The Adventure Invitation by Edmond Manning

Howdy, Friends of Thorny, our very own Mr. Sunshine.

I’ve been getting to know Thorny through reading old blog posts and our email exchanges, delighted by his dancing in heels, his smexy Valentine’s Day camitop, and best of all, adventures in love with Jazz. I like it. I like people who say yes to adventure, especially when they’re not sure where it will lead. And Thorny seems to be one of those people. I enjoy living vicariously through those energetic YES-sayers. They remind me there’s another answer besides “I’m kinda busy right now.”

When the invitations come into your life, do you say “Fuck yeah!” Or perhaps a more subtle version of ‘no,’ something like, “How long is this going to take?”

Hmmmmmm.

I’m not judging — I sometimes find it hard to respond with an enthusiastic YES when life throws me an unexpected invite. And the results aren’t always…well…sane.

A few years ago I was visiting my best friend who happened to be living in Iowa at the time. We were driving through back roads Iowa during a colossal downpour, the kind of rain that hurts your skull because it slams into you so hard. We were warm and cozy in her Volkswagen bug, making the same weather-related comments everyone else was making in their cars:  can you believe this? How long will it last? We slowly crept through Iowa farm country: corn field after corn field after corn field.

We passed a scrawny kid draping his hoodie over his face, walking his bike in the downpour, dragging a sad little bundle of belongings on what can only be described as the most miserable piece of soaked plywood on ill-balanced wheels. In good weather, this would have been weird and sad; in this downpour, it felt like he was dragging the end of hope itself.

“Stop the car,” I said.

My friend pulled over and over the sound of rain pounding the windshield she said, “Seriously? He could be a serial killer.”

But this is why she and I are best friends, because when she saw I was completely serious she backed up the car without a word. Of course I had reservations. We were in an underpopulated area in a massive storm and a stranger was about to hop into the back seat. This is how pretty much most teenage slasher movies begin. It’s also how adventures begin.

Jamming this kid’s bike and bundle of wet belongings into the car only took four minutes, but by the end, all three of us were soaked mercilessly. Hell, even my balls were wet and really, how the hell do you get your balls soaked with rainwater lifting a bike into the hatchback of a bug?

Then it started raining harder.

Our 19-year-old hitchhiker babbled with tired relief and used the next twenty minutes exuberantly telling his entire life story, which led to him abandoning his factory job in Texas and hiking on foot to Iowa in search of a better factory job. In a relatively short amount of time we learned about his father’s drunkenness, his uncle’s drunkenness, his big dream to open a lucrative garbage dump where people make more purchases than dropping off garbage, and six of his favorite kinds of food.

He. Was. Fascinating.

Okay, maybe a little crazy, but Ann and I shot each other looks to remind each other, ‘We’re having an adventure. He is our adventure.’

We dropped him off at his uncle’s house (the really drunk one) and after he said goodbye, he strode toward the house, never looking back. We were not his adventure; his adventure was about to begin. We were just a ride.

I recently wrote a book (King Perry) in which the very first page begins a strange invitation:

You are cordially invited on a King Weekend. If you spend the next 40 hours following my every command — absolutely everything — your life will change in surprising ways. Come and meet your True Joy.

Would you go? Could you?

I’ve been getting mail from readers who finished the book and want to know how much was true. Did those things really happen on the Golden Gate Bridge? Have you ever stolen a duck? Sometimes they say things like, “I don’t know if I could say ‘yes.'” But most of the emails say, “I am waiting for someone to offer me that invitation.”

I don’t think any of us can afford to wait for that invitation, to step into our real life and meet our true joy.

I recently read Thorny’s blog entry comparing his schedule a year ago to his schedule now, looking at the dramatic changes in his life. His days start earlier. More school, more work. Longer hours. More classes. And yet he’s happy in this new life, this one that means more work. Today I reread the strange invitation at the beginning of King Perry and asked myself what Thorny would say. Something tells me that the answer would be “Yes, but can Jazz come too?”

(I would say that! :) — Thorny)

Blurb for King Perry:

In a trendy San Francisco art gallery, out-of-towner Vin Vanbly witnesses an act of compassion that compels him to make investment banker Perry Mangin a mysterious offer: in exchange for a weekend of complete submission, Vin will restore Perry’s “kingship” and transform him into the man he was always meant to be.

Despite intense reservations, Perry agrees, setting in motion a chain of events that will test the limits of his body, seduce his senses, and fray his every nerve, (perhaps occasionally breaking the law) while Vin guides him toward his destiny as ‘the one true king.’

Even as Perry rediscovers old grief and new joys within himself, Vin and his shadowy motivations remain enigmas: who is this off-beat stranger guiding them from danger to hilarity to danger? To emerge triumphant, Perry must overcome the greatest challenge alone: embracing his devastating past. But can he succeed by Sunday’s sunrise deadline? How can he possibly evolve from an ordinary man into King Perry?

To read reviews and purchase King Perry: Kindle | Amazon Paperback | From Dreamspinner

Edmond Manning has been writing for many, many years.

Edmond Manning

After graduating from Northern Illinois University (NIU) with an English Education degree (graduated Valedictorian from the University Honors Program), Manning pursued and completed a Masters of Science within the field of Instructional Technology. These two curious backgrounds allowed for practicing a unique blend of creative and technical writing, skills that were enhanced over a 22+ year as an e-learning consultant.

During those consulting years, Manning feverishly wrote fiction, completed three novels, and yet never pursued publication because the writing simply didn’t meet his high standards. Something was missing: a spark. Looking back, Manning prefers to believe that he was living out Malcolm Gladwell’s maxim: you’ve got to ply your craft for 10,000 hours before you get good. Yes, that would be the preferred belief.

In 2008, Manning experimented with writing a new type of fiction, and ended up with his first “kinging” novel, published in serial format on a free website. (The original novel has been removed from that site.) The intense reaction from hundreds of readers around the globe suggested to Manning that something had indeed changed, so he decided to create a new novel based off these wild, frothy characters.

The result is King Perry.

Visit him online at EdmondManning.com. Laugh with him over Sh*t First Time Authors Say on YouTube :lol: