Glist: The Story Behind the Story

There’s a story behind every story. I released a new novel this week – an all-ages fantasy title Glist. It has been a long time coming. A very long time.

On Labor Day, 2000, my wife’s leg was severely injured in a freak beach accident. A rogue wave crushed her tibial plateau and fractured her tibia. They rebuilt it and attached a halo to her knee to hold things together while they healed. As a result, Chrissie was stuck in a hospital bed in our downstairs office for three painful months as she healed.

It was a difficult time. She was miserable, and I wanted to be with her, so at night I would hunker down in a recliner next to her bed to help manage her care and just to be with her. This left me plenty of time to goof around on my fancy Macintosh Powerbook 3400C.

During those empty hours, I decided to take a crack at writing. My daughter, Emily, was 12 at the time, and I thought it might be fun to write a novel for her. I knew nothing about writing novels, but decided to write a fantasy novel with a young female protagonist. I’d never attempted such a thing before, but it was a fun distraction from the crazy pressures of that especially rough patch in our lives.

A few months later I finished Glist. I let my family members and a few close friends read it. Then, I put the only copy—a spiral-bound, tattered stack of photocopied paper—onto the bookshelf where it sat…

…for 25 years.

While it gathered dust, I became a writer.

In 2010, I started my MMM blog. In 2020/21, I published my two novellas. Then, in 2024, I released Papa Range as my first full novel. But it wasn’t the first novel I had written. Glist still sat on the bookshelf, except for the kids borrowing it for a re-read.

Then, something happened: After 25 years, Chrissie had that same knee replaced. As a lover of irony, I decided that while she recovered, it was time to sit in the chair next to her and resurrect Glist.

One of the great ironies of finishing Glist is that it was edited by my amazing daughter, Emily–the same girl I wrote it for all those years ago. There is a lot of love in this book, and it is very personal for my family and me.

It was originally written for my wife and daughter, but another generation is now part of the story: we have a crew of grandchildren, most of whom are avid readers. Two of them are currently reading it and giving me a crazy level of satisfaction.

After languishing for decades, it is time for Glist to see the light of day. Glist is an all-ages fantasy, full of magic, peril, and humor– but it is really about family. As my readers would expect from me.

---

FYI: While Glist is listed as MG/YA, it is really for all ages. Those who read early copies grouped it into the family of books that includes The Princess Academy (Shannon Hale) and Ella Enchanted (Gail Carson Leavitt). High praise, indeed. It may be a different genre than you are accustomed to from me, but it is definitely still “me.”

Click here to find it in Kindle or paperback.