I do not feel that I have led an extraordinary life, but rather that I have had the great fortune to have met extraordinary people. It is from these recollections that I have crafted this manuscript.

All of the characters are amalgams. All of the emotions are mine. There is more than one voice, as I believe that we are all more than one person: who we are, who we were, and who we aspire to be. Each of these young people want to be more than they have been led to believe they were. All of them are imperfect and inelegant.

My inspiration for any story or scene starts with visions from my mind's eye and fragrances from my sense memory. I begin with a fragment of an impression or just a flash of an image and I have at it. I work these materials until a shape appears. I figure that if I hit the as yet unformed mass hard enough and long enough, and if I am lucky, these words might become something interesting, and if I am very lucky, something worthwhile. In other words, my involvement in the creative writing program at Monmouth has taught me, among other things, to trust in the process. My prose is often dense and lyrical. It contains visions of loss and regret, a recognition of the magic in the commonplace and an appreciation of the emotional auras to be found outdoors and between friends.

When I consider the places I have lived ... I see similarities rather than differences. America is a wilderness no matter where you go.... Whether my stories are set in a forest or a desert or placed in a pungent barroom or college dormitory, the observations contain a central introspection. My writing looks westward, inward and into my past.... I am convinced that nights in the woods are scary, that little virtue is found in saloons and that nothing good ever happens after midnight.

With all this in mind I have produced a work of fiction. The narrative focuses on the story of college-age characters, drawn together from diverse backgrounds, who become close despite their differences.... In their perceived refuge of college life, they each demonstrate a separate approach to individuality. Some are trying to escape their old identities and roles, some want to obscure their true selves, some just want to be free to be whoever they choose, and at least one of the characters is not much for introspection and is just fine however he is....