Marty the Skittish Spider

Marty the Skittish Spider​ is a children’s picture book. A story of shyness and friendship.

Marty is partially auto-biographical and based on lessons I learned the hard way. During a rather dark period, I was renting a room in a house of strangers, working a desk job I did not enjoy, and as part of my efforts to turn things around, I spent hours writing at my home desk every night. I poured myself into my stories and found solace in them. One night, I leaned back in my chair and noticed a spider emerge from the ceiling vent. He sat on the metal lip and stared at me and I couldn’t help but smile. He crawled a few inches from the vent and stopped.

A few hours later, he returned to the vent, as if he had come out for fresh air. This continued night after night so I named him Marty and stories flashed across my mind for ​Marty the Skittish Spider.​

“All it took was some friendship
and a little courage.”

This book is an encouragement to try. To put oneself out there and make friends. Sometimes all it takes to get started is a smile and a little effort 😀

A huge THANK YOU to Brandon Siewert for his editing excellence — he made the story much more clear and succinct. Also a big thank you to Linda Taylor for her editing expertise and assistance with the book proposal. Thank you to Andrea Floros, Jason Chambers, Bo Welge, and anyone who read this little story and gave feedback. My heart is full of gratitude.

Thank you for reading! You are appreciated.

Gratefully,