Redding man overcomes obstacles to pen best seller
Spencer Thomas's book is called Goodbye to Boyhood and it is a collection of short stories that are fictional but stem from his personal experiences.
A Redding man has written a bestselling book on Amazon after overcoming incredible odds.
Spencer Thomas, 21, says he had trouble speaking as a kid and grew up with a severe speech disability. So he let his words do the talking.
"When I was growing up I struggled with speaking and communicating properly," said Thomas.
As a result, he fell in love with the written word and that prompted him to write a new book called "Goodbye to Boyhood."
"'Goodbye to Boyhood' is a collection of short stories that details the earliest stages of adolescence through adulthood," said Thomas.
He says the stories are fictional but stem from his personal experiences.
The book debuted at No. 1 on Amazon's Coming of Age, LGBTQ+, and short story categories.
Thomas came out in high school.
He says he hopes his book will uplift the LGBTQ+ community.
"I wrote thinking that some kid who's 13 struggling in their hometown with their sexuality who needs a book like this because I don't think we really have a ton of media that captures the essence of like boyhood and adolescence about the queer experience," said Thomas.
Thomas has over 200,000 followers on his TikTok account.
He says he gets messages from teens feeling alone and asking for advice.
"Through these stories that are about coming of age and through growing up it's almost healing for people to read these stories themselves and it makes me incredibly proud to see that people have taken my book and they have turned it into their own," said Thomas.
Thomas is heading into his senior year at New York University.
He says he has ideas for a novel he wants to write.
His book is available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and on his website.
