Kenton Long

I wrote Prodigal Sons of Liberty: A Modern Thriller in part because I believe it is important. Few Americans know the Constitution can be amended by the states alone. All twenty-seven amendments to the Constitution were initiated by Congress and ratified by the states. Our Founding Fathers anticipated, however, Congress may someday become so corrupted by power, entrenched and dominated by special interests, that there must exist a means of amending the Constitution by circumventing Congress. Hence, Article V’s convention of states. This is the dramatic backdrop of Prodigal Sons of Liberty: A Modern Thriller.

I also felt moved to write the story because it was nagging at me. All writers know that feeling. It was like someone knocking at the door and I was trying to ignore it. I cursed under my breath, put on my polite face, and answered the door. Boy, am I glad I answered the door!

I wanted a story whose main character is an average person, a reluctant hero. Lance Singleton is a divorced, middle-aged, financial planner thrust into extraordinary circumstances---chased at gunpoint in a nation on the brink of civil war.

I enjoy reading political and military thrillers. I also enjoy stories where a small group of average people, experts in their field, work together to overcome desperate circumstances. Michael Crichton is very good at this. I tried to focus on building strong characters. When all is said and done with a story---any story---the thing readers remember most is characters!

I love reading humor. And it’s really fun writing humor. I hope readers laugh out loud as I did writing the novel. I also cried. Writing, re-reading, and re-writing touching passages---when the Muse is with me---brings me to tears. I hope I’ve conveyed my deeper sentiments effectively to the reader.

What do I have to offer readers new to my writing? A life-long passion for writing, certainly. I agonize over each and every sentence. I’m no James Joyce, but I feel his pain for crafting worthy sentences. Joyce was a slow writer, as am I.

I’m a convert from the Left to constitutional conservatism. As such I feel I offer insights how the Left thinks; a perspective few converts can convey. My passion for history, my admiration for the sacrifice of our Founders, and my love our country inform the story into which I committed four years of research and writing.

I've wanted to be a fiction writer since my earliest memory. I love the smell of books, the feel of paper, the flow and scratch of fountain pens. I delight in the clack of keyboards. I lose myself in type fonts; I agonize over colons and em dashes. I'm a recovering grammar geek, a word wonk. I'm engrossed by word origins and spellbound by sounds and rhythms. If I wasn't a religious man, bookstores would be my church, the dictionary my Bible.

Naturally, I'm a big reader of both fiction and non-fiction. Among my favorite authors of classics are Charles Dickens and Herman Melville. I enjoy many contemporary fiction authors, but my favs are Brad Thor and Tom Clancy.

I earned my BAs in Political Science and Anthropology at Arizona State University. Fresh out of college, I began a short but fascinating adventure as an archaeologist. Later, I spent a number of years as a registered rep in the investment industry. Other adventures include earning a master's degree in education, small business owner, and teacher.

My interests include writing/reading, painting, religion, politics, history, economics, and sociological phenomena. Mix all those together with an egg of inspiration in a 9-inch baking pan and you get Prodigal Sons of Liberty!

--Kenton

For MORE information including contact info, coming sequels, insights to the story, and my writing process please visit my website at KENTONLONG.COM.