Yesterday my son brought home a little pastic magnifying glass that he had been “rewarded” as part of a summer reading program at the library. His little heart had been set on a “bug cube” for weeks, but he apparently changed his mind after his sister and another girl chose “grab bags”. Of course, life has taught most of us not to gamble what you have in hand for that which you cannot see. He, not yet having learned this lesson, traded his little cube for a grab bag.

Life lessons are funny things. Certainly we’ve all had them over the years. But I never thought my heart would ache for a little guy who chose a grab bag over a bug cube. You see, while my daughter’s bag was full of neat little bendy toys, my son’s bag contained a cheap plastic magnifying glass and a compass ring. And that’s all. What’s worse, while innocently playing “detective” at the store with his magnifying glass, the handle broke. He enjoyed his reward for all of a few hours before insult was added to injury. Thankfully, his sister chose to give him one of her bendy people. Now that’s love!

It’s an old cliche that many dads fix everything with duct tape. Unfortunately, I’m not that talented. It sticks to itself. It sticks to me. I end up using twice as much as I need, and rarely get the results I’m seeking. But you see, I have another weapon which has resulted in the misguided opinion from my kids that I can fix anything: Superglue. I have diminished several tubes of this man-made resin over the past few years, and have actually gotten some pretty amazing results. The stuff really is good (though not much fun when your fingers are stuck together)! With it, I have swelled with great pride as the smiles returned to the faces of my children. Daddy fixed the toy! Disaster averted, tears forborne, superhero status reclaimed.

So with my son’s little magnifying glass in hand, I retreated to my hero’s lair (a.k.a. my garage) last night to restore what usefulness I could to this cheap little vessel of spying greatness. I did my best to reconnect the pieces with my “magic glue”, but the results are still out. I did the best I could, but it may not hold for long. Any doctor will tell you that you can’t always save the patient. But perhaps there will be enough life in this trinket for one more adventure, and one more smile.

Of course, I realize my “hero” status is dubious, at best. As the kids get older, they’ll realize that daddy can’t really fix everything (something my wife has already tried to convey). They’ll realize my “magic glue” is available at most stores for just a few bucks, and they can use it themselves if necessary. They won’t even need me to try and fix things. But regardless of that, hopefully the sense will remain within them that I just might have that ability, even without the glue. And if things get too broken, they will know they can turn to me for help. Disasters will be averted, tears will be forborne, and superhero status will once again be reclaimed.

I am posting an email here that was passed to me via my mother-in-law from my wife’s cousin’s husband. Yeah, that sounds pretty removed, but I do consider Brandon a friend. We’ve played golf together a time or two (OK, he played golf and I drove the cart all over the place chasing my ball), and we’ve hung out on several occasions over the years. But I digress… here’s the message:

Friends and Family,
You may not be aware that you now know an author. I am happy to announce that I have officially published my first hard cover fiction novel and it is available on line at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. The title of the book is Capable of Anything You can search for it on both web sites by either the title or my name and it should come right up. I have included in this email a pic of the front cover and the cover flap description (below). If you prefer, you can also buy a copy directly from me (those of you that live in the area) – signatures are optional and it’s a little cheaper. The novel took me 3 years to write and another 8 months to publish. The book publishing business is pretty tough and I was unable to get a major publishing house to pick me up (they take on very few new clients). Because of that, I chose to self publish this novel, which means that I did everything except the actual printing of the book – all design work, the dust jacket, etc, etc. It was a very interesting and rewarding adventure, though it was also very difficult and time consuming. Initial feedback on the book has been excellent – I even got a 5 star review on barnesandnoble.com! Now, I ask your help. I am hoping to sell enough copies so that I can go back to the major publishing houses and try to get them to pick it up and publish it nation wide (in bookstores) as well. My goal is to sell 10,000 copies. To help reach the goal, I’m starting an email advertising campaign. I ask that you forward this email to all your friends and family, telling them about the book and encouraging them to give it a shot and buy a copy. Also, ask them to pass this note on to their friends and family, and so forth. Thanks in advance and enjoy the book!! Don’t forget to give it a review!

Brandon A. Willis

So if you’re looking for a book to read this summer, I encourage you to check out Brandon’s book and support a local (or regional) author who’s trying to make a go of it. I give him a lot of credit, because it takes a lot of time and effort to not only write a book, but self-publish it get it on Amazon, etc. Thanks!