William Bailey

I find it strange to write about myself, but here it is.

I come from working class America. I was born near the end of the baby boomers’ generation in Holland, Michigan, on December 29th, 1961. My parents had four children with me being the youngest. My father was employed by the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad. Due to his job constantly being relocated, my family moved a few times to other hamlets in Michigan. My mother worked at several chrome plating factories for supplying the automotive industry. (That’s when American automobiles were still flashy, and had chrome bumpers and other brilliant trim unlike the boring cars of today). My parents were both hard working people. They were good souls; may they rest in peace.

Moving on, I met my wife in 1980 during our senior year in high school. We graduated together and married in 1985. (If you want a laugh, check out our graduation picture in my profile pics. Ah, to be young again.)

Over the years, I lived through good and bad economies during times of peace and war. I’ve experienced all the emotions anyone else has over the trials of life with love being the greatest and betrayal being the worst. I’ve had enemies become friends, and friends become enemies. However, I’ve yet to meet anyone as loyal and loving as my dogs. If only humanity would behave like our dogs. Isn’t it curious that human beings are the animals?

I find life is like a ship at sea sailing through calm waters one day only to be tossed about in a horrific storm the next. I’ve been around for a while so my ship is old and beat up. It has sailed through its share of storms. But I’ve survived them all. It’s these good and bad life experiences that shape the people in my books. They are believable characters that we can all relate to.

You should know I never planned on being a writer. It’s the last thing I ever thought I would do. So why did I suddenly spend years on end writing The Great Ship of Knowledge: Learning Earth’s Deathly History? It was a prophetic dream that gave birth to the story. I’m serious. I write about the entire experience in the front matter of The Journey Ends. It’s the chapter titled The Epiphany.

I’ve always been a dreamer with a vivid imagination. I’m constantly daydreaming about anything and everything. I love science fiction especially the classics such as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. I grew up watching Star Trek, and I’ll never forget sitting in a moving theater in 1977 when I witnessed the Millennium Falcon make the jump to lightspeed. It was epic! The special effects in Star Wars were incredible at the time.

As for hobbies, I love camping and being outdoors. My wife and I like to canoe and hike. Northern Michigan is beautiful country, and the Great Lakes State has miles of public trails and dozens of fabulous State Parks to explore not to mention endless sugar-sand beaches to walk.

I also have a passion for classic American cars. I’ve had many of them over the years. The 1929 Plymouth pictured in my profile pics was my car during high school. During the summer months you might find me strolling through one of the many classic car shows held annually in northern Michigan.

To finish, I love animals especially our German shorthaired pointer, Mocha, and our Flemish giant house rabbit, Honey Bunny. My wife and I have been married now for thirty-eight years, and we live on our farm in Antrim County.