Who Am I?

As an aspiring writer, I draw from life experiences as a missionary in France, the facilities manager of a camp, factory worker, buyer, cost accountant and graduate of Fort Wayne Bible College, Fort Wayne, Indiana.  Writing, drawing and watching the world around me constitute my major hobbies.  My repertoire of literary work includes four completed unpublished manuscripts in novel form, short stories and a growing list of spec screenplays.  I have even toyed with the thought of self-publish one of my novels, A Cross In Time, the story of time travelers encountering Pontius Pilate and Jesus Christ.  I reside with my wife of 30 years in the greater Nashville, Tennessee area.

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My latest project:  Standing Inside The Fire

logline:  The Ugly Duckling proves everyone wrong, including herself, by taking over her father’s investment firm and marrying the man of her dreams.  Then it all falls apart because of the scheming of the colleague she thinks is her best friend.

Synopsis:

Katherine is an Ugly Duckling, or so said Eugene Madison.  Plain features, slightly chubby and a female in a man’s world, her worth is the wealth and power she brings to a marriage by virtue of her father.  She was supposed to have been born a male heir to the Madison fortune.  Instead, she was a female and her father blamed her for the childbirth death of her mother.  Then opportunity allows her to take control of Madison Investment Group after Eugene’s death and she meets Conner Williams, the man of her dreams.  Her life is suddenly worth living.  But inside the fire of love can be a dangerous place.  Especially when the colleague she believes to be her best friend is scheming to take not only her company from her but the man she loves.  Now she must overcome her destructive self-image and the doubts in her perfect man if she is to defeat those who would steal what she has gained.

"Love is not tried, it is merely survived if you're standing outside the fire."  Garth Brooks

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Story ideas flow on a regular basis.  Most often, they are pushed aside.  However, there are story lines that will not be regulated to the back of the line for future consideration.  For now, the title is called Mustard Seeds.  That could change.  Anyway, the tale demands to be written.

Taking over the story board:  Mustard Seeds

Logline:  A mysterious man some believe to be the return of Jesus Christ challenges the faith of a young doctor and his estranged father, a mega church pastor.  The fate of the doctor’s critically ill sister and the survival of one of the largest churches in the world is at stake.

Often an idea will take over my thoughts and demand expression.  Recently, I experienced in a personal way, and not for the first time, the pain of a man raising himself above God.  It is a sad and terrible thing to watch.  But more than that, it is far too familiar in church history.  The path of mankind to God is strewn with the bodies of those trampled under by ambitious individuals using religion as their vehicle for advancing to power and influence.

Caught in their wake are the pious.  Those genuinely seeking the face of their Creator only to have their faith used against them by the ruthless climbers.

Mustard Seeds is a story paralleling the lives of two such men.  Father and son, they travel the road of faith but when both reach the crossroads, they must chose on their own which way they would go.  One shall find inner peace and eternal promise, the other shall fall under the weight of his faith in himself.

See Synopsis of Story Lines for more.