The "Voice" Behind the Curtain

Building Homes and Building Books Have a Lot in Common!

Hiding in plain sight is pretty difficult when you’re 6’7”. For years I’ve been ‘the voice behind the curtain’ for two different production companies: homes and, now, books. For forty years my silence was required as I diligently built homes for the rich and famous. Seen but not heard became a way of life. Seemingly slapped with a ‘gag order’ in the court of public opinion, the magnificence of our work became the subject of myth and legend as we worked jobsites from Texas’ Red River, all the way south to Grand Cayman. For a former college basketball player who spent the first part of his life riddling the nets for about twenty points per game, anonymity was a welcome respite.  

But as different as their end products may be, building homes and building books eerily share several similar characteristics – anonymity isn’t one of them. Beat the drum and Shout it from the rooftops are concepts that have become foreign over the last forty-five years. A small voice and a big message are incongruous. It’s not about me, and I like it that way. Yet books have to be promoted if an author wants a voice in this world. So, with some measure of great reluctance, let me tell you how I got here.

Until I fell and broke my kneecap in three places, not really anyone but family and close friends knew I’d been struggling for forty-plus years with multiple sclerosis. Though I managed my MS well, the nasty fall took me off the job site, out of the dirt, and confined me to a wheelchair full-time. So much for being 6’7”.

Mad, I wrestled with God for the security and familiarity of a business I knew so well and loved so much. The next two years were shrouded in darkness. Life was over – if I couldn’t have life on my terms, I didn’t want it at all. Spoiled brat that I was, perhaps His patience with me while I was throwing my not-so-little temper tantrum was one of God’s greater miracles.

In the stillness of a moment alone with my thoughts, God impressed me with an idea. Start writing. Though I’d written extensively within my industry as a homebuilder, I had no idea what He’d have me write in this stage of my life. So I waited and prayed for a clear directive. Imagine my surprise when His answer was Christian Romance.

With the help of two developmental editors, I tried … and I tried … and I tried, until I got it right. Virtual Persona, the second book in the Found by Love series, was actually the first book completely finished to the approval and acclaim of several literary mavens. My work was proclaimed “rich in texture, loaded with movement, diverse settings and numerous plot twists.” I guess they liked it. Some Other Time, the prequel story we’ve been releasing for the last fourteen weeks, finally clicked on the eighth re-write. (Now do you see why I’ve been so quiet? I’ve been waiting on your critical acclaim!) And Once Forgotten, the third in the series, is in its fourth re-write. Like building a really fine home, tenacity wins.

In the process – and both building homes and writing books are a process - I’ve found commonalities. Buildable plans are relatable to plot; a client’s desires equal themes in the buildable plans; story setting is the foundation of the book; time and money become the story’s conflict; the client’s dreams become the project’s perspective; those who actually build the home are characters (and they really are characters!); administration of the building process creates resolution; and the ending is project completion to the client’s satisfaction. Having lived most of my life with the rigidity of a building process which essentially is the same whether you’re building a large home or a small one, shifting through the various phases of construction has been very easily applied to writing books.

At 68 years old, it has become apparent that waiting around for either an agent and/or publisher to pick up our work – and then play the corporate politics of product, price, place, and promotion, is futile. Within weeks we hope to be in the Kindle Direct Publishing store. Both Some Other Time and Virtual Persona will be available digitally as well as in paperback. Early next year we’ll add Once Forgotten, and another project tentatively titled Profiles in Fiction, which I’m working on to replace Some Other Time on Substack. I hope you’ll continue to share in our growth and progress as we tell clean, relatable stories of love gone wrong, each one packed with special messages for a world that needs to hear an encouraging word. Blessings my friend!