I began writing at the age of 16. I was prompted as most writers are by heartbreak. I remember it very clearly and vividly. I was in my room, laying the dark tossing and turning. And all of a sudden, in the darkness, a thought came to my head. “I should write this down.” And so, I flicked on the lights and my writing journey began from there. I wrote that night on a piece of looseleaf notebook paper for over 3 hours. In the dead of night. I was still finding myself at that time in my life, but it was the most natural feeling I’d ever experienced up to that point in my life. It felt free. It felt like flight. The years passed, and I went to college. I wanted to be a nurse at first. However, like most young men in their first semester of being away from the structure and discipline at home, I went off the rails. I nearly got kicked out of college after my first semester. I had a GPA of 1.8. Suffice it to say, my father was pissed. He’d spent his whole adult life doing his best to provide for his children.