Bob Segar wrote a song called Against the Wind, an anthem I can appreciate, as can any adult who has struggled to keep moving forward.

Trying to think ahead and organize book chapters so that they progress in a logical and sensible way is not easy; what to leave in and what to leave out became a battle of ideas, some that begged for teachable moments, some that lead to new revelations and opportunities for growth.

I wanted my book to follow the central idea of proactive solutions to past behavior, an oxymoron that closes the barn door after the horses have run off. I wanted the behavior that I talk about in chapter one to be relevant in later chapters, an progression of discipline; ideas about redemption and restitution, both psychological and monetary.

With my Drifting characters finding teachable moments was like shooting fish in a barrel, knucklehead behavior is  often boisterous, transparent and ridiculous, the foundation of which is spontaneous and damning. Easy to identify on the face of it, but more difficult to address because the remedies  and recipes for correction are not always effective. So with each delinquent I studied their responses, investigated their life outside of school, monitored their friendships and spoke with the adults in their lives. Still, understanding the architecture of their souls was hit and miss.

Humans right? And I’m very human and not an expert on much, if anything. So as I talk about my chapters and character’s within, you will see my human side in all its glory; its dysfunction, its perception of things, its faults; its funny reactions and serious interventions, life experiences-good and bad.

There are many layers to my onion, that just sounds wrong doesn’t it.

To be continued…