There have only been a few constants during my life as a reader. The two that come most readily to mind are science fiction and Stephen King. While I would probably identify science fiction as my favorite genre of fiction, I know without a doubt that my favorite fiction author is Stephen King. Ever since I was a young teenager, and my parents first started allowing me to buy my own books to read, some thirty years ago, I would choose to buy Stephen King books time and time again. The first Stephen King book I remember buying, and still a favorite of mine to this day, was a novel called “Needful Things”. I bought it at Majerek’s — a bookstore in nearby Niles. Ever since, I’ve been reading what Stephen King’s been writing and loving it.

More recently, over the last thirteen years or so, I’ve been really dedicated to working on my Stephen King collection. In the library of my house, I have a whole bookshelf, eight feet tall and three feet wide, of Stephen King books. Starting very seriously in 2009, I worked to read them all, and to own them all. As of this point, I’ve read them all and I own almost all of them — which is to say that some of them are hard to find.

It’s been the case, for as long as I’ve been reading Stephen King’s fiction, that I’ve enjoyed the storytelling that he does. Each of his stories is easy to follow, and I get involved with the characters very deeply, and the suspense is always very palpable and enjoyable. Not only has he been my favorite to read, he’s also taught me a bit about what makes for a good story. In being an aficionado, I feel like I’ve also been able to become a better writer. It was King, in fact, who said, “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” Since 2009, I’ve been working on the first item in his list.

After the point in time when I got ‘caught up’ — that point where I’d read everything he’d written — I felt accomplished, like some majestic peak had been conquered. To be honest, these days, I usually pre-order his novels so that I don’t even have to remember when the next one is coming… Amazon just delivers it to me when it’s available to the public. FYI – his next is coming on September 6th. Remember that date.

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I’ll bet when my mother read the title of this piece, she thought I’d be talking about my brother — Stephen. Then, when the first section came and went, and not a mention of him was made, she was probably growing disappointed. Hi, Mom!

When I think of all of the writing that I’ve been doing, and the steps that I’ve been taking toward accomplishing this ‘writing’ dream of mine, I’ve wondered more than a few times about what my brother would think. Almost fourteen years ago, my brother tragically and accidentally passed away. And, while the pain of those days has evolved into a different kind of an ache, all these years later, I often still wonder –when certain things are going on in my life– what my brother Stephen would think of such things.

My first-born child, my son will be moving into his dorm at Western Michigan University next week, the same university that my brother graduated from. I’ve often wondered what he would think of that.

My certificate of copyright came in the mail today, from the Library of Congress, certifying that I own the copyright on the stories that I published in July. When it came, and I opened it, I wondered what he would think of it. I honestly wanted to show it to him.

My wife is seeking public office and I’m running around my town –our town, Jen’s and Stephen’s and mine– planting campaign signs in yards and hyping her up to everyone that I talk to. Sometimes, when I look at my wife’s campaign signs as we drive by them, I wonder what he would think of it.

Growing up, I was the older brother, but I looked up to him for being as popular and friendly and outgoing as he was. He always had more friends than I did, and he was always involved in fun and exciting things that made me envious. He was bolder and more courageous, while he was alive, than I’d ever managed to be up to that point in time. But, since his death, I’d have to say that I’ve had my moments.

2022 has been a year that I think my brother would be proud of.

When Steve and I played varsity soccer together, back in high school, during the ’90s, he and I each had a varsity number. I would joke about mine being exactly twice as awesome as his, and he would joke that his represented his ‘zero-to-sixty’ speed, much more impressive than mine. When you see the title of my upcoming novel, look for those numbers and think of Stephen, the way that I often do.

He lives on in each of us when we do.

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I originally sat down to right an announcement about the release of my first-ever, full-length novel. Instead, I wrote about a couple of Stephens. I don’t know if this would be much of a conclusion if I didn’t bring the two Stephen-statements together, so here goes.

Stephen King said that if you want to write well, you have to write a lot. And, his next novel, “Fairy Tale”, comes out on September 6th (go ahead and pre-order it like I did). As a nod to his influence on me as a reader and as a writer, I am formally announcing that my novel will come out on that same day, September 6th, via my publication partnership with Amazon.

My novel will feature, for the first time in a full-length story, the town of Bangor Springs. It’s as fictional –and real– as Derry, Maine is for Mr. King. If you’re a Stephen King fan, you should know where Derry, Maine is. When it comes to Bangor Springs, Michigan, the name is a bit of a nod to Mr. King.

On September 6th, my full-length novel, entitled “The Man in Room 204”, will be available for purchase, in hard-cover, paperback, and e-book formats. The title is a nod to the most important Stephen that I’ve ever known. As I live on, and write on, his bold courage is always with me.

I am excited to share this news with all of you, and I hope you’ll enjoy the read/ride.