When I published “A Greater Good” in December 2014 to wrap up the Origins series I announced that I would take most of 2015 off from writing to fulfill a lifelong ambition of mine. I was going to complete a 140.6 miles Ironman triathlon.

Last Sunday in Madison, Wisconsin after swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles, and then running 26.2 miles with 3,000 other amazing athletes, at 8:56 PM (just under 14 hours of racing) I got to hear Mike Reilly, the voice of Ironman, declare “Mark Henrikson. You … are … an Ironman!” as I crossed the finish line.

There are only a few days in one’s life that you know going in will be profound and special, and this was one of them and it did not disappoint. Life Altering is all I have to say about my experience. More than the accomplishment itself I am just so very glad and proud that my 9 and 12 year old got to witness their dad dreaming big and giving everything he had to make it become reality. You just can’t unlearn that lesson, ever.

Now let me bring this back to my fiction writing since that is the real purpose of this blog. I wanted to let you all know that this year hasn’t been a total loss for me writing wise. I have the entire new five book Origins Crew Chronicles series mapped out and actually managed to get a third of the way through a first draft of book 1 before my triathlon training took over. That’s all behind me now so look out. I’d wager good money that some time in March you will be able to read about what Hastelloy was up to when the new world was 'Discovered'.

Bottom line is I’m back and I have a story that I am passionate to tell again.