The Long Road

Many families have a prodigal child who must take the long road to maturity.  Ryder is that child.  He and his older brother Bobby grew up on a Midwest ranch, where his dad had been trying to do everything since his wife died a few years ago. Since then, Ryder has begun acting out and misbehaving. His Dad, Mike, is under stress trying to raise two boys and run his cattle ranch on his own. He has difficulty connecting with Ryder as he is more artistic, like his mother, who had been the buffer between the two.  

Ryder moves to California with his aunt to be among his ‘own kind.’ Against his Dad’s better judgment, he gives Ryder the freedom to go. Ryder’s strong spiritual upbringing holds him together for a while in California but collapses shortly after that, as too many natural desires call his name. Ryder is on the Long Road to maturity.

Co-written with Earl Casas. 36 Chapters, 90K words, teens and up. Westbow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson Publishing, January 31, 2024.

MORE BOOKS IN THE SERIES, YET TO COME…….

The Sequel: "The Lost Sheep” - Coming late 2024

The Lost Sheep: After the wake that his prodigal son, Ryder, caused in California, Mike decides to go alone and rescue his wayward sister-in-law, who is neck-deep in a cult. Although special forces trained, Mike may be up against more than he ever imagined. He will certainly have a chance to dust off those skills. He leaves the ranch to Ryder, who is growing in responsibility with the help of Mike’s right-hand man, Eli, and a beautiful ranch hand named Gabriella.

The Prequel: “Closer than a Brother” - Coming early 2025

Proverbs 18 - A man with unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is one who is closer than a brother. The story of two unlikely men who become not only friends but are closer than a brother. Both men join the military, seemingly on similar paths. They enter and exit for different reasons. Along the way, their paths will cross—once, in a fleeting life-saving moment of war, and then again several years later, perhaps saving each other.