Hello, and thanks for visiting scottcahan.com. I am a fiction writer and an illustrator whose creative endeavors have so far produced four fiction books and one ongoing comic strip. I also work two jobs, participate in family activities with my beautiful wife and four amazing kids, I’m active in my church, and I enjoy reading science fiction and posting book reviews. As you can see, I lead a very full but blessed life. You’re probably wondering how I have time to write books and draw a comic strip. Officially, I don’t have time, but I somehow manage to squeeze it all in between everything else I have going on. It’s what I enjoy doing, and one way or another I always find time for it.

BOOKS FOR KIDS

I wrote my Glazed Man & Rat Girl books when my kids were younger. I remember reading lots of great young-reader books with them and being inspired to create my own characters. I’m not exactly sure how I ended up with my two goofy superheroes as the main characters, but it probably had something to do with wanting to make my readers laugh coupled with my lifelong fascination with superheroes. My Glazed Man & Rat Girl books are chapter books with lots of illustrations. Both books are targeted at kids, ages 8 to 13 years old. 

BOOKS FOR ADULTS

By the time I finished with the second GM & RG book my kids were all around high school age and I was ready to do something different. So, I tried my hand at writing science fiction targeted at a young adult audience. I also wanted my new project to be attractive for adults of any age. So, I left out the illustrations and focused all of my efforts on writing a compelling, character-driven story with lots of sci-fi tension. The result was Caged Animals, the story of a group of high school students who are kidnapped by aliens and carried away to another planet against their will. As I got into the writing of Caged animals I realized to do their story justice I had to make it into two books. Cutting it down to one would have made the story trivial and cliche. In adding a second volume to their story called Escaped Animals I was able to show a more realistic portrayal of what the characters would go through if something like that had really happened. I’m also proud to point out that the covers for both books are my original designs.

MY COMIC STRIP

When I finished my novels I decided I needed a break from the intense writing I’d been doing for the last two years. I had recently entered the world of Instagram and saw very quickly that the platform was the ideal place for a whole new world of comic strips to live and thrive. This realization allowed me to return to a dream I’d had since my youth; to write and draw a comic strip like my favorites, Calvin & Hobbes, Bloom County, and The Far Side. I toyed with several original ideas for a strip, but nothing made as much sense as continuing the story of Glazed Man & Rat Girl in the form of a comic strip. So, in November of 2021 I launched my comic strip, having no idea of what I was getting into. I’m coming up on my first year anniversary now and I can honestly say, it’s been a blast. Cranking out a new strip every week is definitely challenging, but I absolutely love the fact that I get to focus on one portion of the story at a time and then throw it out there immediately so my fans can give me feedback. The storyline is a continuous narrative that I plan to eventually pull together to become a graphic novel. Although the original GM & RG books were meant for kids, I see this new venture as appropriate for all ages. The content is still squeaky clean, but the story is stoked with intelligent humor and some really nasty villains. I like to describe the comic strip as an all-out satire of Marvel and DC comics. Check out the Glazed Man & Rat Girl comic on Instagram at GlazedManAndRatGirl.

SCOTT CAHAN

Contact me at scottcahan@gmail.com