“Aaah!! I remember! I told you! I told you, I’d take you as my wife! But I thought it was some kind of food…? Ah well, screw that… I promised! So… want to get married?”
My dad is sitting and doodling in a My Little Pony colouring book with my two-year-old kid. He drew a blue sun, and when she coloured over it with her red crayon, he said, “now it’s a red dwarf and it has killed everyone in its solar system.” She nodded solemnly.
Born helpless, nude and unable to provide for himself, James Duckett eventually overcame these handicaps to become a writer, a geek, and a lover of books.
Hey everyone! Once in a while I like to give a shoutout to some of my close friends in the writing world, and today I’m doing a special post on James Duckett. Why? Because he recently published his first book! Everybody celebrate! So, if you need an excuse to do something fun or a reason to make today spectacular, just remember, James Duckett has his first book out and you need to do something cool in his behalf.
His book, Pushing the Wall, is a memoir that follows the story of his first marathon:
What kind of idiot would run a marathon without training for it first? Me.
I know the horror stories. Endurance athletes fear “hitting the wall,” or reaching the point where the body runs out of energy and BAM! Roadkill. With no preparation, I’d most likely smash into this wall hard enough to leave a dent.
I wanted to train for the 2010 St. George Marathon, but after breaking my foot, the only marathon I could handle was on Netflix. When the marathon came, I just wanted the shirt I paid for, but peer pressure and the energy of the other 6,000 runners convinced me to try it anyway. My plan? Push the wall past the finish line, grab some ice cream, crawl into my truck, and then drive home.
This memoir details my love/hate relationship with running and how I survived 26.2 grueling miles that I had no business attempting. This book also includes tips for new runners. It’s whimsical, yet educational. It’s whimsucational!
Includes a foreward by Aaron Metler, the winner of the 2010 and 2014 St. George Marathons.
I first met James Duckett at a writing group I attended when I was in college. We’ve been friends (and writerly friends) ever since. He’s always been super supportive of me in my writing. He’s one of those people who I know believes in my work, when I’m not even sure if I believe in it. So when I’m experiencing self-doubt, he’s one person who may appear in my mind palace. James enjoys turning any given atmosphere into a fun, friendly, and happy one. He’s not judgmental of people, and never wants to hurt anyone’s feelings. Instead, he focuses on understanding and sharing common ground with them. He’s never been “too cool” for apologies.
I had the opportunity to beta-read Pushing the Wall, and so it’s exciting to finally see it available for purchase. In it, you’ll get James’s crazy story of how he managed to run a marathon without training, learn about the marathon-registration-day curse he had to overcome, laugh at his humor, and get a few running tips along the way. I’m not a runner, and I still found the book entertaining.
You can learn more about James or follow him (in other words get regular jokes in your feed) at these places:
Now is a great time to follow him because he’s posting all of these hilarious images.
Don’t forget I have my birthday giveaway going on if you haven’t entered yet. I’m still working on that “How to Write Subtext” article, so watch for it in a couple of weeks.
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