True vs Real

The first thing pretty much everyone asks me after they've read Dirty Little Secrets is how much of it is true. You'd think that would be an easy question to answer, but it's really not. Much of it is true in that I did a lot of research into hoarding and used the stories of people who had grown up in a hoarding situation to make the situation in the book as true as I could. None of it is real in that the entire book is fictional and I didn't base any of the characters on anyone in particular.

Except one.



That's right - Teddy B actually exists and is at this moment sitting on the bookcase behind my "desk" (aka, the kitchen counter). My mom came to visit this week and brought me a surprise - the teddy bear that I made when I was a kid and who made it into the book intact as Teddy B. If you've read the book, you'll know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, let me just assure you - Teddy B is real.

New Book Word Count: 36,285
Line of the Day: The fabric inside the jacket was still warm from his body and as I zipped it up I was enveloped in the earthy scent that was uniquely his.

On this date: In 1928, experimental TV sets are installed in three homes.