As a kid, I liked jumping from high places. Walls, trees, quarry ledges – all perfect platforms for a leap. Doing it into water was easy; hard ground not so much. I was good at picking the right spot where I could land and roll without getting hurt. Much. Usually.

Getting pushed from a high place or falling by accident was a different story. Trust me, that’s no fun at all. Maybe it’s not too bright to be up on those spots anyway, but given three choices – jump, fall or get tossed – I’ll take jump every time.

When I was 30, I chose a different kind of leap. I left a lucrative career, gave away all my money and worked for peanuts helping families deal with addiction in their lives. It was just something I wanted to do, and I had the confidence that I’d be able to tuck and roll without getting hurt. Turns out I was right.

Now I’m about to do it again. (Except for the giving-away-my-money part, so don’t even ask.) I’ve written my first novel and started on the next. So now the search begins for an agent who will care about my characters as much as I do. I know the publishing odds are rough, but I don’t care. Sometimes life requires more WTF than OMG. I’ve picked my landing spots carefully, but I’m still taking a hefty risk and going for broke. Maybe literally. YOLO and all that, right? Kind of like the financial version of parkour.

Follow me and you’ll get to see if I tuck and roll or fall and trash my head. Just don’t follow too closely or you might do a Humpty Dumpty yourself. See, I don’t recommend untethered physical or financial flight for most people. But hey, if you’re going to move from point A to point B, make it a choice, not an accident. And sure as hell don’t let anyone push you.

Take tiny jumps first. Try a helmet, too. I never had one of those when I was a kid. Geez, I seriously needed one, didn’t I? Hmmm…now that I think about it, I still do.

See ya out there,
Dave