Some things never really leave a writer.
They echo.
They return.
They find their way back onto the page in different forms, different faces, different stories.
For me, one of those constants is a person.
I have a friend who helped me through some of the hardest years of my life. The kind of presence that doesn’t just pass through — it stays, it shapes, it leaves a mark you can’t quite write around… only write through.
And even now, no matter how things have changed, she still appears in my work.
Sometimes she’s a character.
Sometimes just a presence in the room.
A line of dialogue.
A certain way of looking at the world.
Sometimes it’s not even obvious — just a demeanor, a tone, something she once said that stayed with me long enough to become part of the story.
That’s the thing about real influence.
It doesn’t ask permission.
It becomes part of your creative DNA.
The other thread that never seems to fade is a phrase — a philosophy, really:
Carpe Diem.
Seize the day.
That idea has followed me for years, and a lot of that traces back to Dead Poets Society. Something about that film — the weight of its message, the urgency of living, the reverence for words — it stuck with me in a way few things ever have.
And of course…
“O Captain, my Captain.”
It’s a line that carries meaning far beyond the page for me. It’s something I’ve carried into my own life — even to the point where I use it as a nod of respect. That’s what I call Joe Compton from Go Indie Now — a small tribute, but one rooted in that same sense of admiration and influence. Joe is my Mr. Keating.
These things — people, phrases, moments — they don’t just inspire a single piece.
They return.
They reshape themselves.
They evolve alongside you.
Because writing isn’t just about creating something new.
It’s about carrying forward what mattered enough to stay. 🖤
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