John Gray, an anchor for WTEN-TV in New York, didn’t anticipate that one day he would become the author of a successful children’s book. However that’s exactly what happened.<\/p>\n
Gray’s 6-month-old dog Samuel died unexpectedly, and he needed a way to let out his grief. He took to writing his thoughts and feelings down in a notebook, and eventually it started to create a real story. Gray finalized his first book \u201cGod Needed a Puppy” in 2017. The book details what it means to lose someone, and teaches children the tools needed to handle grief and other tough life experiences.<\/p>\n
Gray took the book to different publishers in the hopes of sharing his message with others. One of the first publishers Gray talked with, however, was not fond of the book and cited it had “many problems”. The main concern was it’s focus on God.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe [publisher] said, \u2018First of all, you\u2019ve got God in the title; that\u2019s gonna alienate half the people who would even buy a children\u2019s book,\u2019\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n
The publisher recommended that Gray change the title of his book and the narrative of the story. Gray refused, saying \u201cif you take God out, there is no story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gray was not ready to give up on his book, and decided the best route would be to publish it himself. He only thought he would get through a few hundred copies, but the book’s sales skyrocketed. It became so popular, he quickly ran out of his first 8,000 prints. Over the next few months, he sold over 14,000 copies and was eventually contacted by a faith-based publishing house, Paraclete Press.\u00a0Gray took the money generated from the books, and donated it to local shelters across the country.<\/p>\n
Gray never wrote the book in hopes of commercial success, but only hoped they would \u201chelp people and have a spiritual, faith-based grounding, so it might help them that way, too.\u201d The New York based author wanted to create something that met people where they were, and guided them to faith if they were ready.<\/p>\n
Gray has continued his writing career, and his second book \u201cKeller\u2019s Heart” was released on February 14th. It shares the lessons Gray learned after adopting a blind and deaf dog from a local shelter.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s shown us there are no limitations if you want to believe in yourself,\u201d Gray said as Keller laid next to him. \u201cNothing stops him. He can do anything other dogs can do, except he just can\u2019t see and he doesn\u2019t really hear.\u201d<\/p>\n
The goal of the book was to remind children that it’s normal to be different from others.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe storyline [for \u2018Keller\u2019s Heart\u2019] is this dog gets adopted by a deaf girl who\u2019s having trouble fitting in and together they link up and they show people that you\u2019re not limited by some disability, you can rise above that,\u201d he said. \u201cBeing different is OK.\u201d<\/p>\n