Would You Like To Be "Normal"?

I've been reading The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida and it's a fascinating look at a person with autism. Most of the book is structured as questions and answers. One of the questions is "Would you like to be 'normal'?" The last paragraph of the answer was just too good not to share:

To give the short version, I've learned that every human being, with or without disabilities, needs to strive to do their best, and by striving for happiness you will arrive at happiness. For us, you see, having autism is normal -- so we can't know for sure what your "normal" is even like. But so long as we can learn to love ourselves, I'm not sure how much it matters whether we're normal or autistic.

New Podcast: Blake Crouch And Wayward Pines

I've had the pleasure of knowing Blake Crouch for several years now, ever since he submitted the fabulous "The Newton Boys' Last Photograph" to the Hint Fiction anthology. He and Joe Konrath have ruled the indie publishing world, starting with their nasty short story Serial and then branching out to publish their own works. Blake self-published his thriller Run, which went on to sell over 100,000 copies, and then published Pines with Amazon's thriller imprint Thomas & Mercer (its sequel, Wayward, was released back in September). Pines was such a success that Fox is turning it into an event series to premiere next summer with so many top-notch stars I can't even list them all here. Blake took some time out of his busy schedule to talk about the Wayward Pines series, Kindle Worlds, self-publishing, and Confidence Girl, which features one of Blake's favorite characters Letty Dobesh.

Blake Crouch And Wayward Pines