With half of a life now in the rearview, that persistent, life-long, nagging desire to create has finally become irrepressible. From children’s picture books (Wherever You Roam and Up Instead of Out) to my first novel (The Preacher, the Fisherman, and the Cahaba), I’ve become determined to record these stories, many of which have been percolating in my head for decades.

Meanwhile, I stay busy at the office, write whenever I am able, and enjoy my lovely wife, two sturdy boys, and our best friend, Bailey the little black Labrador. Although, at this point, I’ve spent almost half of my life in Texas, I’ve never fully left behind my small-town upbringing in Alabama – a place and a people that inform and inspire my writing until this very day.

I suppose one could say that I’ve always been a little different, so there is a certain trepidation in putting these stories out into the world. But, here we go… I hope you enjoy them.

L. R. McDonald