One of the big themes of The Enlightening is that of community effort– a group, or groups of people banding together for a common cause, in order to create something greater than the simple sum of its parts.  As the author of the book, I certainly know that I would have never gotten it “self-published” (a misnomer, actually) without the full support of an outstanding team.

My amazing wife Kimberlee has supported me in this venture for many years, and in countless ways, even before we were married, when I first mentioned my unusual “hobby” to her.  She has been my rock, as they say, throughout this process, and her enduring support continues to this day.  My son Cameron has also been very supportive and interested in something that began before he was even born.

i met my great friend, Keith Jachim (from Owl and Moon), many years ago when we were both students and the University of Illinois @ Urbana/ Champaign.  He provided invaluable support in the self-publishing process, as well as in the creation of this website, and its sister site @ hyperdimensionaluniverse.org.

In addition, a host of additional family and friends have supported my efforts throughout, which helped keep my spirits strong, and my energy levels high, as I faced much adversity and disappointment along the way,

In addition, Nick Caya and the Word-2-Kindle team turned my self-publishing dream into a reality.  Jeff Bezos and his amazing company, Amazon, made international distribution a surprisingly easy proposition.

Have you ever accomplished something beyond what you might have imagined possible, with the support of friends and/or family?  Have you ever received credit for something which you would not have been able to do by yourself?  Would you have felt differently, and possibly not succeeded, had you been rejected or ridiculed by those you reached out to?  How possible is it, really, to succeed entirely on one’s own?