My writing career has been influenced by several life-changing lessons. I worked several years for my father who was a successful businessman. That was great, but I soon grew bored. Then, my life changed, when I approached my parents about opening a business. Along with my brother Matt, I opened a gym in my hometown of Clarksburg, West Virginia. My father simply took charge and made it happen, teaching me along the way. His entrepreneurial spirit was intoxicating, and I have yet to meet a better businessman. The first life-changing lesson was realizing my father was right when he said, “You can do whatever you want, if you put your mind to it.”

When I was a small boy, my father would take me to the airport. I used to stand at the fence and wave to the pilots getting into the planes, and I desperately wanted to be on the other side of the fence flying those planes. I continued to work for my father and run the gym until another life-changing event happened; I took a flying lesson. After my first flight, I was at the airport all the time. Sitting on the bench outside the small local airport, I watched the planes depart. It was at that point, I decided to go to college to study aviation. Closing my gym and leaving my hometown, I enrolled at Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida. During my first year at Florida Tech, I earned my pilot’s license and began working towards my commercial license. On one of my solo flights to Ocala, Florida, something happened that took me back to my childhood. As I walked from the Flight Service Station to my aircraft, I noticed a small boy standing by the fence with his father watching the planes leave. The little boy raised his small hand and waved to me and I returned the wave. It suddenly hit me; I had accomplished my goal and had made it to the other side of the fence. That was the second lesson; persistence is paramount. It had taken me years, but I had never lost the drive to fulfill my dream.

I ended up earning a BS degree in aviation management and an MS degree in logistics management from Florida Tech. So, armed with my new education, I wondered what I would do for a living. I had always toyed with writing and began working for my sister, Sylvia at her advertising firm in Honolulu briefly after graduation. The joy of creativity is something I share with my sister Cindy, so I decided to take it one step further. Writing press releases and advertisement campaigns, Sylvia gave me my first chance to write for a living, and for that, I am eternally grateful. My sister Sylvia had done a good bit of acting—mostly television bit roles—so I asked her to show me a script. After looking over the format, I began writing screenplays, and as I did, my writing improved each day. I eventually wrote several screenplays and would write any speculative script for which someone had an idea. In 1995, I wrote a children’s program that aired in Honolulu on an ABC affiliate. Again, I was able to work with my sister, this time for several months. Then, the years rolled by, and I fell into a normal job. It seemed the passion that I once had for writing was gone, as my screenplays failed to sell.

Then, I would learn another lesson. The lesson dealt with the impact one person can have on the life of another. Upon meeting my wife, Alicia it was amazing the difference her encouragement and support made in my life. My mother has always been my biggest fan to the point of giving me financial support when I was struggling. Support is critical, and besides family, I now have a wife that helps encourage me. When you look at family members, it is interesting how over time, the members can leave an imprint on each other’s lives. My brother, Bob, who is usually not much for talking on the phone, called me one night. At that time, I had all but given up on trying to sell anything and was thinking of throwing in the towel. Bob talked to me for three hours and asked me how I came up with screenplay ideas. When I told him that they just played in my head as they would on a screen, he paused and then replied, “then what are you doing working in the transportation industry?” It made me think, and caused me to turn my attention to writing a book instead of screenplays. With my love of aviation, it’s no surprise that my first book would be based on an aviation theme. The switch from screenplays to books was a struggle at first, but reading works by great authors helped me. John Grisham and Patricia Cornwell are two authors whose work I admire greatly, and while their styles are different, their writing helped me to understand great story telling.