The Tuttle Twins Learn About The Law
by Connor Boyack
Format: Paperback, 62 pages
Publication Date: April 23rd, 2014
Publisher: Libertas Press
ISBN 9780989291
Book Summary:
Children are often taught that government protects our life, liberty, and property, but could it be true that some laws actually allow people to hurt us and take our things? Join Ethan and Emily Tuttle as they learn about property, pirates, and plunder. With the help of their neighbor Fred, the twins will need to figure out what they can do to stop the bad guys in government!
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Author Interview
1. Tell a little about yourself. What you do when you’re not writing? What are your aspirations for the future?
I'm the president of Libertas Institute, a public policy organization (or "think tank" as they're commonly called) in Utah. We educate the public on issues relating to individual liberty, private property, and free enterprise, and work with legislators to promote good laws and fight the bad ones.
I've landed in this role after years of involvement in different causes and organizations, and see myself doing this for a long, long time to come. As big and intrusive as the government tends to be, there's plenty of work to do!
2. When and why did you start writing?
I've been blogging for several years, and as I began to get a readership I realized there was a demand for the content I was producing. I wrote my first book, Latter-day Liberty in 2011, and since then have published several more books. All of them are politically oriented, encouraging people to support liberty and practice personal responsibility.
3. Have any particular novels or writers influenced your writing?
I think it was Emerson who said that he could no more remember the greatest book he had read than he could remember which meals he had eaten. I read—a lot. I suppose I take bits and pieces from a variety of sources.
I really enjoy dystopian fiction, both from an entertainment and education standpoint. They're fun to read, but they also illustrate what society can turn into unless we stop it now. For a political guy, books like Atlas Shrugged or 1984 are instrumental in helping people contemplate what bad laws can do over time.
4. Give us some backstory behind The Tuttle Twins Learn About The Law. Where and when did you write it?
Two years ago, I was at a political conference with a friend of mine who does illustration and animation for a living. He suggested that we should consider doing a project together, and while I thought that sounded great, neither of us had anything in mind.
Shortly afterward, Libertas Institute printed a pocket edition of The Law by Frédéric Bastiat which we sell at cost for a whopping $1. It was written in 1850 and is translated from the French. Bastiat was a classical liberal (not to be confused with the modern types of liberals); I often call him "the Thomas Jefferson of France." His book has been absolutely instrumental in helping people understand the proper role of government. The fact that we've now printed over 10,000 is testament to that fact.
So finally I realized that while that book works great with adults, why not provide something to kids? After all, the ideas in the book are fundamentally simple: stealing is wrong, government shouldn't violate our rights, and justice can't exist where injustice has happened. So a year ago, this friend and I decided to begin working on a children's book that conveys these principles to young kids.
The process itself spanned several months of writing, editing, storyboarding, illustrating, more editing, and finally printing and marketing. Having done a few books before it was good to have the experience so that this wasn't all new to me—it definitely sped up the process quite a bit.
This is the first book in what will become a long series of books. Each one is going to focus on a different concept. We just announced the subject of the second one, and have plans for many more!
5. What was your favourite part of writing The Tuttle Twins Learn About The Law?
My favorite part was putting together what readers will find on "page 13." I'll leave it at that, and when you see it, you'll know why!
6. What does your writing schedule look like?
I have two young children and a very heavy work load, so my writing comes in small bits and pieces wherever I can fit it in. 20 minutes during a lunch break, half an hour at night after the kids are in bed but before my brain turns to mush, etc. Sometimes I wish I could write for a few hours straight, but that's rare for me. The upside to the incremental approach is that I'm able to give a lot of thought to each little bit that I do. The downside is that I have to work really hard to make sure it all flows well, since it can otherwise be pretty choppy.
7. Which fictional character would you like to take to dinner and why?
Who is John Galt?
8. Besides your lead, do you have a favourite character in the story?
The twins interview their wise neighbor, a man named Fred "who grew up in France," as the story says. He tells the kids that his parents named him after Frédéric Bastiat, the author of The Law. It was our fun way to pay homage to Bastiat and give a "nod" of sorts to his seminal work.
9. What is one of the most surprising things you've learned as a writer?
Being an author is 20% writing, 80% marketing. A few years ago when I wrote my first book, I wasn't prepared for how much work it would be. The books take a while to write, it's true, but the work doesn't end there—in fact, if you're doing things right, it's just beginning!
10. Any advice for aspiring authors?
Related to #9, the best advice I can give is to put a lot of effort into your marketing plan. Scour blogs and talk to other authors to learn from others' mistakes and improve your success that much more. Learn about targeted advertising, such as on Facebook, and make sure you really know your audience before you even begin the manuscript. If your marketing plan is strong, and you can execute it well, then your most interested readers will turn into your greatest advocates, generating a word-of-mouth marketing campaign that will continue to sell books for a long while to come!
About the Author
Connor Boyack is president of Libertas Institute, a public policy think tank in Utah. He is the author of several books on politics and religion, along with hundreds of columns and articles championing individual liberty. His work has been featured on international, national, and local TV, radio, and other forms of media. A California native and Brigham Young University graduate, Connor currently resides in Lehi, Utah, with his wife and two children.
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