justin lesieur dot com slash what i'm currently writing

February 10, 2026

The book I’m finishing now is called Where’s Ronald? It’s a fictional take on a very real event from my hometown of Estherville, Iowa. Back in the day, someone stole the Ronald McDonald statue from outside the local McDonald’s. That’s it. That’s the whole crime. And yet, in a small town, something like that becomes legend.

I’ve always loved stories that take something absurd and treat it with just enough seriousness to make it feel mythic. So I took that real-life prank and ran with it; adding four friends, a river that won’t keep secrets, a conspiracy-obsessed teen journalist, and a McDonald’s manager who’s one bad day away from snapping. It’s funny, a little chaotic, and full of small-town energy. Think Coen Brothers meets rural Iowa.

Writing this book has been a long time coming. I’ve wanted to publish a novel for years, and I've always thought this would be a fun story. It's not going to end up as long as I want, and will end up being a novella rather than a full lenght novel, but that's okay. It's a good start.

It’s almost done. Layla’s been supervising the edits (by sleeping through them), and I’m getting close to sharing it with the world. If you want updates (and a free short story while you wait) you can sign up for the newsletter.

Thanks for reading. More soon.