Introduction

I may sound like someone pretending to be old and wise when really I am young and inexperienced with the ways of the world when I say: I have been looking for the right characters for many years. I have always wanted to write a "story," an "American novel" with dynamic characters who fight adolescent pangs and fall in love and have fierce philosophical debates and do all the things that characters do in books that people like to read.

But I can't find them. I can't find the right characters. So then, a few years ago I thought, if I really want to be a "writer" (in a van down by the river), I am going to need vampires. Otherwise, I am never going to make money, because people [teenage girls] only want to read about vampires. When that phase passed and I still had no characters, zombies. But I hate vampires. And zombies are gross.

Last night, I had a revelation. My dad was driving us to meet Anne and Steve and Kyle at the Mexican restaurant. He had on a mix made especially for Mom and Aunt Kay with upbeat tunes. He had to burn it before we could leave, as well as yell at Erik on the phone some more about how he can't live in an expensive Boston apartment without heat for three days and just sit there and let it happen, "YOU HAVE TO STAND UP FOR YOURSELF!" but Dad seemed to have forgotten about that conversation once Bob Seger came on. "BEAUTIFUL LOOOSERR! Whennn you gonna fa-a-all? When you realize...you just can't have it all?" Dad and I both were yelling it. And that's when I realized, I do have it all. Why did I even know the words to the song? My dad has provided an advanced History of Rock and Roll course, mandated by my upbringing in his house. He is a raucous, colorful, passionate man. My brother, who minutes before was being loudly advised on the phone, is a stoic, brilliant person who can put on five sweaters and do work I can't even comprehend in a 40 degree apartment with no complaint. My mom patiently sits, with occasional enjoyment, next to Dad as he sings his heart out on the way to the Mexican restaurant. She is our constant: smart, caring, strong, patient, funny. And I am a product of all of them.

That's when I realized, I have the best characters of any book that has ever been written. I don't need to create fictional ones. If I did, they'd surely be more boring. I'd surely care much less about them. I've said this before: I don't know any family that is as awesome as mine. I have always wanted to publish something but I've never known what. I am not sure what form this will ultimately take, but my characters are foolproof. They're flawed, intelligent, caustic, rude, compassionate, and loving. They're teachers, mothers, fathers, computer programmers, engineers, and athletes. They're everything I've ever needed. They're my story.