"That's Not How it Happened" | Instagram Live 1/11/26

This special How We Made Your Mother Instagram Live episode features producer Alek Lev in conversation with Craig Thomas, co-creator of How I Met Your Mother, centered on Craig’s novel That’s Not How It Happened. Over an intimate, wide-ranging 54-minute discussion, Craig unpacks the personal origins of the book—drawing from his experience parenting a son with a disability—while exploring language, representation, and the loneliness parents often feel navigating disability without a shared vocabulary or community. The conversation traces how those lived experiences intersected with his time on HIMYM, why he ultimately chose not to mirror his real life directly through Marshall and Lily, and how years of frustration trying to tell disability-centered stories in Hollywood led him to write a novel instead. Craig dives into the book’s multi-perspective, non-linear structure (very much in the HIMYM storytelling DNA), his commitment to avoiding both “inspiration porn” and tragedy narratives, and his goal of making a story about disability that is genuinely funny, human, and messy. Along the way, audience questions spark candid reflections on friendship, guilt, advocacy, inclusion, creative responsibility, and the idea that every character—and every person—is standing on some kind of life “cliff.” The live concludes with gratitude to the disability community, readers who felt seen by the book, and the shared hope that telling these stories helps people stay connected instead of pulling away.  CONNECT WITH THE SHOW: Official Website (Send us your audio and written messages) Instagram READ JOSH’S MUSELETTERS ON SUBSTACK: Subscribe HERE. CRAIG’S BOOK IS AVAILABLE! Head over to CRAIG’S WEBSITE to order your copy of THAT’S NOT HOW IT HAPPENED. SUPPORT PEDIATRIC CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE RESEARCH: Click HERE to learn more and donate today. FOLLOW THE OFFICE LADIES: Check out "Office Ladies" at https://officeladies.com/ or wherever you get your podcasts! Follow on Instagram: OfficeLadiesPod Follow on TikTok AND MORE: Josh’s Official Website Josh on Spotify Craig’s Official Website (with links to his published writing) Alek’s “Dead Fathers Society” on Substack