Michigan native Patrick O'Sullivan lives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with his wife of thirty years, Carrie. He has degrees from Hope College and Wake Forest University. Professionally, he has spent most of his career toiling in a variety of advertising and marketing positions. He enjoys running, golfing and fishing and his favorite place to do the latter is in the gin-clear waters of Lake Michigan near Beaver Island, off the dune-lined shores of Northern Michigan - a place that plays a transformational role in his book. For decades Patrick jotted notes on the back of bar napkins, envelopes and sandwich wrappers - whatever was handy. He'd squirrel them away in a drawer or in a file folder and as the collection swelled so did the need to tell his story. In the winter of 2010, bored and unfulfilled with his marketing job for a technology start-up, he called his wife and told her he wanted to quit his job. "I need to write," he said. Always the unconditionally supportive spouse, Carrie said, "Go ahead." So, he did. That day. In just ten weeks 110,000 words poured from his soul, through his fingers and into the hard drive of his iMac. It took another eight months to whittle the manuscript down to 85,000 words and capture a cadence that satisfied his senses. The result is a true story about a boy becoming a man.