It’s not very often I get to be part of something like this. 19 other authors and I each wrote a short story for a book called True Heroes. True Heroes is a collection of modern-day fairy tales about real kids who are fighting cancer. I wrote a story for the book for Ellie, who’s always dreamed of being a baker:

Ellie’s was diagnosed with stage 2 of differentiated sarcoma of the kidney in 2013. She is currently in remission and able to lead a much more normal life. Her dream is to be a baker. So Jon Diaz, the talented photographer behind the project made it happen.

True Heroes is one of those projects you just want to be a part of and hope that it succeeds. Some other authors felt the same way, like Brandon Mull (NYT Bestselling author of Fablehaven), Jennifer Neilsen (NYT Bestselling author of The False Prince), and my buddies Chad Morris (Cragbridge Hall Series), and Jeff Savage (Mysteries of Cove). Their stories are all in there too.

If you’re near Provo, Utah this Saturday, Shadow Mountain Publishing is hosting a launch party with many of the authors of True Heroes at the Provo City Library Saturday, September 12th at 3pm.

Photographer Jonathan Diaz used his portrait photography skills to bring the kids’ dreams to life with photos. I first met Jon when a friend introduced us because Jon wanted some advice on the publishing world and bringing his book to life. I was really happy when his book found a publishing home. He’s incredibly talented.

The photo series is titled “True Heroes.” Each photo features a child in the midst of their dream setting.

These are some of my favorites:

Here is a behind the scenes video for Ellie the Baker

And her photo:

Jon asked me to write the story of Ellie the Baker since I’m the guy who wrote Evertaster. It makes sense right? I guess I am known to a lot of people for writing a series about food. I’ll have to write more about dinosaurs and see what comes of that.

You can read my story, Ellie the Baker and get a copy of True Heroes wherever books are sold.

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