My first book was inspired by a desire to pass on the love of reading to my children.
My son, Michael, and I went on a walk one day, and because he had little interest in reading I asked him what kind of plot he’d enjoy and what type of characters would excite him. The concept and characters behind Brother, Bullies and Bad Guys were created by a ten year old child, and from there the novel became a family project between myself and my four children – Christopher, Michael, Thomas and Katherine. They helped me with the plot, the situations, and ideas such as the astrological reference to Gemini. And, they lent me their names and wee bits of their personalities to complete the characters.
Many of the situations within the story came from my childhood (except for the really bad ones), and I’ll leave the reader to guess which ones but I will say that yes, even the bear stemmed from a real incident in my childhood.
Brothers, Bullies and Bad Guys would be a dust covered manuscript in my basement if it wasn’t for an editor friend who convinced me it had to be published. That kicked off a five year journey of critique groups, revision, and learning how to write. I didn’t stop until I was satisfied the book was ready for the public and even then I hunkered down for negative reviews to pour in.
The public recognition and rewards Brothers, Bullies and Bad Guys received was my inspiration to continue.
The next two books, Sinners, Survivors and Saints, and Fighters, Feared and Fallen (coming the April) were created out of a desire to see where this story would take my characters, to see how they overcame the adversity thrown at them, and watch them develop in the process, for the story writes itself now, I’m simply the vehicle to get it onto paper.
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