Greetings, fellow writers and loyal readers! After months of grueling rewrites and agonizing over plot details, characters, and other things, I’m pleased to announce that I’ve finished the second draft of my latest novel, The Road to Ithaca. If you’re looking for a peek at what it’s about, here’s my current back-cover blurb!

Odysseus Wyatt Turner–Wyatt to his friends, of which there aren’t many–is lost at sea, stuck at a dead-end job with no prospects and no future. But that’s about to change when he gets a letter from far-off Ithaca, New York, informing him that his estranged father has died and left him something in his will. Wyatt knows he has to act fast, or risk having whatever that something is yanked away by the rest of his no-good, selfish, greedy family.

His solution: enlist a motley crew, including his aloof ex-girlfriend, his surfer bro best friend, and a driver who’s only in it for himself for a wild, wacky road trip across the country to claim what’s rightfully his. They’ll face many obstacles on their sometimes perilous, sometimes hilarious, and always ridiculous journey into the heart of America, including a grudge-bearing gang of women bikers who want Wyatt’s inheritance for themselves. What they all find at the end of the trip may be much different than they expected.

Yes, that’s right–in case any of you are reading about this project for the first time, this novel is an adult contemporary story that’s in many ways a modern-day retelling of Homer’s Greek epic, The Odyssey. It’s been one of my favorite books for a very long time, ever since I first read it in middle school and was fascinated by Odysseus and his adventures.

But that’s not to say you can’t enjoy this novel without reading The Odyssey first–as far as retellings go, I admittedly took a LOT of liberties with the script on this one. For me, there’s two big selling points for this story. One, unlike pretty much everything else I’ve ever written, there are NO fantastical or mythological elements of any kind (other than a little reference drop here and there). All the mythical creatures and otherworldly places portrayed in The Odyssey have been adapted into believable, real-life counterparts–some a bit closer to the source material than others, but being creative is half the fun! And two, this story deals with some very real issues facing young 20-somethings like myself and the main characters, including depression, cynicism, a lack of good jobs, family problems, and the value of friendship.

If all that didn’t sell you, maybe this will: with my full second draft done, that means I’m in the stage now where I’ll be needing some beta-readers! If you’d like to check out a fun new retelling of a Greek classic and have your suggestions and feedback taken into account on my eventual rewrites, drop me a line via email, Facebook, Twitter, or anyplace you can get a hold of me and I’ll send my manuscript along for you to read.

Thank you in advance for all your help. It’s only with your support that I’m able to continue to grow and develop as a writer and increase my following. I really hope you enjoy the book!