Scott And Mark Hoying's Debut Children's Book Celebrates Their Real-Life Love Story

As they gear up for their first wedding anniversary next month, Scott and Mark Hoying are embarking on a new creative endeavor that they hope will both strengthen their union and boost the morale of kids of all ages who feel like they don’t fit in.

Last month, the couple unveiled their debut children’s book, “How Lucky Am I?” It’s a heartwarming tale about a mayfly as it wings its way toward self-fulfillment and acceptance in a brief ― but extraordinary ― life.

Scott, known globally as a member of the Grammy-winning a cappella group Pentatonix, said he and his now-husband dreamt up “How Lucky Am I?” while cooking dinner at their Los Angeles home toward the latter half of 2019. As Scott began retrieving ingredients, he caught sight of a fly that wound up making its way into the freezer.

True to form, Scott said, Mark opened the freezer door to set the fly free. It was then the pair realized that the insect’s near-death experience could be seen as a poignant metaphor about living life in the moment and without regrets. The two men also felt it would give them a chance to share elements of their own love story, which began in 2017.

“We thought: If a mayfly can live for just 24 hours, what would it want to do in its lifetime? The whole purpose of a mayfly’s existence is to find their mate, to carry on their lineage,” said Mark, a musician and model who originally hails from Seattle. “We wanted the story to parallel our own life experiences ― about us falling in love, getting married and wanting to start a family.”

Scott felt similarly, and incorporated some of the couple’s July 2023 wedding vows ― in which they pledged to “adventure side by side” and “talk for hours, laugh and cry” ― into the book, which features colorful