Content warning: This episode briefly mentions attempted suicide.

Wade Rouse was a self-described queer kid growing up feeling like an outsider in his rural, conservative, Ozarks community in 1970s Missouri—and, in his own family.

Wade's new book is Magic Season: A Son's Story, a memoir that details Wade’s relationship with his hardline, old fashioned, and rather unforgiving father throughout his life, including Wade’s journey to find healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation before his dad’s death. As a USA TODAY, Publishers Weekly, and international bestselling author, Wade has published 13 books, including four memoirs and nine novels, to leverage storytelling of both fiction and nonfiction varieties to help himself discover healing—while modeling what it takes for readers, too, to find healing in the stories of their own lives.

Wade's books have been selected as Must-Reads by NBC’s Today Show. His writing has appeared in Coastal Living, Time, All Things Considered, People, Good Housekeeping, Parade, Salon, Forbes, Writer’s Digest, and more.

In this interview, Wade shares…

• How baseball, a sport he was forced to play, grew on him and gave him a language to connect with his dad
• Why "remember and reconcile" may be a better path for some of us than "forgive and forget"
• The power of accessing his inner world through journaling, writing, and storytelling

Thank you to Wade for joining us on The New Story Is!

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NOTE: If you're having suicidal thoughts, call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to talk to a skilled, trained counselor at a crisis center in your area at any time (National Suicide Prevention Lifeline). If you are in crisis or you think you may have an emergency, call your doctor or 911 immediately. If you are located outside the United States, call your local emergency line immediately.

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