I have been a purveyor of humor since the third grade. Since that time I have quietly honed my humorous view of life as a serious coping skill for whatever path I walked along. Fortunately, there was plenty to laugh about along the way - most notably it was my grade school impromptu performance art of "Alien Hand Syndrome" which was inspired by "The Weekly World News" (and made my mom and sister laugh so much with many command performances requested). Despite being told by my high school science class lab partner, "You're not funny, you know," my humorous ways persisted. I later developed a laughter-through-anxiety writing method while I struggled to find a way to survive alone in New York City in a low paying entry level publishing job. From this traumatic experience, my first book was written/born: "How to Survive and Thrive in New York on $19,000 a Year (or Less) Before Taxes."

I unexpectedly became aware that I was a humor writer when I took a poetry class in New York City. As I read aloud what I thought were deep and poignant thoughts, scattered laughter sprang up from multiple sources in the classroom around me. Although crushed and hotly embarrassed, I went along with my haunting scribbles as being deliberately humorous - and then enrolled in a TV sitcom writing class instead.

My writing reawakened after having children and I found it was a quiet, relaxing and affordable outlet for me. I was thrilled when I had some humorous essays published online, and flattered when they were subsequently published in a book. I created a blog "Fortyteen Candles" about a decade ago which helped me learn how to quickly craft an essay. That blog made me proud because I learned I could connect with other people through my writing. Since then, while muddling through the inertia of the 9 to 5 grind, I have finally accepted that creativity is what makes me feel content. The writings I create are therapeutic and healing for me. I hope you can relate to my books by finding something in them that makes you feel happy as well!

Take care, Marston Lyons

www.marstonlyons.com