And so it begins…

So after ten years, the Island of Stone, my first Amazon-published book, is out there in the world. Like a newborn baby, it is raw and pink, and very delicate. As the creator of this thing, it is a thrilling albeit terrifying time. Will I succeed? Statistics say probably not, but I am hopeful!

This journey has been a long one. I think I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I remember being a little boy playing with my G.I. Joes and thinking, imagine being able to use my imagination to make a living. I remember looking at a collection of Stephen King’s Short Stories in wonder. Like most of his books, it was a weighty tome. The extent of my writing at the time was probably just a few pages at best. The idea of writing such a volume was intimidating.

It wasn’t until I found myself in China (a journey I will discuss sometime later, as it could be a book in its own right), that I found I had the time and energy to begin my quest. I wrote my first book, Vril, in just a few months and found such things were possible. It was daunting, but I loved every minute of it. This was about 2005. It was a thrilling experience and I learned much. I always thought I was a pretty good writer. I mean, I got high marks in college and most of my professors made positive comments on my writing skills, but Vril really introduced me to the craft. I found that I probably wasn’t as good as I thought I was and that the path to becoming an author was not going to be one of overnight success. They were, at times, difficult lessons, but important.

Skip ahead 15 years later, and I finally felt confident to release my sixth book, Island of Stone. I’ve tried publishing Island of Stone the traditional route back when it had its old ending. This was about 8 years ago now. There was some interest in the traditional publishing world and I came very close. Ultimately, it was the ending. It felt rushed and a bit hokey. In the impatience to get the book done, I wasn’t giving it the ending it deserved. So it sat. In time, life continued and the story drifted from mind. I returned to it a few years ago determined to start afresh. Moving up the ladder of my career in higher education administration, I didn’t have the time to work on it like I had before, but I did what I could and trucked along. But the ending… good god the ending.

Then, one night, I woke with the answer. It just appeared from the ether. After 10 years, I finally had the ending! From there, everything just fell into place and within a month it was done. Writing is strange like that. The more you try to guide it, to control it, the harder it is. After many years of writing, I’ve found that you just need to let it live and breath on its own. Thus the bastard child of Island of Stone was born. I hope you enjoy it.

As this is my first post, it is a long post. Future posts will likely be shorter. There is more to this journey, but that I will share at a later time.