A fear greater than dying is the fear of never finding true love.
That is the major theme of Daniel Theriot’s first novel, “How Long is Forever: A Fleetwood Falls Novel,” which follows the story of Mason Chadwick after a life-threatening diagnosis and his return to Fleetwood Falls. There, he meets Chloe Morgan, whose lingering grief over her father’s passing only reinforces her fear of commitment. The Christian romance, the first in a series, tracks the characters’ growth and faith and ends with unconditional love and forgiveness.
Theriot, who works as process server for the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office, wrote poetry as a teenager. But as a young adult, he put his writing on hold, married, had children and went to work. He thought, maybe, one day, he would write a non-fiction book. Life got busy. Then – out the blue – came a Stage 4 lymphoma diagnosis. Theriot was 55 years old.
“When I found out I had Stage 4 cancer, I went home, and it gave me a lot of time to think about the more important things in life,” Theriot said. “Of course, our faith in God, our family. I thought about what I may regret that I should have done in my life. And I’d always wanted to write a book.”
Theriot joined the Southern Christian Writers Guild, which meets in Gretna and in Destrehan, attended writing conferences and hired an editor from Reedsy.com. He learned from YouTube and researched the self-publishing process.
“I dove into it,” Theriot said. “I devoured as much information as I could. It’s a great time for anyone trying to get into writing. Even though you are self-publishing, there are still editors that can polish it up and then you can load it to Amazon.”
Theriot enjoys small-town romance stories and romantic comedies. The Hallmark movies he watches inspired him.
“I thought, I can write something like this,” he said. “That was my inspiration, plus drawing on my experience in my marriage and the things that you work through and grow through. So that all played a part.”
One January morning, as Theriot started writing, the story of Mason Chadwick and Chloe Morgan came to him. Theriot’s book is not about what happens in a steamy romance behind closed doors.
“It’s relational,” Theriot said. “It has to do with learning and growing together. So, it’s not a physical thing, but it’s emotional and it’s a spiritual thing that they travel together.”
Like Theriot, the main character in the story faces a life-threatening diagnosis.
“That really surprised me when I began writing it,” Theriot said. “That was the hardest time in my life, what I went though, with the treatments and everything. When I was writing it, I can’t tell you how many times that I broke down just thinking about it.”
While writing about his character’s journey, Theriot realized how much of his own journey he had pushed to the back of his mind.
“Things that I didn’t want to think about anymore began to resurface,” he said. “It was hard, but it was rewarding.”
When Theriot launched the book in November, it landed in the Top 100 books on Amazon’s small town romance list. He has sold over 50 books. The book is available on Amazon for $14.95 for paperback and $4.99 on Kindle. It currently has a five-star rating across 10 reviews. The response from readers has been overwhelming, he said.
“It really warms my heart to know there are people who fully support me and what I was doing,” Theriot said.
Theriot will host a book signing on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, at the Gospel Bookstore on 91 Westbank Expressway in Gretna from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Theriot said he wants to encourage others who have put their dreams aside to pick them back up.
“We’re not guaranteed tomorrow, so live without regret and pursue the story that only you can tell,” he said. “While writing is for all ages, I can’t imagine a better time to learn more than in the retirement years when life has slowed considerably.”
Theriot is now working on the second book of his Fleetwood Falls series.
More information on the Southern Christian Writers Guild can be found at scwguild.com.
