A Remodeled Man

Humor is something that is hard to create in writing. It has to be clever without trying too hard. This is how Bruce Cameron a syndicated columnist writes. He is a hilarious writer who makes fun of himself and his own life.

Cameron dreamt of being a writer while growing up in Michigan. At 16 years old he even sold his first short story, which was the first short story he had ever written. He says this is the worst thing that could have happened to him because it tricked him into thinking writing for money was going to be easy. Eight novels later he decided he was never going to be published.

He went to Westminster College and claimed to have majored in beer. After college he became a freelance writer, but needed to get a day job to support his writing. He has had many jobs ranging from selling insurance to driving an ambulance. He found himself waking up at 4:30am every morning to write before he would head off to work.

After deciding he was never going to be published he decided to write his 9th novel, but for himself. He realized if he stopped writing to sell and started writing in his own voice he was funny. He decided to start his own online column which originally only had about 6 subscribers, most of which were family. This number soon grew to 40,000 subscribers in 52 countries.

In 1998 he showed his column to the Rocky Mountain News in Colorado and they began featuring his column weekly in the paper.

He turned one of his columns “8 Simple rules for Dating my Teenage Daughter” into a book that was number 14 on the New York Times best seller list. Disney then picked it up as a T.V show. A good example of how he writes is rule number seven of his column:

"As you stand in my front hallway, waiting for my daughter to appear, and more than an hour goes by, do not sigh and fidget. If you want to be on time for the movie, you should not be dating. My daughter is putting on her makeup, a process which can take longer than painting the Golden Gate Bridge. Instead of just standing there, why don't you do something useful, like changing the oil in my car?"

He then wrote another book called 8 Simple Rules for Marrying my Daughter.

In 2001 he was introduced to Creators Syndicate and he became a syndicated
columnist. The Rocky Mountain News is a folding newspaper, but you can read some of his columns on his website. He still writes a weekly online column for Creator’s Syndicate.

His newest book is called A Remodeled Man which is currently under production to become a movie.

He writes mostly about his daily life. His last two columns have dealt with his recent colonoscopy. One of his more popular columns is called “Chili Judge”. This is a hilarious column that after just recently reading I realized I had read it before. It was something I read many years ago, either from a mass email or from a family member.

In 2006 he was selected by the Society of Newspaper Columnists as the number one humor columnists in newspapers with a large circulation. Bruce Cameron has an interesting perspective and has a way a describing exactly what everyone is thinking, but in a funnier way.