Novels

Ever since Ben's mom died when he was 10, he has felt trapped in his dark thoughts. That is, until the moment he first saw his wife, Sarah's, glowing smile and her ocean-blue eyes, which have served as his light ever since. But after years of shutting down her spontaneous trip ideas and invitations to join her on spiritual retreats, his closed-off, risk-averse nature eventually pushes Sarah into the arms of a bohemian yoga instructor named Arrow. And so Ben must convince Sarah that he, and not Arrow, is actually her free-spirited soulmate after all, or he risks losing her and her light forever.

Ben attempts to prove that he is no longer "wilderness challenged" by traveling up to Crater Lake, meeting a spunky campmate along the way who takes great pleasure in pushing him to his limits. He works to show that he is newly spiritual by attending the same meditation retreat where Sarah met Arrow. And he tries to convince Sarah that he too has the ability to tap into his consciousness by participating in a psychedelic ayahuasca ceremony in the middle of a redwood forest.

Through these experiences, Ben begins to realize that his true adversary is not Arrow, but his own anger, guilt, and fear, and he must decide whether to cling to Sarah and his past life or let go and begin a new adventure with his own light as his guide.

J.D. Buckles is obsessed with trying to please people whose approval is unattainable: his deceased father, disinterested women, and, most recently, literary agents and publishers for his novel. After so far failing to achieve his dad's dream of getting the Buckles name in print by the date he would have turned 50, J.D. heeds the suggestion of his longtime friend, Sue, and begins to write humorous poems, often based on his numerous dating miscues, in a last-ditch attempt to break out of his writing slump.

Despite the poems' unconventional protagonist, J.D. soon finds they are a hit at the local coffee shop open mic and help land him a date with Dawn, the most talented and beautiful singer to ever perform there. Having secretly liked J.D. since high school, Sue feels deeply hurt by this blossoming relationship and appears to date J.D.'s hated nemesis, Joe, in response. After enduring Sue's increasing cold shoulder and Joe's constant gloating, J.D. begins to wonder if his true love has actually been right by his side all along.

He desperately fights to win Sue back, while also embarking on a brilliant, but risky plan to convince a publisher to sign him for his poems by his dad's 50th birthday, which is now just days away.