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Wacker writes childrens book
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Adam Wacker

About five years ago, Boscobel native Adam Wacker DC was struck by this idea for a story that popped in his head. He says it was this little story he just fell in love with, and kept returning to it again and again. “The original story flew right through me,” Adam reflected back.While the basis for the original story came out of him almost immediately, something was holding Adam back. He would return to it, again and again, revising the plot, making changes, creating a fuller story. “I didn’t feel confident to publish it,” Wacker remembered thinking. Then about 12 months ago, he just knew he had to get it out and into the world, and last Friday, Red Boots: Landis and his Magical Birthday! arrived in boxes at his office, Lancaster Chiropractic. “Something just woke up inside me and told me ‘you need to get this done,” said Wacker, knowing he had to tell the story to show children about self esteem. The book follows Landis - a name of one of Adam’s childhood friends - who on his birthday receives those boots in the title, which allow the character to understand the animals around him. Landis comes in contact with a number of animals, including a lion, who teach him different lessons, but one of the greater lessons is taught by Landis, who on his birthday, is not thinking about what should be for him, but helping others. The journey for the book allowed Wacker to understand a little more about himself, and point him in new directions. Wacker wanted to convey a message to youth about self esteem, about thinking positively, and about living in the now. He found that in the story of Landis, this boy who on his birthday, decides to help the smaller lives around him rather than make his birthday about himself. “We need to start helping more people,” Wacker said he wanted to convey.  Along the way to publishing, Wacker said he has already felt the impact, and that is with the illustrator he worked with on the book, Aaron Boyd from Milwaukee.  Boyd really got the essence of Landis when he started working on the book, and Adam was blown away by the art he first got from Boyd. However, during the work on the book, Boyd lost a loved one, and had to take a break. He found out from his publisher that weeks after the death, Boyd began pouring his heart and soul into the illustrations, which the publisher thought was his best work. “The sketches were great, but when he added the color and the media, they were amazing,” Wacker stated.
Wacker is going through Little Creek Pressof Mineral Point for the publishing of the book. He said they fell in love with the draft of the book, and he knew it was the right move when he had received a letter welcoming him under the fold. The publisher’s logo was a dragonfly, which imagery of the insect had invaded Adam’s view in recent months before the letter. “ I keep seeing dragonflies, why am I seeing them?” he wondered at the time. Now he knew why. Adam receives his first boxes of copies on Friday, and plans to have them in his offices in Lancaster and Bloomington, and is selling in other locations, as well as on Amazon.  There is a website - landisredboots.com, with more info. Wacker has said that he has really found a springboard off writing the book. He is planning to write a series - the second book is already written, and he hopes to release it in a year, and is currently working on the third one. Besides the children books, Adam is working on adult self-help books, and is planning on giving lectures. "For me, its a catalyst that I can do this, and I can do more,” Wacker said. It’s opening a lot of doors.”