has turned out to be a spoiled brat. I didn't see that until it was too late, of course, and now I'm too old to straighten them out.
“I've kept an eye on you over the years and I've noticed something. You always put family before anything else. The folks that adopted you raised you right. I raised my boys to be businessmen above all else. That was a mistake.
“Eventually, those boys will break up the company. That's fine, it the way things go. What I want you to do is make sure they don't break apart from each other. Since you'll have a strong voting share, they'll have to listen to you. Even though we've never met, something tells me you'll do the right thing.
“While you're at it, though, I want you to do some things for yourself. Figure out what you really want to do, and then do it. Above all else, though, take good care of that family of yours.”
It was signed “Your old man, Henry William Curtis.”
That was a lot of faith to have in someone you'd never met, he thought. Then again, he had faith in God and had never met Him face to face either. That was something to think about.
This might just work out after all.
AFTERWORD
I have a t-shirt that says 'Warning! Might do stupid things at any time.' It seems to fit as I commit acts of great stupidity on a regular basis. The story you just finished reading is my attempt to correct one of those acts.
I self-published the original version of The Inheritance in March of 2013. It was, in short, a stupid thing to do. The book was far from ready. It was riddled with typos, grammatical errors, and the plot really wasn't up to par. I didn't consider that just because you can do something, it doesn't necessarily follow that you should. The bad reviews that quickly followed really brought me down. For the record, I deserved every one.
Over the next few months, I tried to put it behind me as I worked on my next novel. My disappointment in The Inheritance was never far from my mind, though. I had failed miserably, and had no one to blame but myself.
One of the nice things about self-publishing today is that you can put out a new version whenever you want. When I finished the third draft of the new book, I decided to make one more pass through The Inheritance to see if I could at least tighten some things up and fix some of the more glaring mistakes. I started reading the last draft of that manuscript and came to a startling conclusion.
It sucked.
There's no other way to say it. It sucked. To quote Beavis and Butthead, the book 'sucked more than anything that has ever sucked before.' That may not be entirely fair. The film Batman & Robin has no redeeming value while the original edition of The Inheritance at least has good cover art (thanks, Bobby!).
I still thought the concept had merit so I decided to see what I could do with it. It didn't take long to rewrite it and the version you just read is much shorter than the original. When I decided to make the death of Hank Curtis a murder, everything fell into place.
They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. I hope I can be the exception to that rule. If you read the original and gave this version a chance, bless you and thank you. If you're a new reader, welcome. I hope you enjoyed The Inheritance and I hope you all stick around for the future installments in the Port Mason series.
In case you wonder who gave me that shirt, I bought it myself.
Robert Gonko
January, 2014
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I have an amazing support mechanism, the most important component of which is God. Without getting too preachy, let me just say that He has sustained me through a long and difficult 2013 and is setting me up for great things in 2014. Thank you, Father.
My beloved wife, Angela runs a close second. Thank you, honey, for not giving up.
Josie and Jimmy don’t yet realize how much inspiration and motivation they’ve given me. Thank you, kids!
I don’t think words can express how much I wish my mom and dad could be here to see this. They always believed in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself.
My brother, Todd, and his family are the best. Yes, Todd, I said that about you.
Thanks to the usual suspects at Koke Mill Christian Church. I especially want to single out Pastor Stan Summers, John Lovell and Pat Kessler for sticking with me.
Edward Howell has been my dear friend and brother since kindergarten. He’s another person who never gave up on me. Now, if I could just get him to read this…
I want to thank Karen Harman for letting me borrow her last name and for telling me exactly what was wrong with the manuscript every step of the way. Thanks also to Morgan Wirth for catching stuff no one else did.
I have many, many more friends who have supported me and been there for me. I can't possibly name them all. If you're reading this and think you might be one of those friends, you're right.
About the Author
Robert Gonko lives in Illinois with his wife, Angela, and their children, Josie and Jimmy. Like his page on Facebook or visit his blog at https://robertgonko.wordpress.com.
COMING SOON
Steve Bennett, Private Investigator, returns for Book Two in the Port Mason series:
The Servant
Look for it in 2014
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