Sugar Milk's release date is coming down to the wire and the advance reviews are starting to come in. This past week I received the first batch of endorsements from two incredible writers, John Cave Osborne author of Tales from the Trips: How Three Babies Turned Our World Upside Down, and Shareable editor, Jeremy Adam Smith whose recent and highly regarded book, The Daddy Shift: How Stay-at-Home Dads, Breadwinning Moms, and Shared Parenting Are Transforming the American Family, is arguably the definitive work outlining the stay-at-home dad trend within our society.
One thing I'd like to point out is that the various themes in Sugar Milk are more diverse than just the topic of being a stay-at-home dad, although, that is the main thread. Others include the aftermath of divorce, readjusting to married life, the awkwardness of being a step-dad, the loss of male identity after being laid off, and ultimately, an understanding of what fatherhood really means. For both John and Jeremy, these are experiences they are personally familiar with, making their thoughts on Sugar Milk that much more meaningful to me.
John, who I was privledged enough to interview on Clark Kent's Lunchbox, was a carefree bachelor before becoming a stepfather and then father to triplets all in the space of a year. Jeremy, on the other hand, knows first-hand what being a stay-at-home dad entails and understands those questions about male identity. So, to have such esteemed men and fathers endorsing my own book is truly a great and humbling honor.
"On the surface, Ron Mattocks seemed like any other successful, ambitious corporate lawyer. But a series of professional and personal developments transformed this one-time award-winning sales exec into a stay at home dad—one who relentlessly pursued his dream of becoming a writer. This just in...it's no longer a dream. Anyone who reads Sugar Milk will quickly realize that Mattocks is a writer—one who is blessed with an intelligent brand of humor as well as an uncanny ability to turn a phrase. His impressive debut effort will keep his readers laughing from cover to cover as they quickly devour his collection of stories which define him far better than any six-figure job ever could."
- John Cave Osborne, author of Tales from the Trips: How Three Babies Turned Our World Upside-Down
"On one hand, Sugar Milk is a series of funny stories; I laughed aloud every three pages or so. But underneath the jokes, Ron Mattocks has a serious story to tell about men and fathers in transition, trying to hold their spirits and families together in an economy and society that is shifting under their feet."
- Jeremy Adam Smith, author of The Daddy Shift: How Stay-at-Home Dads, Breadwinning Moms, and Shared Parenting Are Transforming the American Family
Like always, I still feel a bit sheepish in my self-promotion efforts, but a little less so after getting some advice from Jeremy. In our email exchanges, Jeremy reminded me that although he felt a tinge uneasy in promoting his own book, he also realized it wasn't about him at all. After having so many people tell him what a huge personal help The Daddy Shift was, Jeremy saw the positive impact his book was having for others, and suddenly all the self-promotion wasn't about "self" at all, but rather, a means of getting a message out there meant to help others.
That is my hope for Sugar Milk: that the experiences I share will be a help to the many other fathers out their who are facing similar issues and need to know they are not alone.
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