Little Toy Car follows an innocent child growing up in a broken home who despite hardships, matures into a strong and caring adult. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I would share parts of this story verbally with people along my travels and they were always intrigued. I consistently received comments like “wow… this should be a movie”. Well, I don’t have the budget for a movie so I decided to write a book instead. A large portion of the story was inspired by true events. I published it as fiction so that, for example, I wouldn’t be limited by specific timeline restraints or condensing multiple characters into one character. Doing this allowed me to apply my personal writing style and allowed the story to flow better. Since most people mentioned that I should make a movie, I attempted to write it in a way that would be visually appealing and read in the structure of a movie, but still feel really good as a book. The thought process behind this was that if it is ever picked up for a movie or show adaptation it will be easier to transcribe to a screenplay or script. The main inspiration for deciding to publish this story was the amount of people that personally reached out to. They would tell me that they connected or even related to the story and were moved by it. Each person takes something a little different from it and I usually end up having deep heartfelt conversations with them about these topics. It tends to bring out people’s emotions. I feel honored that after reading my story people feel safe to share their personal lives and experiences with me. It’s a genuine human connection.  

What were the morals you were trying to capture while creating your characters?

I didn’t go into the story with a moral lesson in mind. I simply started writing and I was open to whatever lesson arose from that. I have had some people tell me that they believe it is a story about faith and others tell me it validates their concerns with religion. I believe that every person should be able to experience the story in their own way. One concept that has been the most constant, regardless of how different each person’s views on the story is, is the concept of Love. 

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

It was important for me to write this story in the most authentic way possible because the themes explored are a person’s life- their existence and their experiences. In order to do that, I became very vulnerable while writing. It was difficult at times and I contemplated not finishing the story. I sat on it for years. I was encouraged by friends I met along my travels to finish and publish the story. However, if I was to share this story, then I wanted to deliver a genuine take on Gene’s journey through life with full transparency.     

What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?

I purposely wrote Little Toy Car in a way that it could read as a stand alone book or I could continue the story and dive deeper into some of the characters lives that were left behind. There is plenty more to the story and plenty more to explore and share but I have to see how this book is received first.

Author Links: Instagram | Facebook