I can’t believe it’s been one year today since I started writing my first book, ADHD Heaven or Hell. I wrote it to tell the truth about how my battles with ADHD and depression created a life of crazy highs and brutal lows. I honestly thought that if I put it all down on paper, maybe somebody out there might cope just a little better than I did.

But as I read my own words back, something hit me square in the face. I kept thinking, who the hell was that guy? Some of it sounded insane. I couldn’t believe how many times I stuck my hand in the fire, pulled it out, and then turned around and stuck it right back in the very next day.

We’ve all heard the saying, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it,” and there I was — living proof of it over and over again.

Oh, you’re still going to hear some of those ADHD stories — but before we go there, let’s get to the point of this chapter. As of today, I’ve written 17 books and published every one of them on Amazon KDP. After the first one, ADHD Heaven or Hell, I just couldn’t stop. One book turned into another, and then another.

My second book was about my days in wildlife and drilling rig photography. I honestly thought, for sure, people in the energy sector would want a copy. Well… not so much. Zero sales so far. Nowhere to go but up, I guess.

After that, I started writing books based on my childhood — The Adventures of Christopher Brian. I created a few scenarios and characters and, with the help of AI fixing my bad grammar, I managed to pull it all together. That’s how this whole chain reaction really started.

Oh, and by the way — if anybody ever asks whether you used AI to write your books, be careful how you answer. I’ve gone to great lengths to explain that I use AI to clean up my grammar and punctuation — that’s it. Still, I’ve taken some nasty shots from a few people I’d call purists… maybe with a english degree or two. I’ve got nothing against smart folks, but let’s be honest: if you use Microsoft Office, you’re using AI. If you search Google for facts, you’re using AI. Sitting in a library flipping through encyclopedias and pretending you don’t use modern tools? I call bullshit.

The truth is — and my AI friends will back me up — I get mad as hell if they change my words. I’ve got a full page of instructions about my tone and language. Once in a while a flowery word slips in, and I just cut it right back out. I’m no scholar by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m not a liar either.

I use AI because my Webster’s dictionary is buried in the landfill. AI helps me clean up the mess — it doesn’t write my life for me. I use it for research too, no different than Google.

Enough about AI. I will say this though — from the day I started writing one year ago until today, I’ve come leaps and bounds with my writing skills… or so I think. Others may have a different opinion. Being a Valley boy from Nova Scotia, having 120 jobs and starting 50 companies makes for some interesting reading. But learning and discipline were never my strong suit.

I played a performance about a week ago and said something I haven’t forgotten since: I traded my ADHD in for OCD. I’ll explain that in the next few chapters. I personaly think everybody should have at least one acronym to blame their life on.

Anyway, back to the book. After The Adventures of Christopher Brian, I started another title called Quantumus. The two books — Christopher Brian and Quantumus — slowly morphed into one another. Quantumus, in reality, is Albert Einstein, and Christopher Brian was me as a child.

Einstein was somebody I always blamed for the nuclear bomb. We all know his E=mc² formula opened the door, but after a lot of research I learned it was the work of many scientists and corrupt governments that turned science into that weapon. In fact, Einstein was not part of the Manhattan Project at all, and after the bombs were dropped on Japan, he became a strong and outspoken critic of nuclear weapons — protesting the very thing his equation had helped set in motion.

At any rate, Albert became Quantumus and gave my crazy brain permission to create a whole new world I’d always dreamed of called Quantasia.

Warning to The Reader: every once in a while I’ll have to back-check my own writing, because I have a bad habit of getting my cart and horse mixed up… or horse and cart, if you get my drift.

So over the year I created The Adventures of Christopher Brian, Quantumus, and of course, if that wasn’t enough, I started another series called Forest Ranger Jimmy Applebee. When I was a teenager, I worked in Kentville, Nova Scotia for the Department of Lands and Forests. Mostly I cut trees to make trails and mowed provincial parks, with the occasional forest fire thrown in for good measure. That’s partly where Forest Ranger Jimmy Applebee came from.

I’m also sure that when I was a kid there were a few television shows on CBC that stuck in my brain somewhere along the way.