At a recent trip to Atlanta, the DadLabs team met up with a few different dad authors, all of whom have published some of the best parenting books for dads. In this episode of The Lab, we meet Danny Evans, author of "Rage Against the Meshugenah" and the daddy blog "Dad Gone Mad". We also sit down with Ron Mattocks, writer of the novel "Sugar Milk" which tells of his life as a stay at home dad. Finally, we meet John Cave Osborne, who chronicles his life as a father of triplets in "Tales From the Trips". We hope you check out these great writers. If you've got recommendations about great books for dad, share them with us at DadLabs.com. DadLabs Ep. 683 is brought to you by BabyBjorn.

Daddy Clay: You know Daddy Brad, some dads can write.
Daddy Brad: And some can read. This episode of The Lab is brought to you by BabyBjorn. Oexo-Tek certified, safe for your baby, BabyBjorn.
Daddy Clay: The DadLabs crew recently took a little trip down to Atlanta, Georgia for the Modern Media Man Conference and while we were there, we ran into some really cool dad authors we want you to meet.
Danny Evans: I started a blog called "Dad Gone Mad". I've been writing that for quite some time. And trying to poke a little fun at myself and laugh about being a dad. A year ago, I published my first book which is called "Rage Against the Meshugenah" which is about my experience with clinical depression. But I wrote it in such a way that hopefully people can have a few laughs along the way.
Daddy Clay: Now, I don't think people would expect that a book about depression would be very entertaining.
Danny: No, I wouldn't expect that either. But I'm hopeful that mine is the correction to that course.
Daddy Clay: And all people need to do is take one look at the blog to understand that. Okay, so the book has now been out for about a year.
Danny: About a year.
Daddy Clay: And are you hearing back from people that have suffered through depression and are they responding to the book?
Danny: In much larger numbers than I ever could have expected. I think for a lot of dads, it's something that we don't really want to talk about. And it's something that we sort of keep to ourselves because we think it makes us less whole and not perfect.
Daddy Clay: Your battle with depression, has that become a topic in the household? Have you talked about it with your kids?
Danny: Yeah, they're still young enough that I don't think it would be terribly helpful for them to go into a great deal of detail. But obviously it's a hereditary condition. It's something that they're going to need to know about eventually. So it's definitely not something I'm keeping a secret.
Daddy Clay: We're really proud to have the opportunity to meet you. Congratulations on the success of your book.
Danny: Same here. Thank you very much.
Daddy Clay: So tell us all about your book.
Ron Mattocks: Well, basically, the book's about my story was a corporate exec, lost my job, became a stay at home dad. And trying to reconcile that new role.
Daddy Clay: I enjoyed the book a whole lot. Read it. And felt like one of the things that was really fun about it is great sense of humor throughout. It's got to be hard sometimes in these tough situations you describe in the book. So humor's obviously been important to you. The subtitle of the book is "What one dad drinks when he can't afford vodka". Explain that for us.
Ron: My daughters would always leave the milk bottom of their cereal. Drive me crazy, cause we were going through two gallons of milk a week. So, I got the bright idea to take the milk when they weren't looking from their bowl, filter it through a dish towel, a clean one, I'm all about quality, and put it in a Tupperware container. The next morning they get up, I put it in the cereal, none the wiser. Well, as those sort of things go, I got caught and that was the end of that so.
Daddy Clay: John, tell us a little bit about your book.
John Cave Osborne: Well, "Tales From the Trips" is a book that I wrote. It kind of recaps the life of a man who went from a single dad to the father of four in 13 months thanks to marrying a single mom and then quickly conceiving triplets.
Daddy Clay: Obviously, parenting is serious business. Book serious. A few laughs in there?
John: Yeah, I think it does a good job of spanning the spectrum. I think there's some very funny, comical what am i doing, clueless daddy moments. But then also it's not afraid to go deep. The pregnancy was kind of a trying one. There's certainly some philosophical points in there, some spiritual points in there. I think it does a good job of keeping you laughing and keeping you thinking.
Daddy Clay: So is this a book that's only for parents of multiples or is there a laugh or a moment of recognition for us folks with just having one at a time.
John: No, I definitely think it's for anyone. I think that parenting's universal. And I think some of the best stories are universal in nature but specific also. I mean everybody knows who's a parent knows what's it like to have that unconditional love, have those fears. I think anyone can relate to this book that's ever had children.
Daddy Clay: Thanks very much for joining us.
John: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
Daddy Clay: Thanks so much to Daddy Evans, John Cave Osborne and Ron Mattocks for speaking with us at the Modern Media Man conference.
Daddy Brad: And also thanks to BabyBjorn. Oexo-Tek certified, safe for your baby, BabyBjorn. Hey fellas, when you get those books on tape, call me. Got a long commute in the morning. I'd like to listen.
Daddy Clay: You know they're not the only dads out there with a book. How about DadLabs Guide to Fatherhood: Pregnancy and Year One. Or maybe Filmmaking for Teens: Pulling Off Your Shorts, by the authors right here at DadLabs. Pick up a copy today.
Daddy Brad: Mr. Pulitzer, give me a call.