If you had told me a few years ago that I would sit down and write a novel—never mind one that grew to more than 700 pages—I probably would have laughed at you. I was a builder, not a writer. For most of my life, I have created things with my hands. I've built homes, remodeled rooms, designed projects, made furniture, drawn plans, and even picked up a paintbrush later in life. Writing a book seemed like an entirely different world. It turns out, it wasn't as different as I th