The Making of Unstoppable Sammy · Chapter 1

Christmas Eve, 2021.

I don’t know how to explain it without sounding crazy, but I had a feeling that hit me out of nowhere:

Something wants to be written. Go write.

I was at my mother-in-law’s house with my wife on Christmas Eve night. We were all just sitting around, talking and hanging out after dinner, when I excused myself.

I grabbed my journal and sat down at the kitchen table. I write stream of consciousness every day, so I started there, pen to paper, without any direction.

Half a page later, I stopped. There was a rhyming story in my head about a karate student!

Who is this? What is this about? What is happening?

I wrote lines and rearranged words for about an hour. By the time I finished, I had the first three stanzas on paper. There she was.

Sammy.

A little girl who dropped into my consciousness, and came to life on paper. I was so excited!

By the end of the evening, it was obvious to me that this was going to be a children’s book. I had always wanted to write stories for kids, but could never think of what to write. Any time I sat down to try, it felt forced.

That’s why Unstoppable Sammy feels so special to me. I didn’t “try” to write a book. I was minding my business, enjoying an evening with my family, and felt instructed to write.

The whole thing feels magical to me. Special. Like she wanted to be written. And she chose me to bring her to the world.

What began as a few handwritten lines on Christmas Eve eventually became my first children’s book, Unstoppable Sammy—a story about perseverance, believing in yourself, and discovering that you can do hard things.

Discover the book here.