Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Hello friends and fans of “A Silent Tide” and “A School in Pennsylvania”. My first blog post on the wonderful website created by my wife Katrina and my 18 year old son, Patrick comes on the day after Christmas. Yesterday morning, while our five kids were doing excellent damage to the wrapping paper covering their gifts, I commented to Katrina that the most awesome aspect of writing “A Silent Tide” was that there were literally dozens of people, that very morning, unwrapping copies of my novel that had been given to them as Christmas gifts. One gracious customer actually bought ten copies for this exact purpose. The thought humbled me. First, I felt somewhat self-absorbed that the significance of the moment had almost passed me by. Second, it was engaging to visualize the hands of another gift wrapping the book, then placing it just so under a tree in another home in another town, and, of course, the cool enjoyment of the person receiving the gift, first shredding the wrapping with the enthusiasm of a kid at Christmas (we are all kids, again, on Christmas morning!) and then holding the book in their hands. An amazing day, it was. To all of you, from our family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and most joyous New Year.