FRONT MATTER & PROLOGUE

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THE PHOTO TRAVELER

A NOVEL

BY

arthur J gonzalez

 The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. To the extent any real names of individuals, locations, or organizations are included in the book, they are used fictitiously and not intended to be taken otherwise.

Copyright © 2013 by Arthur J. Gonzalez

All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher and author constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the copyright holder or publisher. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

 First e-book edition: February 2013

ISBN: 978-0-9888916-0-9


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you God. For rewarding me with a life full of trials and errors, benefits and blessings.

To my AMAZING editor, Monica Faulkner (www.laeditorsandwritersgroup.com/

about-our-members/monica-faulkner), who was absolutely essential in breathing life into this novel. Because of you, I have developed on so many various levels and learned something new after every conversation. You genuinely believe in me, and that alone, has given me the power to move on and drill forward. Thank you for everything.  

The three most important ladies in my life: My mom and my sisters (LeiLei & Stephy). You know by now the infinite amount of love I carry for you. My heart is composed of you three and I could never be who I am today without you guys. Everything I do is for you. There’s no way, absolutely no words that can begin to describe the love and admiration I hold for you. I love you guys so much. SO MUCH.

The most loving grandparents in the world: Mima and Pipo. Siempre están en mi corazon. No hay vida sin ustedes.

            All of my family. I have been truly blessed with our love and endless bonds.

Vanessa—Book Cover Designer Extraordinaire. Thank you for pinpointing the exact image I had in my mind, as well as your ridiculously amazing work ethic! (http://vanessanoheart.net/)

Omari Wicker—Website Design Guru. Never seen a better website for a novel. Couldn’t have done it without your magic. (www.mossbird.com)

My friends—to those who are always by my side (you know who you are). Who love me genuinely, and not out of convenience. Who laugh at my (phil) jokes and who I can truly be my goofy self around. You are my soldiers, and I thank God for you all every single night. You have no idea how influential and critical you guys are to my life.

Stephanie R, Virge, Maylin, Katie . . . for over ten years you all have believed in me, stood by my side. I will never forget that. We will ride this train to the top . . . together. I love you.

David – For EVERYTHING. Words cannot even express. You embody everything a person needs in their life. I know you say I never have to thank you … but I will never stop. I love you.

 

 


For my Pops.

I found the courage to believe in myself

because of you.

I held on to the constant pursuit of achievement because I want you to always be

smiling down on us from above.

I dedicate this to you.

Thank you for being there while I wrote endlessly. Thank you for the inspiration,

for the hope, for the love.

I love you. No, I love you more.

No! I love you more. 

I’m thinking about you ALWAYS.

PROLOGUE

What do you do when a sudden gust of wind forces your boat totally off course and into the unknown? When from one moment to the next, the life that you thought you’d always be living morphs into one you’d never imagined?

            Ever since I could remember, I believed there had to be something more to life than the one I’d been thrown into as a child. Even though I sometimes told myself I had to be crazy because just the idea seemed so hard to imagine—given how things had gone so far, anyway.

            I would ask myself if it was wrong for me to feel this way. If I was being naïve to think there was something greater out there. Something that really belonged to me. But what do you if you feel an unknown force pulsating through your blood, constantly reminding you of it? Are you just supposed to ignore it?

            I suppose that most of the time that’s what they teach us to do. You know, “Forget it. Take the easy way out.” Sure. Never the right one.

            That’s what they kept telling me. “You’re kidding yourself if you think you can have a better life.­ Learn to live with what you’ve got.” Things like that.

            Maybe that’s why I started taking photos as soon as I got my hands on my first camera. It was a way I could distance myself from the life I was being forced to live. It let me create images of the world around me, finding life in the most ordinary moments…like when the sun makes a lonely tree sweat and it in turn gives water to a struggling, thirsty grasshopper below. Those things were real. Not the crappy life I’d always been trapped in.

            And then, just a few weeks ago, my life took a turn for the unexpected. And now all I have to say to you is—believe in your gut instinct. Intuition is what kept me alive. It’s what made me believe. At the end of the day, it was all I really had that was mine. And you can find what’s really yours, too.

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