My Author Journey

Most of you know me as just a YouTuber with a camera, a drone, and a passion for showing you how to Tour Israel Like a Local. However, the essence of my being is being a creator, constantly learning, and informal education. My mind is constantly on and coming up with ideas. 

 

As a kid, my mother constantly told me the following, “There is no such thing as trying, ONLY DOING. ” For as long as I can remember, I have been doing – Thanks Mom! Pretty much anything that I ever wanted to do, my mother supported it and did her best to help make it happen. This included baseball, soccer, bowling, acting, skateboarding, BMX racing, boarding school, a dog, you get the idea. 

 

My mother also introduced me to Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends. I loved this book. I couldn’t put it down. It wasn’t only the poetry, but the artwork that Shel Silverstein drew himself. I would and still can read this book over and over again. As I got older, I started to write my own poetry. Actually, I recently found the first poetry book I wrote in middle school as part of an assignment:

 

I never stopped writing poetry once I started. Poetry got me through the hardships of high school, college, etc. I kept my poetry to myself until I was in college, and my poetry mind was running on all cylinders. My friends & family would come to me when they were feeling down or I saw they could use some inspiration and I would write them a poem on the spot. Here is a poem I wrote after my brother Philip (Flip) was killed in a motorcycle accident:

Phil: 8/18/98

I don’t know what to write.
You’re in my heart, and out of sight.
I did not know you so well, 
But the few memories I love to tell.

I used to tickle you from afar,
No need to touch you, how bizarre?
Every weekend you were on the boat,
Who knew Phil could float?

Well, I need not bore you with my rhymes,
You’re probably up there making a couple of dimes.
Phil, you WILL surely be missed.
That’s enough, you get the gist!

Throughout my education, my friends always enjoyed my writing but my English teachers and professors did not. This phenomenon turned into a determination to become a published author. I organized all of my poetry into a book, and my plan was to get onto Oprah’s Book List. However, there was no Amazon Publishing in the 90’s, and the process to get a book published was very complicated. 

 

Fast forward 20 years… 

I have not stopped writing poetry, and am now the father of 4 Princesses and a Super Hero. 

 

During bedtime, my children didn’t prefer books, they preferred, “Stories from your head.” I had often thought of writing down these wonderful stories that my children would request night after night. It didn’t occur to me until we were on a drive that was way too long, that I created a story on the spot to calm down all of the “Are we there yet?”, “I’m bored”, “I’m hungry”, “I have to pee” coming from the back of the car. This was the moment Flip was born and the dream of becoming a published author became a real possibility thanks to Amazon Self-Publishing program. 

 

Launching the Flip and Friends book series with Do You Have Any Patience? has often felt like my 6th child being born. I have learned so much about the writing, editing, illustrating, publishing process along the way. So many milestones along the way so far including getting listed on Barnes & Noble, my first interview, launching ThePatienceBook.com, and giving my first talk about my author journey. I have big plans for the Flip and Friends book series, and can’t wait for the next book to be released. 

 

I know there are many writers too afraid to share their work, people with similar aspirations as I had, and many with nothing but questions regarding the process. I am now ready to share my journey in the hopes that it will inspire people not to give up on their dreams, overcoming obstacles, and learning from mistakes they may encounter along the way.