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Abbott Writes Book on Life, Constitutional Convention

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will publish a book next month, sixteen months into his first term.

On May 17, Abbott plans to release "Broken But Unbowed," which recounts his life story and advances his push for a convention to amend the U.S. Constitution, his political shop announced Monday.

The book will be sold online and in bookstores, with all proceeds going to Operation FINALLY HOME, a New Braunfels-based nonprofit organization that provides homes to veterans and their families. Abbott plans to launch a book tour following the release.

The publisher of the book is Threshold Editions, according to a listing on Amazon. Threshold is a conservative imprint of Simon & Schuster that has also published books by Donald Trump and Rush Limbaugh.

Abbott's political team said the book will detail his experience "overcoming personal adversity" after a tree fell on him while jogging in 1984, leaving him paralyzed for life. The book will also press Abbott's call for a Convention of States, a campaign he launched in January as a way of combatting an overreaching federal government. Abbott has proposed nine new amendments to the U.S. Constitution, including requiring a balanced U.S. budget, allowing states to override some federal laws and U.S. Supreme Court decisions, and prohibiting Congress from regulating any activity “that occurs wholly within one state,” a category some conservatives say includes gun use and marriage.

"We face entrenched constitutional violations that require constitutional solutions," Abbott said in a statement. “My hope is that after reading 'Broken But Unbowed,' Americans will join the fight to restore lawful freedom and fix our country’s foundation."

Abbott's predecessor, Rick Perry, published two books while in office. The second one — "Fed Up!" — came out in 2010 and also argued for states to push back against the federal government.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2016/04/04/abbott-writes-book-life-constitutional-convention/.