sam sottile

Thank you for visiting my Author page!

If someone would have told me about this at the start of 2018, I would not have believed them.

So, how did I get here?

During the heart of many philosophical discussions over the years, my friends have often said, “you should write a book about that!” I typically would respond by saying that I am not an author and, by the way, when would I find time to write?

I go on to remind my friends that I am a single parent of a (now) 25-year-old daughter who is non-verbal, with autistim. On top of that, I have a demanding full-time job.

Often, I hear the comment that they wonder how I manage that. My standard response is to explain, “It is not as hard as it seems. Everything in my life has prepared me to handle this moment.” Then they complete the circle with the comment, “Well, you should write a book about that!”

Again, how did I get here? As my son Daniel (a Star Wars fan) might say, “he experienced a major disruption in the Force.” Rather than wallow in misery, I decided to do something positive. I increased my exercise routine, lost some weight, and decided to write a book!

As I did the research on writing and self-publishing, I learned that it is better to have more than one book. The easy topic to use is the theme of how I am prepared to handle this moment, particularly because I have nearly 40 years of poems, journal entries, and notes that illustrate points along that journey. It further made sense to tell Leah’s story as part of the wrapper around the books themselves and direct all proceeds to her Special Needs Trust Fund to care for her after I die.

Quickly, this became three books (leah is a masterpiece, love poems for leah, and messages for anthony, daniel, and leah).

As I was writing, I was persuaded to commit to two more books: cooking for leah (a cookbook of the recipes that I created for my family) and caring for leah. The latter is the most important of The Leah Books series because it will explore how we learned to care for Leah based upon her very unique abilities.

Writing these books has illuminated my greater purpose to me - what I would like to do. I wish to help families that have children with unique needs, through my own volunteering efforts and eventually through an organization that offers services and resources. This past year, I have taken steps in this direction, with more to come!

In the future, I also plan to write a book on coaching youth sports, tentatively titled, “A Walk is Not as Good as a Hit!”. I will also write a book on helping young people make career choices with a working title of “What Would You Like to Do When You Return Home from Work?”. Who knows what else I might craft in my limited spare time. I will not go quietly into the sunset, and, even then, the night is young!

As such, I will conclude with one other story found in the “messages” book and that will be a part of the career book. By all means, follow your dreams. They do not necessarily have to be your primary job or your main source of income.