I am what you call a late bloomer, an old farmer turned author. If I had to describe myself, it would be, "A Christian Farmer Storyteller", if I could leave a legacy that would be good enough for me. I was sixty-three when I started to write my first novel, "Archomai, The Prince, The Scepter, And The Shield." I have always wanted to write, and now I am seeing that dream come true. My third book was released this past fall, November 25th; it is a Christmas story, "The First Snowflake." The fourth and fifth are Christmas stories also, "The Christmas Gate, and The Christmas Gate 2." My first book published was a collection of poetry, the title, "The Old Corner Post." It is a thirty-year collection of poems and ballads. My sixth book, Evergreen Forevermore has a holiday setting. It has romance and involves an old Vietnam veteran that has carried a secret in his heart since the war.

I have spent most of my life on the farm, and I do love working the land. There is a spirit of freedom on the farm that surpasses anything I have ever experienced. I have had many jobs, from truck driving to managing a plastic plant and most everything in between, but I always seem to drift back to the farm. I am truly blessed by God.

With my wife, our four children and eight grandchildren, and One great-grandson, we live the country life. Our family is within twenty miles of each other, so we get together often. Family has always been important to me and gathering together especially on holidays is a high point of my life.

I kept my writing to myself over the years, only sharing with my family. But the desire to write was never completely dormant. My desire would rise and fall as providing for my family would allow. Seeing a story in nature or people would spark my imagination and send my mind off on an adventure. So many times I would run great lines through my head only to forget them and not be able to bring them to mind for writing. I decided to keep a notebook close and take the time to write my thoughts down. This has given me much comfort and material for the books we have put together.
Each day on the farm never ceases to amaze me with all the wonder.
 
There have been a couple of people over the years that have inspired me to write. One, in particular, that has had the most impact on me was a Language Arts teacher. I had decided to take a night course in Language Arts when I was in my late thirties. The teacher was an advocate of creative writing. The first assignment was to write a short children’s story and have a moral of the story that applied to your work. We handed in our assignments and the following week we received our stories with her grade on them. I remember her leaning on her desk and addressing the class. She said, “In creative writing I never give an A plus except on very rare occasions. One of you has received that mark on your paper. The person who wrote the story used good imagery and description and probably does not know what those words mean. Schooling is not everything; talent is the first ingredient in becoming a great writer." It was me, and she slipped the paper to me when no one was looking, which suited me very well. What I never told her was that I had forgotten to do my assignment. I sat outside the classroom before class and wrote the story in ten minutes then handed it in. She encouraged me to write as often as I could. That encouragement is what caused me to compile a large amount of poems and ballads. I will always be grateful to her and the interest she showed. The poetry book that was published has many of the poems she graded in it. I hope wherever she is, that one day she comes across the book and recognizes some of the poems and realizes she had a part in its birthing. Thank you Jan.