For each one, I asked myself whether it should be a memoir or a novel. My second novel, Chasing the American Dream, emerged from a very different, more personal conundrum: my angry father. My third novel, The Boy With the Butterfly Mind, to be released August 11, arose from the ashes of my first marriage. Making this third book a novel also has other benefits over a memoir. I’m planning a memoir in the form of a series of stories of my life and what I’ve learned from them.