Michael Loucks: Blog

Today the final chapter of Climbing the Ladder - The First Rung was submitted. Jonathan Kane will return in Climbing the Ladder - The Second Rung.

The digital edition of Climbing the Ladder - The First Rung available on Bookapy will be updated later today will all corrections received from readers.

I will begin posting Good Medicine - Medical School II tomorrow (Nov 1, 2021). I have begun writing Good Medicine - Medical School III.

A Well-Lived Life 3 - Book 4 - Coming of Age is nearly finished. Once it is, then it goes to the editors and proofreaders. I do not have an ETA for posting it to SOL.

Digital editions of my work are available on Bookapy.

Thank you for your loyal reading, and I appreciate each and every one of you. In-progress work is available - see my Author page for details.

Recently, on several days, I've posted two chapters of Climbing the Ladder - The First Rung. Several people have written to ask 'why?'.

I've done it so that the final chapter will be posted on October 31st, so that the complete story is posted before I begin posting Good Medicine - Medical School II on November 1st.

Good Medicine - Medical School II, the sixth book in the series, will be published on SOL on November 1, 2021. It is available on Bookapy as of today.

I've posted the first chapter of Climbing the Ladder - The First Rung.

This is a story in the 'A Well-Lived Life' universe, and provides history and backstory for Spurgeon Capital, the Spurgeon family, the Glass family, the Lundgren family, Anala Subramani, Tom Quinn, and others from the 'A Well-Lived Life' series.

Synopsis:

A man who was one of the more unfortunate passengers on the RMS Titanic has been famously quoted as saying, "When You Got Nothing, You Got Nothing To Lose." These words certainly apply to the life of one Jonathan Kane. His mother, cast out and abandoned by her parents for the worst of reasons, raised him alone in the rural town of Goshen, OH, with virtually no assistance other than what Jonathan himself provided once he was old enough to earn some extra money. Wanting to make a better life for himself, but more importantly, repay his mother for giving everything of herself for him, he hesitantly takes advantage of a family connection and lands a job in the mailroom at Spurgeon Capital in Chicago.

Starting at this lowest possible rung, and despite his humble beginnings, he hopes to start a self-directed climb to success and fortune. Life in Chicago is far different than in Ohio's farmland, especially when you're dealing with people with more money than you could ever have imagined on a daily basis. Learning to navigate this new world is vital to his future success. He soon finds out that in this world, sex is currency as well, and finds he's been endowed with a fortune that is highly sought after by both plebeians and socialites alike.

More important than financial success to Jonathan though is maintaining his integrity. How do you maintain your personal integrity and loyalties to those you care for in the face of unbelievable temptations? Is it even possible, or will Jonathan's principles be compromised as much as the ones of those whose fortunes he seeks to match? The only way to truly find the answer is to keep climbing up.

Available on Bookapy as of today. Available on SOL on Sept 1, 2021.

Climbing the Ladder is a story in the 'A Well-Lived Life' universe, and provides history and backstory for Spurgeon Capital, the Spurgeon family, the Glass family, the Lundgren family, Anala Subramani, Tom Quinn, and others from the 'A Well-Lived Life' series.

Synopsis:

A man who was one of the more unfortunate passengers on the RMS Titanic has been famously quoted as saying, "When You Got Nothing, You Got Nothing To Lose." These words certainly apply to the life of one Jonathan Kane. His mother, cast out and abandoned by her parents for the worst of reasons, raised him alone in the rural town of Goshen, OH, with virtually no assistance other than what Jonathan himself provided once he was old enough to earn some extra money. Wanting to make a better life for himself, but more importantly, repay his mother for giving everything of herself for him, he hesitantly takes advantage of a family connection and lands a job in the mailroom at Spurgeon Capital in Chicago.

Starting at this lowest possible rung, and despite his humble beginnings, he hopes to start a self-directed climb to success and fortune. Life in Chicago is far different than in Ohio's farmland, especially when you're dealing with people with more money than you could ever have imagined on a daily basis. Learning to navigate this new world is vital to his future success. He soon finds out that in this world, sex is currency as well, and finds he's been endowed with a fortune that is highly sought after by both plebeians and socialites alike.

More important than financial success to Jonathan though is maintaining his integrity. How do you maintain your personal integrity and loyalties to those you care for in the face of unbelievable temptations? Is it even possible, or will Jonathan's principles be compromised as much as the ones of those whose fortunes he seeks to match? The only way to truly find the answer is to keep climbing up.