“I am not a writer!” That’s what I told myself the moment the idea for The Gaspar Triangle popped into my head. I then asked myself, “Could I actually do it?” Never one to shy away from a challenge I set out on this journey that took a number of years, since I was still maintaining a full-time job. Not to mention the fact that I had no formal creative writing education. I did attend Tallahassee Community and the College of Central Florida with a focus on business management. That’s what you chose when you just didn’t know what you wanted to be when you grew up. I was mainly there to keep my folks off my back and for the girls, of course. Needing to pay the bills, I went out into the world. Working a number of different jobs, just trying to figure out this thing called life. Along the way I met the woman who would become my beautiful wife and best friend, Dawn. We finally settled in the burbs of Tampa and still live in Brandon, Florida with our greyhounds and African grey parrot. Back to my first novel. Once I convinced myself that I could write a book, I decided not to overload my brain with too much “How to write a novel” information. Instead I spent more time reading fiction and dissecting the writing styles from a number of different authors. I just didn’t want to box myself into a textbook way of writing and I feel that allowed me to be more creative, instead of just following the rules. I will tell you, it is a pretty cool feeling typing the words “THE END” on that final page. Now that I am knee-deep into my next novel, perhaps I finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up.
TMICHAELCROSS.COM 