An author from Arlington, Texas was reunited with a TikToker whose act of kindness helped catapult him to the best seller's list.
Veteran Army paratrooper, therapist and engineer Shawn Warner followed up on a childhood dream of being an author when he published his first novel, "Leigh Howard and the Ghosts of Simmons-Pierce Manor."
Warner was holding a book signing at a local grocery store when TikToker Jerrad "Red" Swearengin asked him about his book.
Swearengin said the author "seemed super defeated when I first walked past him" so before he left the store he went back to ask about the book.
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"I was just shopping when I noticed this man trying to promote his new book. I honestly don't even read books nowadays. But something just told me to get a couple," Swearengin wrote on TikTok.
Warner told Swearengin his debut novel was about a girl who teams up with a ghost with multiple personalities to solve the mystery of her parent's murders.
Swearengin decided to buy two copies of the book and have them signed, a copy for himself and one to give away to his followers. That video has since generated more than 19 million views, and 26,000 comments and helped Warner onto Amazon's best-seller list.
On Thursday morning, two weeks after meeting at the grocery store, Warner and Swearengin hugged when they were reunited on NBC's TODAY show.
Warner told TODAY that as sales of his book suddenly skyrocketed, he was confused and wondered what could be happening. His daughter then told him that he'd gone viral on TikTok.
"I was at Kroger signing the books, Red saw me sitting alone and came over and said hello and brightened up my day and then just brightened up my life," Warner recalled Thursday.
Swearengin told TODAY he was on an ice cream run for a birthday party but said something told him he needed to stop and find out about the book.
"Honestly, I did such a small part. It came down to the people. The people decided and it took off," Swearingen said.
Warner said once he started reading the reviews of his book he was able to sit back and enjoy the success. A highlight, Warner said, was learning from parents that they were reading the book to their children.
"It was just incredible. Something I never thought would happen. But what really warms my heart, and I'm going to get choked up again, is when parents say they're reading it with their kids," Warner said, holding back tears. "If there's a moral to the story it's how a simple act of kindness can do so much."
As of Thursday afternoon, Warner's novel was ranked no. 3 on Amazon's best seller's book list and had more than 1800 reviews, 93% of which were five-star reviews.
Warner told TODAY said he's already at work on a sequel to his novel and is also working on other writing projects.
