Thread by @EricMGarcia

I began writing this book because @timkmak put me up to writing about autism. I moved to DC to cover economics and politics. I would have been perfectly happy doing so for the rest of my life. I still love covering them and I still cover politics for @Independent

But when I went to a party at @swin24 and @timkmak’s, Tim offered me a drink and I said a medicine I take doesn’t mix with it because I am autistic. (I later tried drinking but have been sober for 2 years) Instead of judging, he said I should write about autistic people in DC.

I thought “meh, I’ll write about it when I get more experienced.” Tim suggested plenty of autistic people thrive in DC. Then when @nationaljournal shut down, I pitched the piece to my editor. Initially it was going to be a chatty piece about autistic life in DC.

Then, my editor Richard Just asked why it should exist and I said, we focus too much on curing autistic people and not enough on helping them live fulfilling lives. He told me there was my story and it culminated in this piece
theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

When editing the piece, Richard suggested I turn it into a book. So when @ron_fournier introduced me to @HJ_Lit, I jumped. The proposal took a year and a half to write because I was working full-time @rollcall. But eventually, we got it done and sold to HMH (now @marinerbooks)

This book spanned three jobs, two presidential elections. In between my time @rollcall, @thehill and @washingtonpost, I’d use vacation days or weekends to travel to Michigan, West Virginia, Nashville, Pittsburgh or the Bay Area to interview people

It took over my life. It was simultaneously the hardest and most rewarding thing I have ever done in my life. But I met so many incredible people and the more I did it, the more I felt obligated to tell the story of autistic people.

I was never someone who thought I could write a book. But now it is done and We’re Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation is in stores now
hmhbooks.com/shop/books/wer…
Indiebound
indiebound.org/book/978132858…
Amazon
amazon.com/Were-Not-Broke…

All this to say, you CAN write a book. It is grueling work. It will take a lot out of you. I left my job @washingtonpost and finished it afterward. But it is worth it. Don’t keep that idea to yourself. So now, I am once again asking for you to buy my book. indiebound.org/book/978132858…