You Just Never Know

There are landmark days that stand out in people’s minds, for a variety of reasons. Your birthday, your wedding day, your high school graduation day, or the night you drank the blue liquor and nearly blacked out at a bachelor party.

Authors tend to commemorate these occasions by releasing a book on their birthday, or perhaps re-releasing a book on the same day for continuity purposes.

I published my first book on February 26, 2016. Even then, I wasn’t an author. I was simply a guy who wrote a book. Some years later, I published another book on April 20, 2023. For all intents and purposes, that was my first day as a “real” author.

However, the day that truly sticks out in my mind is July 29, 2023. Facebook likes to tell you what happened "On This Day". You see, a year ago, I boarded a plane to visit my family in Florida and enjoy a trip to Walt Disney World.

I landed at approximately 1:30pm, walked for a thousand years through a brand-new concourse at Orlando International Airport, and out to the arrival area where my mother picked me up. Lunch was a must, so we headed to Ford's Garage at the Margaritaville resort in Orlando.

As I waited for my burger and fries to cook, I commented on one of Samantha Moran's Facebook posts about some newfangled indie author event called Sinful Signings in Roanoke, Virginia. It was geared towards attracting spicy romance readers and authors. I responded something to the effect of "That sounds great, but I don't write spicy romance." 

Naturally, she tried to convince me to apply anyway. If nothing else, I could come as a reader and meet her, along with some of my other favorite authors, Caytlyn Brooke and Kennedy Sutton. Even still, it seemed like a real stretch.

Then, my burger arrived, and my life changed forever.

As I reached for my food, I had a grand epiphany. Visions crept into my brain. Burger... Food... Restaurant... Restaurant Sales... I'd just come from the airport. Airplanes... flight attendants... Hmmm, what if...

That's when I came up with the concept for a spicy, short story called Dinner For Two. As fate would have it, some of my friends were having problems returning home from Florida due to flights being cancelled. Thus, I brought my laptop with me for the first time.

I woke up the next morning at 5am and started writing. I had no intention of penning anything dark. This was a fun, little story, a singular vision in my own head, as told from a male perspective. What if a businessman traveled to Florida to meet up with an old flight attendant friend whom he happened to rediscover through social media? What if she wasn't there, but they did a FaceTime-like video chat and were able to satisfy their needs in other ways? It made sense to me.

Dinner For Two became my self-imposed ticket to Sinful Signings 2023. I applied, and much to my surprise, they said yes! I couldn't believe it. In this day and age of applying for events two years in advance and being waitlisted, I was accepted and confirmed with six weeks to spare.

Samantha was gracious enough to edit my story for me. It was my first time working with an actual editor, and it was an eye-opening experience for me (in a good way, I think LOL). I now had something to bring to the table, literally and figuratively.

My original intention was to write a series of short stories around these two characters, Bryce and Erin, and release a compilation after the fact. About halfway through writing the third installment, I introduced a new character. Low and behold, Bryce and Erin were not just two people who liked to do naughty things. They had depth. They had purpose. They also had a third wheel to go with my third short story, which ended up being longer than the previous two combined. That’s when I realized I had a real book on my hands.

And so began the saga that is Core Memories. I’m so happy to bring the full scope of my vision back to the table this year. I’m so grateful for the people who have encouraged me along the way.

I’m especially thankful for that American Standard Burger that sparked so many things for author Brian Scala this past year. Every little brick counts towards building a house. For me, that lunch at Ford’s Garage was not just a brick. It was the front door to my new home.

The moral of the story is simple. Never say ‘I don’t’ or “I can’t,’ because you just never know.