The Storm Before My Calm

The story is centered on a young man named Dylan Roberts. Dylan comes from a home where his parents are alcoholics and his father is abusive. Acting as a parent to his mother and younger brother, Dylan also becomes dependent on alcohol and heroin. In the midst of addiction, pregnancy, a web of lies, and his mother finally getting clean Dylan tries to change his life to be with the girl he believes to be his soul mate, Sydney Manchester. There are many twists and turns along the way and young love has to fight to survive the pains of growing up.

The Storm Before my Calm is written in the first person and takes place in the Northern California small town of Benicia. Up until the last few pages the reader will wonder whether young love can only exist in stories like Romeo and Juliet or will it survive and flourish.

Details:
Publisher: iUniverse (January 24, 2002)
Available in print and for the Kindle at amazon.com


Reviews (from Amazon.com):
I absolutely love this book is a rollercoaster of emotions in every single page!!! It will prove to you that love at the end will conquer all!! -Eva

i really liked this book. and i really miss you. i wish you would get ahold of me so we could talk.
this is one of my all time favorite boooks. -Allie

This is a riveting "coming of age" book. High school and growing up are not what they used to be. It is a different world we live in now and this book takes you through a unique journey. I really enjoyed sharing it.-Bobbi

I loved this book!! It was a great story to see what love can go through, and still come out on top. It also shows that even if your addicted to drugs you can get out of it, and still have a good life. It really uplifted my spirits, and I know if you read it you'll love it as much as I did!!! -Dominique

From the author (me):
I wrote this in a series of seven notebooks when I was 16 years old. I spent the next four years editing, and then a few months trying to write a query letter that would get a publisher and or agent interested in working with me and I failed (or the system failed me, take it or leave it). So I then contacted iUniverse and for $100 they put my life in binding and I was thrilled. It isn't perfect, there are a lot of typos, but the story is magic and it resonates with readers long after they've finished the final page. I have had absolutely no power over the book since publishing it, and I hope to publish a new edition someday but since it's available on the kindle (and apparently has paragraphs now which is good) I really don't see me making it a huge priority to work on the new edition just this minute since I am working on a brand new book at the moment. It will happen though, but I'm in graduate school and planning a wedding so it takes it's place in line just like everything else in my life right now (including bathroom breaks!). Thanks to all the people that have been nothing but generous with their outpouring of love and support for the Storm Before my Calm and really all my work, it means  so much and keeps me writing.

-Stephan (that S.L. guy is me )