11 Years Later...

In 2006 (couldn't tell you what month) my wife (then my fiancé) was living in a small apartment complex in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Across the street from the apartment was a cemetery, and at the back of the apartment complex was a large pond. A wide arching sidewalk followed the edge of the pond all the way around until it formed a half circle which eventually made its way back to the other end of the apartment complex. At the apex of the sidewalk there were a couple of tennis courts.

My wife and I used to walk our dogs along that sidewalk, and then stop at the tennis courts. Our German Shepherd, Moose, would tear circles around the fenced courts and would then come inside and jump over nets repeatedly much to our delight. This apartment eventually became our first home together as a married couple and during our time there something changed.

For most of my life I had been a musician, with aspirations of becoming a singer/songwriter/rockstar. But that apartment complex became the seed of a story that would extend far beyond the limits of 2-3 minute song lyric. In my mind, the tennis courts beyond the sidewalk became a tree line of a dense forest. The cemetery across the street relocated to far inside the woods behind the complex, and a sinister force even I did not, at that time, understand brought evil to the residents around us. The setting for my first novel "From the Music Box" had been set and I felt an urgent need to sit down and turn that into something. For the moment, songwriting and music took a back seat to my frantic need to tell whatever story was brewing in my mind.

Two years later, I finished writing the book. Typing the last words, on the last page, filled me with such a feeling of accomplishment. My wife read the book right away, and while the word "finished" implies finality, I knew that the road to a complete book was still ahead of me. Since that time I have gone through four rewrites, beta readers, editing, professional editing, earning my bachelors degree, and raising five children (still in progress). Now, eleven years and two homes separated from that apartment complex, I (figuratively) hold in my hands a polished, complete manuscript for "From the Music Box".

I wrote at night while everyone slept, I wrote on my lunch breaks. I would go through periods where I lacked motivation and didn't write at all. I would become discouraged with how long it was taking. I would lose interest in the story. I would remember the story and come back to it with great excitement. I started writing a new book. I left that book to come back to the original story. The eleven year journey from idea to completed manuscript was full of ups and downs, roadblocks and detours. It was a grand undertaking, but with the support of my family and encouragement from those who read snippets and provided feedback we have reached this point. But, I am not done yet. The completion of the book is only the beginning as I continue to strive for my dream of publication and finding my story in the hands of millions.

Here we go!