A Story and a Book

Once upon a time, I was bored and looking around on Myspace (yes, Myspace, you remember that blast from the past?) under the “folks in my area” feature in search of more friends that I may not have friended yet. I ran across a photo that caught my attention of a guy a year younger than me, about 30 miles down the road, whose skin was almost as white as mine and who claimed to write stories. Waylon was his name.

Stories??? YES! Bring it!

Which is essentially what my first email to him said. “Dude, you got me all worked up because you said you wrote stories and there’s no links to stories or blogs with stories or anything. Where are they? Don’t leave me hangin’ here!”

Now this was not meant to start anything romantic. Yes, I was single, yes, he was “listed” as single but we all know how that goes with folks on the internet. I had been single for YEARS at that point and was perfectly happy with doing whatever the hell I wanted to do whenever I wanted to do it. (Little did I know that I could still do this with the right man.)

So, he promptly (bonus!) emailed me back and said, “Word. Never even thought of putting up samples of my stories. Here!!” He sent me the first chapter of a story which you could tell upon reading was going to be a novel, possibly more than one novel. I read it and … Well, lemme say this first:

I grew up on Stephen King. Edgar Allen Poe. Bronte (all of them). Ghost stories. Monsters. Macabre. I greatly enjoy a story with atmosphere. I enjoy horror and ghouls and dark tappings and whispers in the dark and the threat of violence. I cut my teeth on it. I had not and still have not read any H.P. Lovecraft but I have a strong feeling that I will love his work as well.

I didn’t know this dude I emailed on Myspace from Adam’s House Cat. I had nothing to lose and nothing to gain since I had no intentions of a relationship with him beyond friendship. If he couldn’t write and I mean WRITE WELL since I don’t waste my time on second rate stories, I wasn’t wasting my time with him. I would have just emailed him and said, “Okay! Keep trying! Thanks for the story!” However, that is not how the email I sent him went. The email I sent was full of praise, positive comments, and concern for his mental well-being for having an imagination that could come up with the monster in that first chapter.

That was over 5 years ago and yes, I happen to be in love with him but I speak to you now as that woman who didn’t know him, who had nothing to lose; The man has talent. The man can write and draw and tell a story. When I pull all of the layers of our relationship away, this is what I’m left with. A foundation built from a message sent from a nosy woman for a story written by a man who can write.

I wouldn’t be wasting my time or yours if he couldn’t. He is now almost finished with his first book of short stories that will be available on Amazon next month. I am so proud of all of the things he will accomplish.

Click here to see the cover art for Waylon's first book: NIGHTMARE ESCAPADE