In the year of 2008, a Christian brother and friend, who enjoyed my stories, inspired me to write them into novels. He motivated me to start with The Last Templar, being that it was his favorite story and character. It was also my favorite from twenty years back. So, knowing nothing about publishing or writing, I was backed by the world’s greatest woman ever, my wife Cristiana, and I took on the challenge. One month into the project, I had e-mailed and talked with 126 people, yes I kept a tally. Discouraged and angry, I had the pleasure of making call number 127 with Joan Shoup, who gave me five minutes of her personal time. It was five, life changing minutes for me, with inspiring advice, suggestions and an attitude of true compassion, Thank you, Joan. As for the other 126 businesses, editors, publishers, authors, religious groups, etc., they were rude, discouraging, dishonest and only wanted one thing. They all asked for money (I call them “money monsters”). Most of them suggested that I join their web site for a selected amount of money or a donation just to get a list of others who wanted the same thing. I could buy their book, but none of their books had anything to do with publishing. Helping others was non existent; they were only driven by the dollars they worshiped. Excluding Joan, she stood out from the crowd and inspired me to keep going. She gave me names of business and told me how to get started.Knowing more about space travel than computers, I spent the next two months turning myself into a multi-tasking, all-in-one author, publisher, printing company, editor, drawer, web builder, cover designer and marketing expert. I became a one man team on a nickel and dime budget. The Last Templar moved along quickly with the blessing of my family. They helped with editing, drawing and support. I would have not completed the book without them. On January 12, 2009, The Last Templar was published. Days later, I got the call from my wife saying that the book had arrived. I finally had that moment of completion when I held the book.Weeks later, a man approached me at Starbucks, seeing my book in my hand, and asked me how he could write a book. As one would see in a movie, everyone seemed to slow down at Starbucks. The question penetrated into the wound from my horrible experiences, and anger came in me. I must have looked odd to that man as I stared into the abyss. I thought, “Will I be number 1 or 100 of this person’s tally of awful people? Maybe the people on my tally were just jaded in their experiences, and rather than standing up and helping others, they just got in line with the rest of everyone else.” Then a wave of grace from the Lord entered into me as my answer came and the wound healed instantly, leaving only a small scar to remember. I smiled at the man, “How about a cup of coffee and I’ll tell you?” I replied.
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