THE TOWPATH: overview

From Jon: “So, what’s this book all about? Well, over the course of the past eight years, finding any scrap of time I could to write, going through multiple rounds of self-edits, recruiting several critique partners and beta readers, getting sensitivity and accuracy feedback from a Six Nations expert, and enlisting the services of a professional editor, I’ve completed a story that’s been welling inside me for most of my life.”

“I live near the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, in the Cleveland, Ohio area. It's a beautiful place that’s steeped in mystery, legend, and the occasional bone-chilling ghost story. And, there's a certain story that gave rise to the story I had to tell.”

“When I was ten or so, my dad told me and my brothers that he’d been fishing along the banks of the Cuyahoga River earlier in the day, alone, and he kept getting the sense that he was being watched. But whenever he’d turn to see who he knew was behind him, he’d see nothing but swaying reeds. He was in a hard-to-reach spot. It was early morning. There was a constant drizzle on what would promise to be an overcast summer day. Needless to say, he wasn’t expecting any company. Perhaps it was the breeze off the Cuyahoga playing tricks on him. Maybe a whitetail deer was passing along the ridge of the steep embankment above. But perhaps it was something else. Someone else. Watching.”

“Now, I should mention that he told us this story after he’d previously described the various indigenous tribes who’d once called the Cuyahoga River Valley home. An association quickly formed in my ten-year-old brain. It also didn’t hurt that remnants and reminders of the people who’d once called the land home were all around me: From the statue of an indigenous man portaging a canoe near the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail on Portage Path, to the 26-foot-tall wooden sculpture depicting Chief Netawatwees in Cuyahoga Falls. It’s fair to say I've maintained this association into adulthood.”

“Back to my book. In my humble opinion, the best stories always start with the question, “what if?” What if it wasn’t just a ghost watching my dad, but someone from the past—in the flesh? If so, how would that be possible? A story took root from there, and it set me on a journey that soon drove itself, demanding I tell a story that I hadn’t initially expected to tell.”

“Read on, to learn more about my novel, The Towpath. You can also check out some of my other works of fiction on the Fiction Writing page or on my Amazon Author page.”