This is where my career as a writer began, sitting on the wall with the beautiful historic center of Florence spread before me and the eleventh century Basilica of San Miniato al Monte, complete with a bishop’s palace, at my back.

The Florentines often refer to it as the “Gate to Heaven.”

From personal experience, I concur.

Every morning for six months each year, over the past ten years, I’ve sat on this wall. As I catch my breath after my power walk up the massive hills through the amazing Tuscan countryside, I begin to clear my head, plan my day, and organize my life. But in 2007, something changed dramatically. This spiritual place became my point of inspiration. Sitting under my special tree, protected from the sun, rain, and occasional lightning storms, I conceived the idea for Brotherhood Beyond the Yard…and then beyond to Noble’s Quest. In the midst of Noble’s Quest, I conjured up the finale that is the basis for my third book to complete “The Simon Trilogy.”

Stay tuned for later blogs, where I will disclose other pictures and insights from behind the scene of my stories.