Many people have asked me, as a debut author, with no prior publishing experience, how I navigated the literary world and came to write and publish TRIBE? Well it is not a simple answer.

Before I had a novel, or even a story, I came up with a premise and  book title. I initially thought, the original title, The Homogenized Sapien, encapsulated the themes of what I wanted to write perfectly, and I loved the play on words. In fact, it remained the working title until recently when I finally started listening to what others were saying. What does that mean? Is the book about milk? It’s a terrible title!

So I struggled to find a different name for my novel. Like many pivotal story ideas, they often come to me at night, when I am in a deep sleep. I woke up one night, a few years back with the title TRIBE ruminating in my mind. That sounds like a winner, I thought. So, I tested it on a few beta readers and it was a hit. So TRIBE it became.

From conception to publication, TRIBE has been nearly twenty five years in the making. Not because I wasn’t dedicated, it was just my reality. I had, and still have, a busy medical practice to run, a family to nurture, and many outside interests. Finding the time to set my mind into writing mode, was and remains, one of my greatest challenges.

Initially, I crafted essays and struggled to find a story. I often went years without writing a word and spent far more time talking about wanting to write a book than actually writing it. I didn’t want to be that guy but it kept sounding like that was who I was.

Finally, about ten years ago, during a time of personal challenges, a story thankfully came to mind, and I started writing. Initially the pages flowed with many fits and starts. But then came COVID, and with that came time. Time to develop and finally finish my manuscript.

I always considered TRIBE’s premise, characters and story to be its greatest strength and my actual writing to be its utmost weakness. My initial version was heavily plot driven, with multiple repetitions and few words dedicated to description of places and settings. With time and mentoring from Warren Layberry, my editor, I was better able to describe the scene within each chapter with more nuance and texture. I now find, whenever I am stuck in any one particular section, when I revert to adding description, it invariably frees me to move forward.

Writing about racism and tribalism as foundational elements to my story, I was afraid of setting my novel in any one particular place or time and remained fearful of offending any one group of peoples. Best to not address it I thought. But this was a grave error.  Where is this story taking place? It needs to take place somewhere, many people pointed out

Once again, in the middle of the night, I imagined Bethel with its magnificent Tower and medicinal turquoise spring waters and placed Bethel on the planet Earth in the Eastern Mediterranean. I populated the island with New and Original Bethelians and wrote the story about what it was always supposed to be. Us. it was a cathartic breakthrough and opened the flood gates of ideas that anchored the story and gave rise to the expansion of TRIBE into an eventual trilogy.

I do most of my primary writing, during the summer up at my cottage in Huntsville Ontario. Nothing is more sublime than waking up early, grabbing a coffee and sitting outside on my patio, facing the lake and writing. I lose myself, and before I know it, half the day is gone with a chapter or two under my belt. Heaven.

Another locale of inspiration is on my boat. I love to spend several hours every spring, summer and fall afternoon, while at my cottage, anchored in a beautiful bay on Pen lake. With soring cliffs and birds circling overhead as the wind funnels into the bay, I while away my time. More than a few Eureka moments have come to me during those warm summer evenings as the sun is setting and the light is glimmering off the water. It just happens.

Along with the assistance of my editor, I was fortunate to have many skilled beta readers whom provided me with valuable and constructive recommendations and after a few more re-writes, I finally believed TRIBE was ready to present to the literary community.

Optimistically, I sent out countless query letters to publishing houses and literary agents internationally, and quickly realized the challenges of having anyone desire to represent a significantly post middle-age author with no previous writing experience.  I promised myself, that after two years, if I did not get any positive offers then I would self-publish TRIBE regardless.

Disappointed but not discouraged the two years passed rather quickly with no offers pending, and so I took on the daunting task of publishing TRIBE on my own. So here I am presenting TRIBE to the world, a goal literally decades in the making, and now, finally accomplished.

My everlasting wish, and the reason I began writing, is the hope that my words will touch a chord in the hearts of those who choose to read TRIBE, and give them pause to think, and the freedom to hope, all through the telling of a story.