I was born in the wagon of a travelling…no, that’s not right. It was a dark and stormy night…probably, but too cliche. My mother assures me I was dumped on her doorstep by a fat, lazy stork who got tired of carrying me. Mom always made me feel special. Following a rip-roaring, melodramatic childhood in Iowa, I moved across the boundless Missouri River to the fast-paced, topsy-turvy land of Nebraska. I studied history and religion in college, but never felt the sharp claws of fate around my heart pulling me toward teaching or writing research papers. I’ve been telling stories to my friends and family members since I learn to speak—something Mom regrets to this day. She keeps a strong roll of duct tape at the ready in case Science ever invents a time machine so she can remedy the situation. With over twenty-five years in the customer service industry, I decided to pursue the one passion I have been flirting with for forty years or more—writing. After starting and stopping book after book, I finally sat down and made an outline instead of just winging it. It turns out, people with tips for authors may actually know what they are talking about. I was able to finish the first novella in a series and have the outline for the second book. I’m used to cobbling together things with string and wire to try to make them work, and my first book is probably no exception. It’s no great opus. It’s not a fantastic world-building epic. I always thought the maps at the beginning of fantasy novels were cool—I still enjoy them—but my novel is more like a low-budget half-hour fantasy show on Saturday morning. The characters may take themselves seriously, but the reader is free to laugh at them. A little drama, a sprinkling of nostalgia, some fantasy and action, and maybe some humor. All I can hope is that you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it, and anyone with a kind word or two will let me know.