Books make great holiday gifts, particularly if the purchase is for a good cause. You can donate to charity and get nice holiday gifts for your friends and family. I have published 3 books and written 4 (I am copy-editing the fourth one now), all since I almost died in 2020. I was an experienced author, publishing several articles on esoteric topics like interstate war and statistical methodology. So, writing was not too difficult. I next plan to write 5 more books in the fiction genre. Think of Tom Clancy and Jack Ryan. I will do Graham Byrnes, and I hope these books get picked up as movies.
Readers should know that writing books was my friend Jake’s idea. He is the most accomplished and unique person I know. He is a Brigadier General in the United States Air Force, is related to Pope Pius XII and Isaac Watts (the Protestant hymnist who wrote many songs, including ‘Joy to the World’), and has a doctorate in engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This article will detail the 4 books I have published or written.
Trapped: Living with Non-Fluent Aphasia
The first of my books is an autobiography, so if you want to learn about me, you can. Each year, 795,000 Americans suffer strokes, and half die; I did not. Since God spared my life, I am donating all the royalties from the first of my books to my church. You may not be that interested in learning about me, but by buying a copy of this book you do donate to charity. This book is inspirational, in it I write about the fact I keep a gratuity journal (FRMIs have proven keeping a gratuity journal changes your brain) and I write about the four lessons my near-death experience taught my sons. I have three, and one of the silver linings from my predicant is that they learned some lessons that most people never learn. Readers should know writing this book was a family affair. For instance, my wife helped me copy-edit this manuscript, and my youngest son, 11 years old at the time, built the covers and spine. The book is dedicated to them.
Back to School: A Guide to Stroke Recovery
Nobody told my family or me what to expect after suffering a stroke, so I wrote it all down in this the second of my three published books. Since it is likely you or someone you know has had, or may someday have a stroke, everyone should get a copy of this book. Maybe keep it as a someday reference. There are many great parts of this book. In addition to describing what it is like to be me, the book contains a typology of strokes, how to find a job, a workout built for the Washington Redskins (when they were the Redskins), and a Department of Motor Vehicles driving manual. The book also provides a link to the Virginia school curriculum. The book was designed to be useful and is dedicated to my father-in-law.
One State, Two State, Red State, Blue State: Presidential Elections in the United States
I was inspired by the 2024 Presidential election to write an emergency book for the third of my books on it. In this book, I use my doctorate in political science to paint a picture of how structural conditions in the United States are trending against the Republican Party. President-Elect Trump’s surprising victory resulted from forming a new national coalition. In this book, dedicated to Herbert Weisberg (a Professor Emeritus At Ohio State, where I got my doctorate), there is a national view and then a view from each battleground state. We were obsessed with this election, which was labeled a ‘battle for the soul of America.’ So, if you voted, you should check out this book I completed in three months. This is the most recent of my books to get published.
Coaching Baseball
I am currently copy-editing what will become the fourth of my books to get published on coaching baseball. This book contains all anyone would ever need to coach a baseball team. Along with the book, I plan to publish an associated workbook. This one, too, will have a profit-sharing model. I have coached more than thirty teams for the Upper Loudoun Little League. Doing so is how I learned so much; I learned all the time. Funny, but my strokes, I had two, did not affect my baseball knowledge. I plan to split the royalties with the Upper Loudoun Little League in exchange for them helping me to make this book available to all of the Little Leagues in the nation. This book is dedicated to the one person I met who knew more about baseball than me, Wayne Todd.
Conclusion
Later this year, I plan to start writing fiction books, including an entire series, a little like Tom Clancy’s series on Tom Ryan. Maybe these books will be picked up for movies. Who knows? I know that I have published 3 books, and they are available from Amazon. I also know that I am editing a fourth book now and am on track to publish it by Major League Baseball’s opening day. So, if you are in the market for some holiday gifts or want to donate to charity at the end of the year, I have you covered!
