not shaping history. But when she accidentally binds herself to an ancient guild oath—the Vow of Accord—her quiet world is pulled into a system far older and more dangerous than she imagined.
In a realm where contracts shape reality and trust is a form of power, Seren must navigate guild politics, rival merchants, and unseen forces that seek to control what she represents. Leadership is earned, not claimed. Every promise carries weight. And every decision leaves a mark.
The Founding Scroll is a system-driven fantasy about leadership, responsibility, and the cost of building something others depend on. Blending immersive worldbuilding with moral tension, it offers a fresh take on power—one forged through cooperation rather than conquest.
⭐ Perfect for readers who enjoy:
Guild-focused fantasy
Strategic worldbuilding
Moral leadership dilemmas
Progression with real consequences
Real Connection
Munyori and Johannes In 72 Hours follows a Black scholar and a Greek American who fall in love over one intense weekend and spend a lifetime discovering whether love born in a moment can survive. What drew you to the idea of a love story that unfolds almost entirely over 72 hours?
I am not a believer in love at first sight, not really. Although I do believe that a person can feel an instant, extreme, and ultimately long-lasting romantic attraction if they get to know each other by just talking – having direct and sincere conversations about anything and everything. That is why the dialogue may have felt long and intense. Real conversations were happening between two people who would not normally touch on the issues discussed. And once shared values are realized, the relationship and ultimately the love intensifies. I wanted to convey that a spiritual connection can embody the physical relationship between the two lovers. I’m hopeful the 72 hours show just that! Sissy/El, younger sister of Johannes, is intuitive. And she knew they were right for each other. When Munyori and Johannes met by chance, Sissy’s/El’s intuitiveness was correct. I wanted to convey that you don’t have to be attracted to your own culture or your own tribe. I wanted to show, in the famous words of Maya Angelou, “we are more alike than we are unalike.”
Yori is ambitious, sexual, intellectual, and emotionally open, while Johannes’s past loss hangs over the entire story. Their experiences have led them to have different views on love and security—what does that contrast reveal?
I’m not sure if your question is accurate here regarding their different views. If you noticed, Munyori learned a lot from Johannes about being sexual and sensual. The different views on love and security were demonstrated between Munyori and her best friend, Jalsa. In the very beginning, Johannes supported Munyori’s future career choices, was in awe of her academic achievement, and ultimately felt she may be too good for him, until he realized how down-to-earth she was and their shared values. Munyori saved Johannes emotionally. She got him to open up and express his feelings without pressure. That was the beginning of their connection beyond the physical.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I believe the novel is a work of contemporary women’s fiction that weaves together romance, suspense, cultural insight, and fast-moving, character-centered events. I wanted to blend meaningful talks between characters, their inner thoughts, and observations about the world around them. I hope to tackle themes like race, colorism, and identity, and make them feel real – put the reader in the conversation. I wanted to show how Yori’s journey stands out, revealing how ambition, friendship, and self-awareness come together in the face of societal pressures. With Johannes, I wanted to show how balancing responsibility, vulnerability, and his need for a real connection – even though he was driven by taking care of his sister, growing his construction business – all the while ignoring his own needs.
What does Munyori and Johannes In 72 Hours ultimately say about love over time?
Love can come from the most unlikely places if you give it a chance. Some people can know each other for a lifetime and really don’t know each other at all. The lead characters, after the undeniable initial physical attraction, shared meaningful conversations that shifted into understanding, trust, direction, and shared mindsets. They almost immediately went beyond small talk and created moments where the other person feels genuinely heard and supported. In this love story, I wanted to reveal that you can know someone in a few days and fall in love. Again, I refer to the famous words of the African American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist, Maya Angelou, when she says, “we are more alike than we are unalike.”
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
Courage Facing Overwhelming Odds
Promise of Mercy blends political upheaval, telepathic warfare, and a frantic intergalactic rescue mission involving the Dreamscape Warriors. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The triplets (Deirdre, Aisling, and Bayvin) get their inspiration from their father, who is their hero. In the first book, Price of Vengeance, Liam became an orphan at two when giant insects called “Chitin” destroyed his family’s farm and killed his parents. Taken in by a prominent family on the planet of Etrusci, they raise him alongside their own son, Randolf. Liam joined the city’s military as an adult. When he is cut off from the last city on the planet, he discovers an alien intelligence (named Azurius) controlling the Chitin and that a traitor is responsible for his parents’ deaths. After getting back into the city, he discovers the traitor had his beloved foster parents murdered. While doing what he can to thwart the alien, he gives in to his desire for vengeance and slaughters the traitor. However, his moral upbringing reasserts itself. Left full of remorse, he still needs to defeat Azurius and save his people from destruction.
In the second novel, Legacy of Valor, the triplets are only children, having grown up hearing stories of their father’s exploits. Liam now leads Etursci’s Special Operations Company and is attached to the New Terran Marine Corps’ Third Division to retake the moon of Treespo, orbiting the planet Beta Proximus IV, from Marshal Kergan’s Rebel forces. “No plan survives its first encounter with the enemy,” is an old Marine saying. Minutes after landing on the hostile surface of Treespo, treachery decapitates the division, leaving Liam the senior combat officer. Treachery has stripped the Third Division of its support. As forces scramble to assist both sides, Liam must keep the warriors under his command alive.
For personal inspiration, there are science fiction books that use ESP (Extra Sensory Perception), though I put my unique twist on it. Few military science fiction books explore a person’s consciousness being used outside the body, which is called “Dreamwalking.” While Dreamwalking a person often has to fight enemy Dreamwalkers. I also drew inspiration from video games such as Halo, in particular with weapons and tactics in space combat.
How do you manage character development throughout your series?
I decide what type of character I need. Sometimes it develops organically. Other times, I must do research on the type of training they would require and the equipment they would use. Then I develop their backstory to figure out what motivates them. Things like childhood trauma, safety, and support during formative development, and how this shapes a character in the novel. This was especially true in Price of Vengeance, where the death of Liam’s birth parents helped to shape him.
In Legacy of Valor, I set up a scenario where Liam was forced to take charge of a campaign, fighting against overwhelming odds. I needed characters who were combat veterans on both sides. This included a solid Rebel Commander in the form of General Sorel Maranz. Marshal Kergan, who, like Liam, suffered from childhood trauma but dealt with it by becoming vengeful. The story also required an experienced, no-nonsense non-commissioned officer. Enter Gunnery Sergeant Anthony Russo.
In Promise of Mercy, the triplets, Aisling, Bayvin, and especially Deirdre, needed to be their father’s daughters. The girls returned home after advanced training in the Finnian Shock Forces. They’ve inherited their father’s marksmanship, his leadership skills, and his ESP powers. However, they aren’t clones of each other. Deirdre is their best shot, and leadership comes naturally to her. Aisling is an explosives expert and pilot. Bayvin specializes in electronic warfare and excels in military intelligence. Their brother is still in his teens but is already a skilled pilot. We also meet Marissa, a former Rebel war criminal who must confront her past once her daughter, Gayla, is born. Marissa goes against Kergan to befriend Liam and return him to his family.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
As this is the third book in my series, several themes from the first and second novels carry through: the importance of family ties, the pitfalls of vengeance, and the need for courage when facing overwhelming odds. Liam draws strength from his family, even though he was an orphan. His love for family led him down a path of revenge against a traitor. Upon achieving his vengeance, Liam instantly realized it was a mistake, eventually evolving past the need for revenge.
Kergan lost his family when he was young as well and is still traumatized by it. This makes him obsessed with punishing those responsible. Kergan is an effective leader, and his followers are loyal. Yet, holding on to his pain has made him ruthless to his enemies. Deirdre, in Promise of Mercy, has sworn to kill a Rebel war criminal named Marissa for her crimes. As she continues the search for her father, doubt gnaws at her.
Courage is another central theme. Liam and his family face overwhelming odds throughout the series. Liam has needed to push past physical injury in Price of Vengeance. In Legacy of Valor, he must step into shoes seemingly too big for him and keep the combined human forces alive until help can arrive. Deirdre keeps a larger Rebel force at bay as they search for their father and seek to deny Kergan the use of his new terror weapon.
Can we look forward to a fourth installment of the Dreamscape Warriors series? Where will it take readers?
In the fourth book, Addiction of Power, Liam is older. His daughters are now middle-aged. His son, Aidan, is a veteran fighter pilot. The daughter that Liam and his wife Celinia conceived in Promise of Mercy, Tetia, is in her teens and planning to follow her mother’s path as a priestess and healer. The theme of family carries over. Aidan agrees to deliver information to Finnian Intelligence while on a trip with his Great Aunt Máire and sister Tetia when Kergan attacks their ship. After escaping, Marissa and her daughter Gayla, whom the audience meets in Promise of Mercy befriends Aidan and his family. This starts a journey to end 700 years interstellar civil war. Factions on both sides of the conflict must wrestle with the implications of peace; an end to the bloodshed versus losing power. It also plants the seeds for threats from beyond the Milky Way
Author Links: GoodReads | X | Facebook-Author | Facebook-Book | LinkedIn | Website | Blog
It is twenty-five years after the events of Price of Vengeance. Deirdre and her sisters have returned to their home planet of Etrusci after completing their training with the Finnian Shock Forces. Their homecoming plans are disrupted when their mother, High Priestess Celinia, and other leaders of the clergy are taken hostage and their father, Colonel Liam O’Connor, disappears. In their desperate search for their father, they discover that the Rebellion is secretly building weapons that could end civilization as they know it.
Meanwhile, Liam has been befriended by a Rebel war criminal, a woman Deirdre has sworn to kill. Will Deirdre cast herself into the role of judge, jury, and execution, or will she discover the promise of mercy?
Eudaimonia
The Profitable Author is a roadmap and guide for turning writing into a real business by exploring mindset, marketing, sales, and income streams to help authors turn book sales into a career path. Why was this an important book for you to write?
I started writing the articles in this book as a way for me to find closure (!) in publishing and consider my post-publishing career path. It was the pandemic, I was closing down my primary publishing company (a traditional indie press) after 25 years, and I was using some of my spare time to process and dump everything I had learned into articles on Medium. At some point I realized I had a specialty that was different from others I knew in the book world, and not only that, it was something I was passionate about: Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship as the best path for most authors to reach their author goals―big and small, financial and non-financial. And, entrepreneurship as a path to “the good life,” eudaimonia as the Greeks called it―human flourishing.
What is a common misconception you feel people have about successful authors?
That success is one thing and looks the same for everyone
What are some key ideas authors should focus on to turn their published book into a multistream income opportunity?
Two things. First, start by shifting from “I’m an author who wrote a book” to “I’m a business owner who uses my books and authorship as foundational assets.” Your book proves your expertise and gives you credibility (true for fiction as well as nonfiction), but the money comes from what you build around it—volume sales, creative sales, sponsorships and other partnerships, speaking engagements, workshops, coaching, consulting, courses, licensing your content, creating tools or resources, and more. The authors I’ve worked with who build sustainable income don’t just sell more books; they leverage their books to sell higher-value services, events, and additional products.
Another perspective change is understanding that a business can be built on your distinctive combination of expertise, experience, preferences, and personality—not just the content of your book or books. Look for unexpected angles and partnerships. Maybe your thriller becomes the foundation for corporate training on crisis management. Maybe your cookbook leads to culinary tours or restaurant consulting. The most successful author businesses I’ve seen come from people who stop asking “How do I sell more books?” and start asking “What problems can I solve for people who would value what I know?”
And…if you really want to sell more books, it’s time to start thinking, who needs 2 or 3 copies of this book? Then, who needs 5–10? Then, who needs 50–100? Then, who needs 500, 1,000, 5,000 copies? Challenge yourself to keep thinking bigger…and to keep challenging yourself.
What is one thing that you hope readers take away from The Profitable Author?
First and foremost that it is POSSIBLE for them to build a business they love around their books, authorship, expertise, experiences. And, not possible “in theory.” Possible for them. Others have done it and they can too. I like to take that one step further and emphasize: Others who are smarter—and let’s face it—dumber than you. Others who are richer and who are poorer. Others who are better connected and less connected than you. Others who are more talented—and again, true fact, less talented than you, brilliant reader.
Author Links: GoodReads | BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram | Website | Substack
GOLD WINNER – 2025 International Firebird Book Award – Writing/Publishing
GOLD WINNER – 2025 Reader’s Favorite – Non-Fiction – Writing/Publishing
DISTINGUISHED FAVORITE – 2025 NYC Big Book Award – Non-Fiction – Writing/Publishing
Stop Dreaming About Making It as an Author and Start Building a Sustainable Business You Love
Are you tired of earning meager royalties or Amazon deposits? Do you dream of turning your passion for writing into a thriving business? In The Profitable Author, publishing veteran Sharon Woodhouse reveals the insider secrets to creating a multi-faceted author career that goes beyond book sales.
Drawing on over 25 years of experience as an indie publisher, Woodhouse provides a practical framework for building a sustainable and rewarding author life. This isn’t about chasing bestsellers or landing a movie deal (though those are nice when they happen). It’s about understanding the business of being an author, implementing proven strategies (over 1,001!) to generate multiple streams of income from your books, expertise, and experience, and empowering you to take charge of your author journey.
The Profitable Author guides you step-by-step through:Identifying 15 different author income streams, from ebook sales and events to services, merch, and rights sales.
Designing a customized author business model that aligns with your goals, values, and lifestyle.
Unlocking creative financing hacks to fund your dreams.
Finessing author events (and getting paid!).
Unleashing your inner entrepreneur and monetizing your expertise.
Embracing the power of non-bookstore and volume sales.
Mastering essential business skills (without losing your creative spark), including marketing, sales, negotiating, networking, and mindset.
Crafting a fabulous sales and marketing plan tailored to YOU and your books, whether you’re a fiction writer, a nonfiction expert, a cookbook queen, or a children’s book hero.
Cultivating a network of support to help you thrive as an authorpreneur.
Packed with real-world examples, actionable advice, and inspiring insights, The Profitable Author is your essential guide to creating the author life you deserve. Stop waiting for success to find you—take charge and build the profitable author business you love.
FREE WITH PURCHASE! Email author Sharon Woodhouse with your proof of purchase (sharon at conspirecreative dot com), and she will give you a free 3-month subscription to her The Profitable Author / An Author Business You Love Substack author business coaching community.
Framed In Love
Framed in Love by Clifton Wilcox is best described as a romantic speculative novel with a mystery thread and a slow-burn heartbreak engine. The setup is clean and high-concept: David Cross gets struck by lightning and discovers he can step into an old painting, where he meets Abby, a young woman trapped inside a Victorian park that is literally fading away. As they fall in love inside the canvas, they also dig into why the painting is unstable, tying the park’s decay to the original painter, Stephanie Moreau, and her unresolved grief. In the end, the story pushes toward a hard choice: love as presence versus love as protection, and what it costs to keep someone “alive” when the world holding them is fragile.
I liked how committed the book is to its central image: love framed, literally. The early chapters lean hard into sensory description, and when it works, it really works. You can almost smell the damp earth and flowers in the painted park, and the idea of a world that’s beautiful but slightly “off” gives the romance an edge of dread. At the same time, Wilcox repeats certain emotional beats on purpose, circling grief and longing again and again, the way people actually do when they’re stuck in something. Sometimes that repetition felt like a slow tightening. Other times, it felt like the book was explaining itself a beat longer than it needed to. Still, the tone stays sincere, and I appreciated that it never treats Abby like a cute fantasy prize. The story keeps reminding you that she’s the one paying the highest price.
I also liked the author’s choice to make the mystery emotional instead of procedural. The “why” of the painting isn’t solved with a single clever trick; it’s tied to Stephanie’s memories, loss, and what it means for art to carry a person’s inner life. That’s a smart match for this genre. In romantic fantasy and speculative romance, big feelings are the point, and here the worldbuilding serves the feelings instead of competing with them. The ending decisions land in that same lane: David ultimately steps back, not because the love was fake, but because staying would destroy the one place Abby can exist. It’s a quiet kind of bravery. Then the book takes the idea further, showing him translating that loss into writing, painting, and music, which is both tender and a little bruising.
I felt like the novel was making a simple argument and standing by it: love does not always mean holding on, and art can be a bridge even when it can’t be a doorway. The epilogue, with Abby still in the painting and David refusing to cross again because it would make the canvas fade, is the kind of ending that aches in a controlled way. It doesn’t chase shock. It chooses restraint. I’d recommend this most to readers who like bittersweet romance, gentle mystery, and speculative premises that stay focused on the heart rather than action set pieces. If you enjoy slow-burn love stories where the “magic” is really a lens for grief, memory, and acceptance, you’ll enjoy this story.
Pages: 244 | ISBN : 9781969770043
I’M FINE!: A Practical Guide To Managing Your Emotions To Strengthen Relationships With Loved Ones And Yourself
I’m Fine! is a short and personal guide to emotional awareness written for men who grew up being told to toughen up, get on with it, and never cry. Rob Nugen walks through why that “I’m fine” script is often a lie, how emotions actually work as signals, what happens when we suppress them, and how men can start feeling and expressing them in healthier ways. The book moves from basic ideas about emotions, through stories of suppression, masking, and meltdown, into practical tools for working with anger, fear, sadness, happiness, guilt, shame, and gratitude, before landing in deeper topics like connection, loneliness, self-care, and living with an open heart.
I really enjoyed the way Rob writes. The tone is warm, plain, and direct, and he keeps it grounded in his own stories instead of hiding behind theory. The images he uses stick. The inbox full of unread emotional “emails,” the “Meeseeks” standing in for neglected feelings, the little boy trying to write “Jr.” on a Nerf football and then shredding it in shame, these landed for me much more than abstract advice ever could. I also liked the structure. Each chapter ends with simple reflection questions, so the book nudges you to actually do something with what you just read instead of nodding along and forgetting it ten minutes later. The style is conversational, but the content is serious, and that mix makes some heavy topics feel more approachable.
I found his core message both simple and powerful. Emotions are not defects. They are messengers that hang around until you listen, and when you finally let them move, they change. That shows up everywhere in the book, from his delayed grief over his grandfather’s death, to the fear sitting under his anger, to his description of “self-care” that quietly turns into avoidance and numbing. I appreciated how strongly he leans toward agency without sliding into blame. He honors the fact that childhood and culture shape us, then keeps coming back to the question, “What can I choose now.” Sometimes I wanted a bit more engagement with bigger social factors, like work, class, or culture outside his own experience, since most of the examples are straight, Western, and personal. That said, the honesty and humility soften that gap for me. He is not preaching from on high. He is saying, “Here is what I did wrong, here is what helped, try what fits.”
By the end of the book, I felt a steady mix of hope and practicality. The closing chapters on self-care, connection, and “practicing emotional awareness” do a good job of tying everything together into daily life, instead of leaving the reader with one big cathartic moment and no follow-through. Rob’s invitation to “pay it forward” by handing the book on to another man, with a written note, is a lovely touch that fits the whole spirit of the project. I finished the last pages with a real sense that the book is less a lecture and more a hand on the shoulder.
I would recommend this book to men over 30 who feel competent on the outside and quietly lost or numb on the inside, especially those who grew up with “men don’t cry” as a background rule. It would also be useful for partners of men like that, and for coaches or group leaders who work with men and want simple language and relatable stories to point to. If you want a straight-talking, very relatable guide that makes you feel less alone while giving you concrete ways to start feeling more, I think this one is worth your time.
Pages: 150 | ASIN : B0FYNH5WNC
