I was born in 1982 with a mild form of cerebral palsy. From that point to this, I have striven to write the kinds of stories readers want to read (get lost in) and the kinds I want to tell. Often my main characters will have the same palsy I do. This is because, as a kid, when I would read stories I would always think, None of these people are anything like me. I can't wait for all the readers here at Goodreads—and everywhere there's a reader who hungers for a good story—to read my newest book, The Santa Claus Agreement (2022), and my award-winning novel, What Death Taught Terrence (2020). Both, in their own ways, are absorbing looks at a family and real life, and what life means. There's also a fair amount of the afterlife involved! It is my sincere hope that I'll get to share my story with you, and that I'll get to meet, thank, and sign a book for every single person who visits my page! Derek