Hope, Dreams and A Change of Plans.

The transition from teaching to writing was supposed to be smooth. I had imagined that I would continue teaching until retirement and then transition into a full-time writing career. I hoped to get an agent, but as my wife says, “Hope is not a strategy.” So, I put together a business plan, intending to launch my own imprint, Infinite Genius Publishing, with my first release, Beyond D&D: The Life of a DPC (Dead Player Character). I wrote the novel during the summer while teaching biology and chemistry at Franklin High School, my alma mater.

Then life—and my growing list of physical challenges—intervened.

Returning to Franklin after so many years was bittersweet. I loved the chance to work at the school I once attended, but it was also an incredibly challenging time. By the time I started my last teaching job in my 31st year as an educator, I had already begun facing physical setbacks that only deepened over time.

Looking back, I now know that the roots of my chronic health issues began at Franklin nearly fifty years ago. As a high school athlete, I suffered recurring ankle sprains. Despite the pain, I kept playing, taping my ankles to compete. I rarely missed a game—except for basketball, when I had to develop an unorthodox playing style due to injury. I didn’t realize at the time that these injuries were signaling something more.

Interestingly, I was a freshman in 1977, the same year the first human MRI scan was performed—a coincidence that always stands out to me. Forty years ago, the medical technology we have today wasn’t available. MRIs weren’t in mainstream use when I graduated from high school, and if they had been, they would have identified my ruptured tendons. However, the MRI would not have detected the underlying condition, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), which would go undiagnosed for decades.

By the mid-2020s, after numerous surgeries—including repairs to both shoulders and knees, plus a hip replacement—the strain on my body was overwhelming. Despite this, I kept pushing through. In 2021, back at Franklin, I faced tendon ruptures and joint issues that led to sixteen more surgeries.

With my physical restrictions and chronic pain, I was forced to resign from teaching and transition to long-term disability. Every day is a struggle, and I miss the energy of teaching. But now, I focus on what I can still do: writing. Even this has limitations. I can no longer fill notebooks with ideas; writing is painful due to my arthritis. I’m restricted in my ability to sit, relying on a recliner for comfort. My 10,000-word-a-day writing sessions are a thing of the past.

It’s now a daily struggle to get my ideas recorded. Thankfully, I have a dozen manuscripts in final draft form, completed before the pain became too much. All of which either I or my daughter will someday find a way to publish and make available to my readers.

Though I may have lost the lottery when it came to DNA, I won the jackpot with my family and friends. Their unwavering support keeps me going, and it’s because of them that I’m still here, still writing, and still sharing my thoughts with you.

Thank you for reading and being part of this journey. Your time means the world to me.