Sammie shook his head then snapped out of his trance. He looked at me with his sweet little face, all flush and embarrassed and confused. I could tell that he couldn't make heads or tails about what he 'saw.' Or maybe he did and just didn't want to say too much. It's hard to say. I surely didn't know.
"Maybe you're reading them one of your stories. Maybe you're going to be a famous writer some day!"
"Oh, I doubt that," I said, scoffing. "I'm pretty sure that that is not going to happen."
"Never shmever," he said, giggling. "You should write a book about me and Budgie. Call it Sammie and Budgie. And I'll draw the pictures."
"That's a great idea!" I said. It really was a great idea and only someone like my son could suggest such an idea to me and have it not sound like absolute bullshit. I mean, kids are great at bullshitting. It's one of their super powers. But they are also great at dreaming. That's where adults suck, the dreaming part. Most adults lose that ability when they start working full-time and are drained of any free time to dream. Sad, so sad. "We should do that."
"Yeah!"
"We can start when we get home tonight."
"Wait! I have an even better idea!"
"Oh yeah, what's better than writing and illustrating a Sammie and Budgie book?"
"Playing a game called Sammie and Budgie!"
"I don't know that game," I said, leaning back on the bench and crossing my legs. "You'll have to explain it to me."
"OK. So, I'm Sammie, of course. And you're Budgie. And we team up to save people from the evil sludge monster. It lives in the tallest mountain in the world. It lives inside of it and eats lava for breakfast. The lava burns its stomach and makes it mad."
"Oh yeah? And where is this mountain with an evil sludge monster inside of it?"
Sammie looked around our immediate vicinity and spotted a pile of dirt and gravel about thirty or forty feet away, near a pecan tree, left by a landscaper or construction crew, no doubt, for a project at a later date. It was certainly a size of pile that a boy Sammie's stature could climb.
"There!" he said, pointing at the pile of dirt. "There's the great mountain where the sludge monster lives. Come on! Let's go get him!" Sammie jumped off the bench and ran full-speed toward the dirt pile. "Come on, Daddy! I mean Budgie. Come on, Budgie!"
I stood up and followed my son to the dirt pile, although at a more leisurely pace than his.
"Coming!" I said.
I watched him traverse up the dirt pile, clutching at handfuls of dirt as he scaled it all the way to the top. Once he had some good footing, he pounded his chest then raised his arms in a victory pose. "V" for victorious.
"Watch out, sludge monster. Sammie and Budgie are here to save the day!"
That's right. Sammie and Budgie were there to save the day from the sludge monster. Or any monster. Or any problem. That's what family was for. That's what our little family was for.
And I thought about Sammie's original idea some more, the idea that he and I should write a book together, one called Sammie and Budgie. I would write it and he would draw it. And the more I thought about it, the more it sounded like a genius idea. I mean, think about it. A father and son write and illustrate a book together? What a marketing hook. It's genius!
So, this was the impetus for me to come out of my retirement, my self-imposed retirement, my writing retirement, and write again. Be a writer again. Follow my dreams again, the dream I had of becoming a famous writer. It took being a father to see that that was always my dream too, as well as the dream to be a father. A good father. No, a great father. I tried my best to be a great father. I know I had great children so I must have been doing something right. And the title of the book?
SAMMIE & BUDGIE
It was a great title. I couldn't have thought of one better myself. That boy of mine was a genius, I tell you. My little genius.
It's true.
About the Author
Scott Semegran lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, four kids, two cats, and a dog. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in English. He is a writer and a cartoonist. He can also bend metal with his mind and run really fast, if chased by a pack of wolves. His comic strips have appeared in the following newspapers: The Austin Student, The Funny Times, The Austin American-Statesman, Rocky Mountain Bullhorn, Seven Days, The University of Texas at Dallas Mercury, and The North Austin Bee. Books by Scott Semegran include Sammie & Budgie, BOYS, The Meteoric Rise of Simon Burchwood, The Spectacular Simon Burchwood, Modicum, Mr. Grieves and more. He is a Kindle bestselling author.
Books by Scott Semegran
If you enjoyed this book, then check out the first novel in the Simon Adventures series, The Meteoric Rise of Simon Burchwood by Scott Semegran. On his way to New York to celebrate his impending literary success, Simon Burchwood is the prototypical American careerist. But a quick detour to Montgomery, Alabama to visit a childhood friend sends Simon on a bizarre journey, challenging his hopes and dreams of becoming a famous writer. The Meteoric Rise of Simon Burchwood is a character study that delves into the psyche of a man who desperately tries to redefine himself.
Is Simon pompous? Yes. A jerk? Yes. Will you like him? Absolutely! "The book is told entirely from Simon’s viewpoint. Simon is not a very likeable guy; as a matter of fact, he is a self-centered, pompous jerk. But for some reason, it’s pretty fun to be inside his head, mainly because he is an inadvertent, oblivious jerk... you will learn Simon’s views on smoking, cleanliness and going to the bathroom, just to name a few. There were times that I laughed out loud... A very good novel that was humorous throughout." -- Red Adept Reviews
The Meteoric Rise of Simon Burchwood was selected as one of the "5 Best Summer Indie Beach Reads" by the editors of The Indie Reader. Their verdict: "An ambitious, enjoyable read with a superb ending that changed my interpretation of the entire text."
Kirkus Reviews declares "The close-to-the-bone novel captures perfectly the intensely solipsistic nature of a certain type of author ... a clever and surprising twist."
Buy it today!
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Want more Simon Burchwood? Then get the second novel in the Simon Adventures series, The Spectacular Simon Burchwood. Recently divorced and his writing career in shambles, Simon Burchwood's life is a complete disaster. He reluctantly finds work as a computer support technician and resigns that his career as the next great American novelist will never come to fruition. When he learns that his ex-wife abruptly moves to Dallas with his children, he embarks on a crazy road trip with a nerdy coworker and a hitchhiking punk rock girl and discovers the inspiration he desperately needs for his new literary masterpiece. Take another trip with the one and only Simon Burchwood.
Praise for The Spectacular Simon Burchwood:
"The author is quite funny and some of the quips are great. Simon can be hilarious and great to read about in his recaps and memories." -- So Many Books, So Little Time
"Simon is starting to understand something, and his luck literally changes. Semegran handles this quite deftly; even though Simon keeps warbling his "It's true!" declarations at a great rate, the reader does not tire of them, because, well, some of them ARE true, and we see the progress he is making in getting a grasp of what life is about, albeit in his own ham-fisted way." -- The New Podler Review of Books
Buy it today!
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If you enjoyed this book, then check out MODICUM, a collection of short stories, musings, and cartoons by writer / cartoonist Scott Semegran. The book explores such themes as suicide, parenting, religion, masculinity, the apocalypse, and, most importantly, erections. It’s guaranteed to make you laugh, cry, and pee your pants (hopefully, not at the same time).
Praise for MODICUM:
"Funny, sweet, dark, and sad, Scott Semegran's comics and short stories create a wholly convincing world of love, loss, and fear. His light touch with heavy subjects is a gift, and his forays into silliness are a delight. I can't tell if his kids should read it as soon as possible, or neve
r." - Emily Flake, cartoonist and author of LuLu Eightball
"Hilarious, poignant, twisted... and those are just the stories. Scott Semegran's cartoons bring an added one-two visceral punch to a powerful collection of work." - Davy Rothbart, author of The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas and publisher of FOUND Magazine
Get it today!
***
Mr. Grieves started as a poke at human nature through the use of talking, narcissistic animals. It has evolved into a full-on assault to your funny bone. Where else will you find rats fighting over cubicles, camels worrying about aging, a parrot talking to aliens, and a lonely water snail longing for a friend? Welcome to the world of Mr. Grieves!
Praise for Mr. Grieves:
"An animal or plant — or maybe even an ovum — talks. Sometimes to itself, but more often to another of its kind. The idea is simple, but the execution is smart and almost always funny in Scott Semegran’s collection of 140 four-panel comics drawn between 2004 and 2008, Mr. Grieves." -- IndieReader
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***
Boys is a collection of stories about three boys living in Texas: one growing up, one dreaming, and one fighting to stay alive in the face of destitution and adversity. There's second-grader William, a shy yet imaginative boy who schemes about how to get back at his school-yard bully, Randy. Then there's Sam, a 15-year-old boy who dreams of getting a 1980 Mazda RX-7 for his sixteenth birthday but has to work at a Greek restaurant to fund his dream. Finally, there's Seff, a 21-year-old on the brink of manhood, trying to survive along with his roommate, working as waiters and barely making ends meet. These three stories are told with heart, humor, and an uncompromising look at what it meant to grow up in Texas during the 1980s and 1990s.
"The writing is sharp and unpretentiously thoughtful, and since each of the main characters finds solace in companionship, this is an affecting literary depiction of the comforting power of friendship. Each of the stories can be read on its own, but taken together, they make a coherent, thematic whole, skillfully produced. An endearing collection that deftly captures the need for youthful fellowship." -- Kirkus Reviews
"Verdict: With nary a dull moment, Scott Semegran's BOYS features short stories filled with unexpected nuances that draws readers right into the heart of his well-developed characters." -- IndieReader. 5 Stars. IR Approved.
Get it today!
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Discover other titles by Scott Semegran at Smashwords.com:
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/scottsemegran
Find Scott Semegran Online:
https://www.scottsemegran.com
https://www.goodreads.com/scottsemegran
https://www.twitter.com/scottsemegran
https://www.facebook.com/scottsemegran.writer
https://www.instagram.com/scott_semegran
Mutt Press:
https://www.muttpress.com
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