Introductions First

My name is Vernon, and my journey is going to hit cruise control with the crowning of the year 2020. Maybe this year, we, myself included, will all see things clearer than we ever have before.

For as long as I can remember, I was one of those guys that said they were never going to start a blog and journalize about the internal reflections I was experiencing in my so called present world. I already old fashionably handwrite two personal journals during the week and write fictional novels in my spare time, so the last thing I wanted to throw myself into was another endless vacuum of letters, spaces, commas, new paragraphs, and periods. Just to create this website alone, I have lost my religion three times, cussed the high heavens until the clouds turned to fire, and debated on how I would want to destroy the world and all the artificial intelligence in it. I knew the cards were stacked against me when I called my nineteen year old nephew for assistance and he told me to go watch a YouTube video about website design. In a PG-13 point of view kind of way, I knew I was, well, screwed.

While I type, I’m wearing my earbuds, listening to chill wave radio, and thinking on how to inform you about the last fifteen years of my life and mash it into a couple of quick, clever sentences before I start to lose your attention. I realize that time is precious for you, as it is for me, and together we are sharing the only unit of measure that has infinite value. I treasure the fact that the reader and writer get to share this once in a lifetime experience. To be honest, I cannot believe you have read this far. I would not be up here blogging if I didn’t think my words were unimportant, and I can guarantee you that I’m only going to be the type of blogger that posts three to four times a month considering my other obligations. There is something I want to share with you, the reader, and for now this is the only way I can relate that information to you. There is a rhyme to the reason, a time for the season, and a tune we can all dance to if we simply sit together for a couple of paragraphs and share the silence with one another.

I finished my first fictional novel in 2006, currently remain an unpublished author, and have not stopped believing in the dream that will one day be my reality. Validation comes to those that long suffer and seek it, and that is what I intend to do. We may bend, and we may break, but nothing else matters as long as we continue to stand back up after we fall down. No matter how many dark nights of the soul have shrouded me and tried to chase me away, I have remained focused on the bigger picture at hand. The world is not easy for dreamers like me, dreamers like you, and even if it was I do not think the ride would be as enjoyable as it has been or will be.

Since 2006, I have completed eleven other fictional novels, and the genres range from Southern Gothic, science fiction, romance, a western, religious fiction, to other contemporary classifications. Three completed novels are part of a time traveling trilogy, while three other books are short romance novellas that are illustrated with photography taken by me. The rest of my completed works, well, let’s just say they are a story all to themselves.

Two years ago, I finally found the creative instruction and professional editing that my work needed. I was guided by a professional contact to call on and request the services of Alan Brown, Senior Editor of Manuscript Editing Solutions, llc. Alan and I collectively dove headfirst into the first book I completed back in 2006, A Story About Her, a sixteen hundred page book filled with unforgettable characters, heart warming and heart breaking plot, and an emotional time bend that will leave you questioning what you have just experienced. Alan has gained notoriety of being my favorite Yankee, considering I’m currently bunkered down in the rural South, and my relationship with him has been everything that a writer with vision could ever ask for. The path may not have always been easy, but I have enjoyed the journey as it has slowly led me to where I am now – blogging to all of you.

This would be my introduction to all of you about what this blog will revolve around – a man with a laptop, vision, drive, and, yes, patience. For you, the reader, to truly understand the gravity of the situation, I’m going to share some life lessons I learned while writing A Story About Her, a cryptic story that continues to haunt me until this day. To get there, we are going to have to cross secret, hallowed grounds about me and some of my biggest fails in life, all of which include the time when I was having a down and out semester of college, plagiarized a paper about Elvis Presley in my Southern Literature class, got caught, and was reprimanded before the dean. You are going to hear about the hardships I experienced while trying to independently publish my books and hear about the time when I considered throwing my sacred USB sticks into a fire and walking away from the alphabet altogether.

Redemption comes to those that seek it, and that metaphorical baptism comes in many forms and fashions.

The journey begins now.

Are you ready?