Wednesday was the scariest day of my life.

And despite my love for telling stories, this isn’t one I’m ready to share.

Baby H is okay now. As I write this at 4:54 am, he’s squirming and cooing in his bassinet like any happy baby should.

I imagine some people reading this and thinking, “Why even mention the story if he’s not going to tell it? What’s the point?”

That’s a fair question. After all, the Internet is a breeding ground for socialpreneurs harvesting their children’s trauma for clicks and views. Anyone remember this gem of the aughts?

While that’s a rather benign example, you can find lots of not-so-adorable videos and stories circulating the web. There’s a difference between sharing and exploiting, particularly when trauma is involved.

My wife and I decided before Baby H was born that we wouldn’t share pictures of him or give personal details to the public. Which is a shame, because he’s SO stinking cute it makes me want to cry.

Back to the question. My answer, malformed and immature as it may be, is that this terrifying experience is part of the larger fabric of my life. The past few months of milestones and moments have brought more clarity than I expected. In a culinary and a literal sense, they’ve reduced my priorities down to what matters. A few things I’ve learned this year:

• When I’m writing and editing, I feel like I’ve found my calling.

• When I hold my baby, the world ceases to exist.

• When I cut unnecessary things from my life, my burdens drift away.

I’ll take the joy, and the fear that comes with it. As happens so often, I found the best expression of what I’m experiencing in a character I wrote:

Here’s to living.

🎉 Now available in bookstores!

Central Florida readers can now find Marrow and Soul in two bookstores. Visit Spellbound Bookstore in Sanford, FL for signed hardcovers or Barnes & Noble East Colonial in Orlando, FL for signed paperbacks.

Writing Updates

SPOOKY SEQUEL // My editor should finish working through the text this month. If it’s anything like Marrow and Soul, I’ll likely have a couple thousand notes to work through.

When I handed in my manuscript last time, I’d never edited a novel before. Now that I’ve worked with several clients and written tens of thousands of comments, insertions, and deletions, I have a much clearer view of the process. It’s daunting, but it’ll be wonderful.

SPOOKY THREEQUEL // Drafting has been slow going, but it is going. I worked my way through a slog and picked up steam again as my characters near the midpoint. On the horizon: revelations, truths, and deaths.

Marrow and Soul: KU | Barnes & Noble | Amazon