How To Know If Bad Books Have Purpose

You actually need to read my first book.

Let me explain why.

Decades ago, I started writing about a kid who never fit in. I found his view of the world fascinating. Schizophrenia changes how you think, feel, and act. You can’t control the illness if you lack insight on the personality disorder.

After years of my emotional disaster, going through the birth of two babies with my wife and then the fucking pandemic, I don't even have the perspective to help myself yet, but I at least know I'm ready to publish my first novel for new adults. As you get older, it's easier to dream a book than it is to write one, especially a book that includes wicked dreams. My first book will be picaresque literary fiction and new adult fiction, a developing genre of fiction with the main character in the 18–30 age bracket. I know I have a lot of company in this. I'm one of thousands of writers publishing a book next year. We admit the beauty in grandma's sandals, but rarely admit the changes it's gone through to achieve that beauty. Imagine going backstage to see how a schizo survives a fucked-up weekend, reading about his adventures, his hallucinations and bad dreams. One cousin's drug stash, another one's untimely death. Based on what appears as actual events, 29-year-old Ray McFadden spends every free moment dreaming his life away, escaping the "normal" world. A loss of control could destroy him and everyone around him. After years of reclusion, Ray ambles out of bed ready to get on with living. Wary, but hopeful, in his own charming way, he allies with his cousin on a drug-fueled romp through Northfall, Ontario.

Haunting yet hopeful, strange daydreams and nightmares that feel like reality. Dreams that could almost be reality. The self-destructive, self-absorbed, charming Ray blames his dad for everything wrong in his world. Forced to face reality and deal with a dysfunctional family, a grip on mental health isn’t easy, nor is coping with drugs destroying real life. And real life is strange. Join the crowd. Yeah, I'm a pretty strange writer, wondering who invented whales and why more teenagers aren't sharpening pencils. Man, I only hope I'm not the voice of Ray in the audiobook. It would be hard to sound much younger.