The literary voice behind the books
Stories built around people, choices, and possibility
Neo’s work begins with characters facing questions that are both personal and widely recognizable: Where do I belong? What do I owe the people I love? How do I move forward when the world expects something different from me?
His books approach those questions through distinct settings and audiences, while remaining connected by an interest in character, responsibility, resilience, and human connection.
As the founder of CDJ Books, Neo is helping shape a publishing home where a book can become more than a single product. Each title can grow into a broader story world with conversations, resources, and pathways for readers, families, educators, and communities.
Approach to storytelling
Writing that leaves room for reflection
Neo’s storytelling is grounded in the belief that readers should be invited into a story rather than told what to think about it. Characters, relationships, places, and consequences carry the meaning.
Some stories speak first to children and families. Others explore memory, place, identity, fatherhood, or the experience of finding one’s way through difficult circumstances. Together, they form a growing body of work centered on human dignity and possibility.
Current books
Three stories, three distinct ways into Neo’s work
Explore the books individually or enter their larger story worlds.
Children’s story
Eugene The Wayward Frog
A story-world entry point for young readers and families, centered on choices, discovery, and the journey toward understanding.
Enter Eugene’s story world
Identity and place
Black Boy From the Barrio
A story shaped by environment, identity, experience, and the effort to understand where one comes from and where one may go.
Enter the story world
Family and connection
A Father and Son’s Love Story
A story-world pathway centered on the relationship between a father and son and the meaning carried through love, presence, memory, and connection.
Enter the story worldAcross the work
Recurring themes in Neo’s stories
Identity and belonging
The search for a place, a voice, and an honest understanding of oneself.
Family and connection
The relationships that form us, challenge us, and remain with us across time.
Choices and consequences
The moments—large and small—in which a character’s direction can begin to change.
Courage and possibility
The possibility of moving forward without denying the difficulty of where the journey began.
Beyond the final page
Every book can open into a larger world
CDJ Books is developing story-world experiences that help readers explore the ideas, characters, settings, and conversations surrounding each title.
As these worlds grow, they may include reader resources, family conversations, educator materials, journal features, and other carefully developed extensions of the books.
Explore all story worldsThe wider organization
CDJ Books is the publishing imprint of CDJ Enterprises
This page focuses on Neo’s work as an author and storyteller. His broader organizational, entrepreneurial, speaking, partnership, media, impact, licensing, and institutional work belongs to CDJ Enterprises.
Visit CDJ EnterprisesGet in touch
Choose the right pathway
Books and reader questions
For questions about CDJ Books, book availability, reader resources, educator materials, or customer support.
Contact CDJ BooksInstitutional and professional inquiries
For speaking, partnerships, media, licensing, rights, impact, organizational initiatives, or broader professional inquiries.
Continue to CDJ Enterprises