I’ve spent a long time considering breaking into the fiction market, but that doesn’t mean I’m not a published author in other genres. Once upon a time, I wrote technical books, some having to do with IT certifications, others with operating systems and associated software (I was really familiar with Microsoft’s SharePoint product for a while), and general desktop support.

But my first love, so to speak, was Cengage Learning’s text-book originally called Guide to TCP/IP. I’ve been involved as a contributor since the 2nd edition, although back then, I made editorial updates to just one chapter.

By the 4th edition, I’d written so much of the book (just over 50%), that I earned cover credit, although because my name wasn’t well-known in the industry, I got a “with” under the other authors.

However, for the 5th edition, I was asked to be the lead author. The reason was simple. I had the most discretionary time to devote to the book (or so everyone thought), so I could take the lead on this one. That decision was made May 2015.

Since then, my life fell apart.

Oh, nothing disastrous (depending on how you define “disaster”). My Dad got cancer, my Mom was diagnosed with macular degeneration (they’re both in their 80s and doing reasonably well, considering), and a bunch of other personal stuff hit my life like a hurricane, making it really difficult to hold up my end of the bargain. Fortunately, my friend Kim, who I’ve known (though never met face-to-face) since I became involved with this book, was the editor and organizer of the project, and knew how to gently keep me on track. Finally, the work got done.

Here’s the proof.

Keep in mind, this is a text-book, which is why it’s so expensive. It’s meant to be used in a classroom environment and in conjunction with various online resources. Past editions have gotten a few poor ratings because people have bought it hoping for a self-study guide. Textbooks don’t work that way (and it’s an expensive self-study guide).

I’m really proud of this one. A great deal of effort went into it, from the authoring to the editing teams, and those fine folks who do all the magic to make sure the book actually sees the light of day.

To all of you who are aspiring authors but are yet to be published, believe me. There’s nothing like seeing your name on the cover.

Cheers.