Many Are Called: A Deseret Adventure Trilogy

We’re often told “don’t meet your heroes,” presumably because they’ll inevitably let us down. There’s probably some truth to that, especially since we live in a world of such carefully-curated personal image. The flip side is that social media gives us insight into famous people that we’ve never had before – whether they present themselves as basically normal people or absolute lunatics.

I mentioned a few blogs back that one of my influences has been a man named Tanner Guzy. He’s primarily a men’s style coach, and his advice definitely helped (and helps) me dress better and more authentically. But much more than that, he’s a thought leader in the online circles I frequent. His observations range from philosophy and religion to family formation and parenting to art and architecture – along with his famous series of ironic posts about “men don’t care how they look.”

I met Tanner very briefly at a men’s conference in Las Vegas nearly ten years ago, and I’ve followed him on social media for even longer. We exchange emails a couple of times a year, and it’s always interesting (at least for me). And, as I’ve mentioned, a two-word tweet he wrote probably seven years ago inspired a major subplot of my debut novel. That thread will be woven into all three books in the trilogy; it’s as essential to the story as combat.

We’ve both learned, grown and changed a lot since that quick handshake in Vegas. I was incredibly blessed that Tanner made time to join me for lunch on my recent trip to Salt Lake City for Writers Cantina (more on that event in another post). Anyway, we sat down to a great BBQ meal and talked for an hour and a half.

I honestly thought we’d talk mostly business, and I frankly hoped (and still do) to recruit him to narrate the audio version of Many Are Called. Instead, however, as we sat in the summer Utah sunshine outside the restaurant, our conversation ranged from books we’d enjoyed to people we knew or followed, to funny dating and (literal) war stories. Tanner was as warm, genuine and intelligent as he seems in print, video and on podcasts. I laughed and I learned.

The trip would have been worth it just for that lunch. I wouldn’t say Tanner Guzy is exactly one of my heroes, and I’d never put any mortal man on a pedestal, but he’s definitely affected my life for the better. So yeah, if you get a chance, meet your “heroes.”