Twenty years ago, shortly after moving from Ohio to northern Virginia, I became aware through our children of one of the least known events in Civil War history. In September 1864, a Virginian by the name of John Yates Beall led a bold expedition across Lake Erie in an effort to free nearly 3000 Confederate officers in a Union POW camp in Ohio, while simultaneously taking over the USS Michigan, the only US warship allowed on the Great Lakes during the Civil War. I was captivated as I learned more about the man and his exploits, and I decided to write a book that featured Beall and the Lake Erie Raid. It was a story that I felt needed to be told. I finished the manuscript and in 1993 actually acquired a bona fide agent to market my book to publishers. However, I got distracted by other things like work and kids, and the marketing efforts died. But not my desire to tell Beall's story. Fast forward to 2012. I dusted off the old manuscript and went about getting it ready for publication. After months of editing and preparation of the graphics, I selected a publisher. I am pleased to announce that my first book, Faded Lines of Gray: An Historical Novel, has now been published by Bookstand Publishing in Morgan Hill, California.