FEATURE
A Lesson in Love Author felt inspired to write a children’s book based off a very special friendship
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PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF CLAYTON MARTIN
Author Clayton Martin with wife McKinley and daughters Norah (3) and Mary Collins (6 months)
BY STEPHANIE GIBSON LEPORE Springville author Clayton Martin wasn’t necessarily shocked that he wrote and published a children’s book recently, but he was somewhat surprised by the timing. “I never imagined I would do it this early,” he says. “I’ve always had a passion for writing and am so honored to be able to complete a project like this. The opportunity to share this story with anyone and everyone excites me greatly.” The project to which he is referring is his new children’s book, “I Love You More Than Me,” released early last month. The book was inspired by a beautiful friendship between one of Clayton and wife McKinley’s daughters, Norah, and family friend Levi Adams. Though he has a front-row seat to the special bond between Norah and Levi, the concept for the book came about in an 26 Bham Family November 2021
unusual way. “It’s actually a crazy story,” Clayton says. “I had a physical dream one night that I had written a kid’s book about the friendship of my daughter and one of her friends. As I began to think about it, the message and the title came to me—and the rest is history.” The history is that, when sitting down to put the words to paper, Clayton remained completely open-minded. “I had an idea, but I didn’t want to cap my creativity,” he explains. “As I started writing, the words began to flow as a rhyme book. So, I kept it going. Once I finished, I had a few people read it to see if it was any good, and the results were an overwhelming yes.” Next came the task of getting the book published, which came with a choice. “I began the publishing route by deciding between the CONTINUED ON PAGE 27
