Young Entrepreneurs: JD Slajchert

Channeling Love and Loss into Literature

Twenty-four-year-old Malibu author JD Slajchert’s biggest passion in life was basketball, playing for University of California, Santa Barbara and Oak Park High School. His whole world changed at 17 when he met “a little angel,” a 6-year-old boy with sickle cell disease named Luc Bodden. Luc was JD’s biggest fan, always telling him, “You’re going to do it,” from his hospital bed. And the best part was that JD believed him. Luc passed away on September 14, 2016. In order to deal with this tragedy, the student athlete started writing.

JD’s debut novel, MoonFlower, was published on October 14, 2018, just four months after his college graduation. Three weeks later, JD suffered another tragic loss when his home burned down in the Woolsey Fire. “The highs and lows of writing prepared me for the unfathomable—losing the place I called home,” explains the author. “I had been to this dark place before—and I knew that there was an opportunity to turn this dark into light; so, I tried.” He also launched a fundraising campaign called #MoonFlowers4Malibu and will donate 100% of his book sales to the Woolsey Fire victims to, once again, fight loss with love. Learn more at jdwritesbooks.com.