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What inspired the cover image of your book?

According to experts, the cover artwork is one of the most critical tools an author has to attract readers and entice them to pick up and open their book. The challenge is to develop an attractive and relevant cover image that represents the story within.

As my book, That Which Cannot Be Denied, is a story spanning 130 years, four generations, and four

continents, it was incredibly challenging to select a compelling image that effectively represents the story.


Rather than create a collage of images that represent the totality of the book, I decided to develop an image to represent the most poignant and powerful event in the book. That event took place when I was eighteen years old, hitchhiking alone in the middle of the night, in the middle of a snowstorm on a deserted road in the mountains of Yugoslavia during the Cold War. Other than the arrogance of youth, I have no explanation for what possessed me to embark on such a reckless and dangerous journey.


It was the time when I came as close as I ever have to death and experienced the first of many miracles I have been blessed with in my life. If you want to read more about that event, please subscribe to my site and download the free chapter.


I want to thank Beverly Anderson for assisting me in selecting concepts for our cover and the Koehler Books team for developing the cover art which so effectively represents that night, and all of you who participated in the cover poll to select the final image on the cover of the book today.


 
 
 

How long did it take you to write the book?

I began writing the book in the summer of 2016 and completed the manuscript roughly six years later. I wish I could say that I was very organized in my process, but that would not be true.


The original source of my family history came from my grandmother's bible. It contained dates and locations for; births, marriages, and deaths of family members. Another invaluable resource was boxes and albums of old family photographs. In addition, I used ancestry.com, google, and Wikipedia to fill in some of the blanks. I then got busy writing the story.


About a year into the project, I met a published author who introduced me to my area's California Writer's Club. She also invited me to join a group of authors who met weekly. Their mission was to provide advice, counsel, and accountability for one another. Being a member of these groups was exactly what I needed to learn more about the craft of writing. I learned how to organize my book at a high level, using an outline format to examine and improve the flow of the story.


Over the years, I shared my process with the other writers in our weekly group. I also consulted my lifelong friend Steve Ladd for help researching and fact-checking dates and events that I remembered or that were part of our family folklore.


When the manuscript was nearly complete, I hired a fellow author from our weekly group to edit the manuscript. She was invaluable. As she reviewed each chapter, she offered additional advice on the craft of writing, using active vs. passive voice, details regarding punctuation and paragraph usage with dialogue, and much more.


Though writing is primarily a solo effort, I feel blessed to have had the support and expertise of other authors in my debut effort.


 
 
 

Why did you write the book, and why now?

After a long career as a trial attorney specializing in Construction Law, I experienced career-ending health issues. When I could no longer practice law, I was not ready to "hang it up," so I looked for another way to be productive. As I took inventory of my skills and experience, I knew, like most successful trial attorneys, that I was a compelling and persuasive storyteller and an excellent writer.


So, I decided to write a book. The obvious next question is; what would I write about? The significant health challenges I faced led me to consider my life, my accomplishments to date, and my legacy. As a result, I decided to write a legacy memoir about previous generations of my family and my own life. The book was meant to be a gift for my children and grandchildren.


I began by reviewing my grandmother's bible, which contained dates and places of key events of the Hughes' legacy. As I continued my research into the lives of my family, I came to appreciate my unique and memorable family history. As I discussed the story of my father's incredible career and my exceptional childhood with friends, they encouraged me to expand my goal for the book. They recommended that my book could be a treasured family keepsake, but it could also be an entertaining and inspirational story for others.


 
 
 
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