Colten Skinner, Local Author of “Life’s A Journey,” Discusses Book, Movie Possibility

ALTON - Colten Skinner, the author of the book “Life’s A Journey: Hardships to Blessings,” recently discussed the book, audience feedback, and more on an episode of Our Daily Show! on Riverbender.com. He also discussed the possibility of the book getting a movie adaptation this summer as he’s currently working with a screenwriter to develop a screenplay.

“I’ve just had so many interesting adventures, and people came to me and said, ‘You know, you should really write a book about all the interesting things that have happened to you,’ so I did,” Skinner said.

Skinner said his story, which describes his experience with a rare muscular disorder, has inspired some readers to reach out for his advice on their own life journeys.

“I’ve given a lot of people advice. I have a rare muscular disorder called Ataxia Telangiectasia - it’s what puts me in the wheelchair,” he said. “Moms of other AT patients, they’ve reached out to me and said, ‘How do I say this to my son or daughter? How do I do this, how do I do that?’ so it’s really been a journey for them.”

Skinner is officially an award-winning author - “Life’s A Journey” won a CIPA EVVY book award last July, which he described as the “main highlight” of his book being released.

“I was able to enter a contest for a book award, and I didn’t know what I was doing - I didn’t even feel like I was going to win for my first book I wrote, and I won second place,” he said.

Skinner got a call one day from a movie producer who saw great potential in his story and asked if he’d like to start working on a movie adaptation, which is now in the process. He described his feelings after the call as “pure joy.”

“One day, I wasn’t even thinking about no movie or producers, and he just called me and said, ‘We have this opportunity to make your book into a movie, would you like to get a screenplay together for us to send it in to the producers?’”

After asking around on Facebook, Skinner said he was able to find a screenwriter based in Minnesota. He’s currently “in talks” with the screenwriter as they adapt the book into a screenplay, which will then be sent to movie producers to “get the ball rolling.”

Skinner said the writing and publishing process for “Life’s A Journey” took about a year and a half in total, and it won’t be his last book - he’s already writing another and said he’s currently working on Chapter 3. He said his next book is about how “every person is perfect the way they are, and they don’t have to change a thing.”

“Life’s A Journey” is available on Amazon, at Barnes & Noble, and “just about every other book retailer out there online,” Skinner said. The full interview with Skinner can be watched above from Riverbender.com.

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