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(Now Available!)
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Published by Turquoise Morning Press
A poignant masterpiece, "Dear Gavin" details Carl's controversial journey of becoming an unwed father and the monumental challenges that are to follow.
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Coming 2012
"FINAL REQUEST" (A Novel)
A modern love story set in Ireland, reminiscent of “A Walk To Remember,” by Nicholas Sparks and “Beaches,” by Iris Rainer Dart.
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(Chapter Excerpts)
It has been ten years since I saw Maura Dougall, but our once torrid past remained undeniable and hauntingly irrepressible. Maura and I had still corresponded over the last decade through sporadic emails and occasional letters, but until her unexpected, urgent call last month, I had not even thought about retuning back to Ireland or ever seeing her again. Unusually remorseful, Maura genuinely conveyed how much she regretted ever leaving me, but hoped that we could possibly reunite or at least revive our once vibrant friendship that had lain dormant much too long. Mysteriously vague, she also mentioned something about changes that had taken place, but would only offer an explanation face to face.
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Residing in Louisville as a thirty-three-year old free-lance web designer and consultant, I lived with my eight-year old son Christopher in a white three-bedroom Cape Cod, with a winding stone sidewalk that led any first-time visitors around landscaped gardens and a weeping willow, before ending up at the bottom of our front porch. Originally built in the 1940s, our home was far from the largest on the quiet tree-lined block, but much younger than most of our elderly neighbors, some of whom still waved from their porches in weathered rockers. Though I had done some modeling as a way to earn extra money, it was Maura who always turned heads whenever we were seen out in public. Rivaling any high paid model plastered across a Manhattan billboard, Maura was the equivalent of a sleek Italian sports car with her firm, curved body, and perfectly detailed features that could be appreciated both coming or going. Her Irish brogue was quick and energetic compared to my slower drawn out southern elocution. Maura had grown up on the family farm in Caherconlish, a charming village just outside Ballyhobin, about twenty kilometers southwest of Limerick City. There, rosy-cheeked children waived, horses pulled wagons of hay, and chimneys puffed smoky peat bog into the horizon on cool Irish nights.
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“Maura why did you ever break up with me?” “I was terrified! I had never been that deeply in love before or since. By you living in Kentucky it was easy for me to brush aside any temptations I had towards you, and not worry about you showing up on my doorstep each day to court me. I would not have been strong enough to resist you.” “So how should I interpret that?” “Ethan, our future will be affected by some choices you and I ultimately must make.” “Maura I took a chance by coming back over to see you. I think I deserve more of an explanation.” “Not yet. Please trust me and let me handle this my way.
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Silent, Maura leads me out the back door, through a field of clover, and down into a remote clearing towards the back of the farm. Shaded by several large oak and elm trees sat a small graveyard enclosed by a waist high jagged stone fence. Maura slowly pulls open the squeaky hinged gate revealing several groups of tombstones displaying surnames such as Dougall, Flaherty, and Dooley, dating as far back as the 1500’s. “Maura why are we here?” I whisper. Still silent, Maura leads me around several plots before stopping in front of two adjacent gravesites, one unmarked, the other displaying the name Lieutenant Eamon Dougall, Maura’s father. Underneath were the dates. Born: November 7, 1940-Died: March 16, 1991. His epitaph read “A warrior for his country. A hero to his family.” “Dad was a great man Ethan. He was strong, demanding, and strict, but we knew he loved each of us. I can’t wait to see him again.” A little bewildered by Maura’s statement, she heads towards a stone bench by the near wall and requests, “Please Ethan, come sit by me. This cemetery is a very private place that’s only shared by our family and relatives. I brought you here today because I’m hopeful that you will officially become a part of my family.” “It’s about time,” I thought as I start to swell with anticipation. “Ethan, I’m about to ask you something that could possibly change your and Christopher’s life forever.” “Yes Maura, I’m waiting.”
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