I came from some artistic greatness and drew like a disaster. My Papa John was a ridiculously talented artist who spent countless Saturday mornings in my childhood trying to teach me to draw. I never made it past stickmen (and even those looked... anatomically questionable).

While I never did pull my inner Picasso out, I'm so grateful for those Saturday mornings with his coffee and my juice at the dining room table. It showed me how important it is to explore the creative side of our minds...and to try to find humor or acceptance in what we might perceive as our own inadequacies. So instead of hiding my lack of artistic talent, I made it a feature. The stickmen are my imperfect tribute to my Papa and a perfect fit for the Shift Series.

I also love the symbology... Like them, our shifts and growth aren't perfect. It can be messy, weird, wobbly, imbalanced, sometimes funny, sometimes lacking, and always perfectly imperfect. They're found in some capacity in all of my books to make that exact point. They also help bring a little levity to a sometimes heavy discussion.