The House on Holly PointeThe House on Holly PointeI’ve always wanted to write two books. The first was a book on Revelation—something I began over a decade ago. But like many creative ventures, discouragement set in, and I shelved the project. It wasn’t until years later, with the encouragement of others, that I decided to revisit it. My wife and I spent a week in the mountains of Tennessee, where I found not only rest but also clarity. I used that time to work through how I wanted to approach the writing. That peaceful retreat renewed my commitment to the project, and ten months later, The Lamb and The Dragon was finished and published.

The second dream was to write fiction. I had long been intrigued by the idea, but honestly, I didn’t know how to make it work. I’d started projects in the past, but I quickly ran into roadblocks and gave up, convinced that I just wasn’t capable. Ironically, it was while writing the Revelation book that I discovered what kind of writing process worked best for me—and that discovery would later prove essential.

The idea for The House on Holly Pointe came from an unusual place: a dream. One night, I dreamed I was writing a novel. The story in my dream was set in a house that looked exactly like the one where we had stayed during our Tennessee trip. In the dream, I could clearly see the setting, three of the main characters, and even the general plotline. When I woke up, I jotted down every detail I could remember. Two days later, I started writing.

But this time, I didn’t follow the old approach of writing straight from the beginning to the end. That method hadn’t worked for me in the past. Instead, I wrote the entire story as a rough draft—just getting it all out. Then I went back through it, expanding the details in each scene. After that, I divided it into chapters and added even more depth. At that point, the manuscript was around 32,000 words. I shared it with a few early readers who were enthusiastic about the story, but they also pointed out some glaring holes—especially in character development. They gave me a wealth of ideas on how to grow the characters and flesh out the story into a full-length novel.

So, I went back to work—again. I deepened the characters, expanded their dialogue, and added entire new chapters that helped the story unfold more naturally and with greater emotional depth.

Once that pass was complete, I read the manuscript as if I were a first-time reader, not the author. That helped me see more clearly what was missing or needed fixing. I went through it again, filling in gaps, trimming what didn’t belong, and further strengthening character development. By the time I finished, the manuscript had grown to nearly 70,000 words.

After two more rounds of careful editing, The House on Holly Pointe was born.

I’m now working on the plotline for a prequel, which I hope to release within the next year. After that, I have plans for a sequel as well. With the writing process I’ve discovered, I’m hopeful that these next stories will come to life just as meaningfully.