A BITTERSWEET OCTOBER

As fall winds usher in not only my favorite season but the occasion of my first novel, PROGENY, being published, I’m given to some introspection.

Four years ago in October, my father passed away suddenly. A journalist and novelist himself, Lewis W. Green was hugely supportive of my writing efforts. From my childhood’s Godzilla fan-fic pieces scribbled on yellow notepads to my more recent short stories and screenplays, my father was always enthusiastic in wanting to read my work. A short film I made based on a script I’d written in 2004 made him so proud he cried. He immediately had copies made to distribute to anyone who would take one.

He found the screenplay format confounding; offering little opportunity, in its leanness, for descriptive expression. He made an effort to look past this for the sake of giving me an honest critique. His reviews were always shining. While I was well aware of his bias, I was no less encouraged. He had several novels and a collection of short stories under his belt, had worked for years as a newspaper journalist and editor and taught classes in both creative writing and journalism. Whatever talent I can be said to have I owe to him.

On November 13^th, the good folks at Hobbes End will release The Endlands: Volume 2. I’m lucky to be a part of this anthology, which, like the last volume contains a story of mine as well as my introduction. More importantly, it will also feature a story by my own son Deklan. To be published alongside my son is a special occasion for me, a milestone that fills me with as much pride as I hope my father would have felt if he and I had been published together.

I’m sad that he is not here to see that his grandson has also inherited his gift, perhaps in greater measure than I have. I wish he was around to see the publication of my first novel, as well as the production of whichever of my screenplays in development purgatory makes it to production first. I would like to have presented him with a copy, which he would have insisted on having me sign, and seen the smile and twinkle it would have brought to his eyes.

Being that PROGENY’s central theme is the often-stormy but deeply profound nature of father-son relationships, its publication is especially meaningful to me, this bittersweet October.  I’ve dedicated it to Deklan, with the hopes that he too, will one day have the joy of an amazing son.