Several years ago, when I was a seventeen year old high school student; I undertook the writing of a book. It was in an autobiographical format and dealt with what I saw my future as being. In it, I was the main character Bob, a former high school history teacher whose life hit the skids. It was a grim tale in many ways, including a cold Minnesota winter and an airplane crash. A local preacher took interest in my endeavor and contacted one of his parishioners who helped me get it published. Two weeks after my eighteenth birthday, I had become a published writer; although, it would be several years before the next book was written. My first novel went on to have three printings, and even though the literary bug had bitten me, I was determined to concentrate on college and my perceived future as a father of 4 and living in Minnesota while teaching history at the local high school. Reality stepped in, and I went to college in Wisconsin (hence my name), studied history and then switched majors twice before bailing out in the third week of senior year. Eventually I ended up working in various firms as an accountant.
In the Spring of 1985, I began my second novel, this time attempting science fiction which had taken a huge hold of the book buying public at that time. A total of 8 publishers (through my editor at that time), rejected it. The ninth publisher took it on and it was released in trade paperback with a total run of only 5,000. It seemed bleak and was headed towards the trash until a better known author came out with a novel of a similar name. That was all it took. Confused buyers scooped up my book, mistaking it for the other one which they had heard mention of (and which had a movie deal). My publishers, being wise and wishing to avoid litigation, had the title changed in the subsequent printings. I ceased writing for a time and turned back to my accounting carreer.
In the early 1990s I turned toward the idea of 'the next great American novel'. It was to be in the spirit of books penned by Steinbeck and Hemingway and if I had known anything about farming it might have had success. Today, that book remains unpublished.
In 1999, I found what seems to be my true calling as I began a series of murder mysteries. Similar to the late Ed McBain, I keep a set group of characters who interact with the criminals and riff raff as well as the complimentary characters of each story. As of today, 9 books in this series have made it to the shelves and another is in phase one of publication, with scheduled release in the early part of next year.
To a large extent, each book which I have written up until this time has been at least in part an encapsulation of myself. Each character is based upon some qualities which are found within me. Some good, some not so good. Perhaps in this sense, I already have written my own biography, adding to it as each chapter is typed out.