Frequently Asked Questions

Why Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America?

As governments, tobacco companies, and Whitney Houston have long known, influencing kids when they’re young is the key to changing our world in the future. BBBS provides caring mentors who can model successful habits, behaviors, and productive ways of thinking for at-risk children, helping to break cycles of poverty, abuse, neglect, addiction, and incarceration.

Is this a book about a treasure hunt?

Yes.

Is this a treasure hunt for a proxy item?

No. What you’re describing isn’t a treasure hunt. It’s a hunt for an otherwise worthless item that you can redeem for a prize of some sort. Proxy item hunts are made by people who don’t want to risk anything for people who just want to find something. That’s fine, but no, that’s not what this is.

Is this a treasure hunt for real treasure?

Are you kidding me? Have you, even for a moment, considered the potential web of legal ramifications of hiding almost anything of significant value nearly anywhere in the continental U.S.? Trust me, it’s staggering. Absolutely staggering. Any associated traceable objects, of value or not, would inevitably lead back to you. Well-intentioned interviews, public statements, publicity photos, private communications, and more would be turned against you. No, it is my position that the only good way to have a treasure hunt for real treasure is to not have one at all. That said, all of life is a treasure hunt and you can indeed find real treasure via a thorough examination of yours.

What if I have other questions?

I would suggest reading the book again. The answers are there.

This seems hard. I feel stuck.

Rome wasn't built in a day. Take a break for a while. Sleep on it. Work with others who managed to obtain a book. As with most everything else, moderation is key.

I noticed some typographical and/or grammatical errors in the journal.

It is written by a fool. What did you expect? None are intentional or significant in any way, and I hope you're able to divine my intent without breaking your immersion too much. There's enough to consider without having to wonder about the placement of a comma, a missing word, transposed letter, or poor grammar. That isn't fun to me. I would never do such a thing on purpose. Despite my best efforts, a few errors survived the editing process. Do your best to ignore them.

My copy of the limited leather bound journal is missing a few pages. Does that matter?

Is it? Apologies, if so. I've yet to see a completely missing leaf (4 pages), but I have untied a bundle to rearrange five leaves to get the page order correct in a couple. Correct your keepsake version this way if you want. I'm sure your fellow comb-bound owners will be glad to help you with this. These were hand collated and bound without page numbers (they hated me for this), so I'm sure there are some irregularities. Don't ascribe any significance to these. You can absolutely use the leather bound journals, but the comb-bound version is certainly a better working copy.

Hey, I'm late to the party! Can I still buy a book from you? Will you print more books at some point?

No, and no. This was never for the masses. This was always for the few. I have, however, seen a copy sell on the secondary market, and a few visionary folks bought more than one book to presumably do just that. I suggest watching eBay in the coming weeks if you hope to score one.  Your only other hope is to go back in time. These were available for 18 months before the show aired and almost no one was interested.

How many people are actively trying to solve the puzzles in the book?

In the beginning, I printed 50 comb-bound copies and 100 leather-bound journals. Of the comb-bound copies, I estimate 45 are in the hands of people who intend to try. Of the leather journals, I estimate 55 copies are owned by people who intend to try. The unaccounted-for remainder of both formats were disseminated over time in random ways and to random people who had no idea what they were. As a result, these copies may no longer exist at all. If you find an unsigned, unnumbered leather journal in the wild, you have found one of these.

Any other advice?

Keep things as simple, direct, and concrete as you can. There might be a lot going on, but I don't consider this a complicated or convoluted puzzle. Any potential solve should reflect that. If you're new to this kind of thing, I recommend viewing this video on the different sorts of bias that will lead most astray of the intended path.

I’m scared. Are you okay?

I appreciate your concern. As a writer, I have to wonder if Stephen King’s loved ones asked him the same question when they read his work. Do people ask Joaquin Phoenix if he’s okay because they saw Joker? Maybe they do. I’m sure he chuckles and admonishes, “It’s just a movie,” but that shouldn’t diminish the powerful truth and lessons to be gleaned from his work in that role. Fiction can sometimes reach us in ways that non-fiction cannot. It can captivate our senses and communicate powerful truths. Just like what we think we see all around us, things are not always as they seem. Does The Magician really saw people in half? No, but are we not entertained? Have we not learned something valuable through his demonstration that our senses cannot always be trusted?

Paramahansa Yogananda once said he’d gone to see “The Song of Bernadette,” a movie about the life of Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, France. “I was deeply moved,” he said, “for there were many similarities between her life and my own. And then I chanced to look up and saw the light coming out of the projection booth. Everything taking place on the screen was an illusion, created by variations of shadows and light. Such is human existence. It is all God’s light producing everything. Yet how completely real it all seems to human beings.”

How can I contact you?

You can't, and my thanks in advance for not trying. Lisa is more accessible, and I think receiving your compliments on her contribution to this project would make her day. She may also have a few prints of her enlightening illustrations available for purchase. If I have anything to add, I'll post it here somewhere for everyone so you might check back occasionally.