Now, or later? I used to tell myself that I could and should write a book, but life is what happens between your plans. Ironically, the procrastination worked in my favor. Had I tried to write this twenty years ago, my debut novel's story would’ve been underdeveloped, an impatient chef serving an undercooked meal. I didn’t yet have the perspectives of a father or a man with responsibilities that extend beyond the freedom of being a bachelor. Time and life had to sharpen a few things. I had to sharpen a few things.

For the most part, the characters in my debut novel lived in my head for nearly twenty years. Over those years, even while procrastinating, I worked on my craft. I’d scribble memories on napkins at two in the morning from a dream I just had before it evaporated into the ether of the subconscious. As technology advanced, I’d text myself with new concepts. I kept it all until I was finally ready to bring them together. Eventually, nearly a year after I sat down with purpose, I published Half of Us - Book One, the first installment in the Half of Us trilogy.

Now that Book One and the supplementary Author’s Notes are both out and Book Two is in the works, I'm learning what it feels like to invite others into places that lived in my mind for so long. It's both humbling and invigorating.

I was born and raised in a city, but I've spent most of my life in small towns. I live within a duality, sometimes feeling like a man with no flag and at other times like one fortunate enough to possess dual citizenship. This dynamic guides how I understand people, community, and loyalty, without allowing me to romanticize any single place. That duality runs through more than geography. I served in the National Guard while pursuing my undergraduate degree, then spent most of my adult life afterward working for private health insurance companies before I finally took a chance on myself and built a second career teaching English to people all over the world. That work has placed me among multimillionaires and CEOs as readily as among working-class people from every corner of the globe, and it's taught me that we are all alike, yet completely different.

I was also raised on the South Side of Chicago, sandwiched between poverty and crime, and forged by a single mother's work ethic. I learned first from her what stewardship really means. Now I strive to tell relatable, topical stories that add color with social commentary in subdued tones rather than bold ones. The discipline and communication I've cultivated have strengthened these characters and stories I write, ones that can feel almost universal. I take pride in that kind of artistic realism, and I don't flinch from the moral flexibility most of us encounter at some point, or from the way confirmation bias can feed our own cognitive dissonance and force a reluctant look in the mirror. I don't pander, and I don't dilute the work with ideology or convenient character tropes just because they make for an easier path.

If you enjoy character-driven fiction that explores relationships, ambition, subtleties, desire, and the peaks and valleys of the human condition, I’d love for you to check out my work, starting with Half of Us - Book One. And I’d love to hear about a creative project that you held onto for years before you finally shared it.