Website & Newsletter
Use any subscription form on the site, for example on the home page or at the end of most pages on this website. Enter your first name, last name, and email, then submit. You'll get a confirmation on screen and a welcome email soon after.
Expect occasional updates - typically when new posts go live, when chapter previews are released, or when there's meaningful progress on the book. No spam, and you can unsubscribe anytime via the link in any email.
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The Book: Lighthouse in the Desert
It's a first person memoir chronicling my journey through a very difficult period in my own personal life as well as others affected by my predicament, relying heavily on faith, family, and forming unlikely friendships in a foreign country. Filled with honest reflections, harsh realities, private insights, desert imagery, and practical hope. A story that you would not believe possible unless it happened to you.
The manuscript is finished and the editing process is started. I'll be sharing behind-the-scenes updates, early chapter previews, and many others through the newsletter, social media, and on my Desert Reflections Blog.
First and foremost, subscribe to the newsletter. Help spread the word by sharing the blog and social media posts within your social circle and beyond. Keep an eye out for pre-orders and launch details. If you're part of a church or book club, consider inviting me to share my journey and my testimony. Secondly, I'm trying to raise funds to help with the costs of editing, publishing, and printing. I have created a GiveSendGo crowdfunding campaign which can be accessed from any page on this website. Anything and everything helps. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, please pray for this project, that it might have a reach far and wide and be an encouragement to others.
A firm date will be announced once the manuscript and production timeline are locked. A projected date of August 1, 2026 is the current goal. The newsletter is the best way to hear first.
Lighthouse in the Desert explores a wide range of themes and sub-themes: father-son relationships, life & death, travel, culture shock, freedom & captivity, despair & hope, darkness & light, faith & reason, sorrow & joy, defeat & triumph, the power of prayer, obedience, reconciliation & repentance, endurance, and the surprising ways God shepherds us - often when our plans fall apart.
Yes, that's the aim. Depending on interest, there may also be an audiobook. Details will follow closer to launch.
No.
About Dubai & the Desert
Firstly, it's the physical setting of the story, Dubai, built on and surrounded by a vast desert. Furthermore, as it relates to Scripture, the desert is a place of testing and formation, where God meets people with clarity, correction, and provision. It's a fitting backdrop for a memoir about growth and guidance.
Yes, at times. The city and surrounding landscapes show up in stories as imagery, and also on a very personal level as the places, people, and events I encountered while living there. Every element I present of Dubai is factual and real as I recall and based on my journals. But the themes are meant to resonate anywhere.
No. It's a memoir. The vast majority of the story takes place while I was in Dubai and I've tried to paint an accurate picture of what my life was like while I was there. Dubai is a very big, very diverse, and multicultural metropolis. I attempt to recall in as vivid detail as possible the sights, scenes, sounds, and smells of Dubai. There will be plenty of Dubai imagery in the story, and the blog occasionally shares more local colour and context that may be of interest to those who are curious.
Very likely, yes. Select photos will definitely appear on this website and in blog and social media posts. For the book, visuals will depend on format and production decisions as well as cost.
Research, research, research. Not just tourist destinations but familiarize yourself with local laws, customs, and holidays. Know your rights. This may come as a shock but in the Middle East what may seem a trivial, minor, and harmless transgression to you and me may be considered a very serious offence. Trust me, I have first-hand knowledge. I have experienced many accounts of unsuspecting or ignorant tourists and locals getting into trouble, unforeseen and unpredictable scenarios and situations, some downright ridiculous, that can land you in prison. Things taken for granted in Western culture do not necessarily translate well in the Middle East. You are always presumed guilty. Your local embassy will not help you if you are in a legal jam - you are 100 percent at the mercy of the lawmakers.
Otherwise, the standard recommendations apply: beware the heat and large crowds. Use public transit, the system in Dubai is affordable and quite efficient. Leave space to wander beyond the obvious highlights; deserts reward unhurried attention. Immerse yourself in the culture of people that live there. Dubai is so much more than gold-laced fabrics, huge shopping malls, and tall buildings.
Otherwise, the standard recommendations apply: beware the heat and large crowds. Use public transit, the system in Dubai is affordable and quite efficient. Leave space to wander beyond the obvious highlights; deserts reward unhurried attention. Immerse yourself in the culture of people that live there. Dubai is so much more than gold-laced fabrics, huge shopping malls, and tall buildings.
Speaking & Media
Yes. Sharing my testimony, book signings, Q&A, conferences, retreats, book-themed sessions, and many others. Use the Contact page to start the conversation. Dates and times of events will be made available via the newsletter as well as on social media platforms and here on the website.
I'm an open book. Faith in hard seasons, father-son relationships, the power of prayer, on being chosen, imprisonment and navigating a foreign legal system, silence and surrender, loneliness, despair and hope. Writing a memoir, the creative and practical processes - the how-tos - and to a lesser degree Dubai as a travel destination.
If you need bios, headshots, or talking points, visit the Contact page and mention this in your message and I'll send a simple media kit for now. I'm in the process of preparing a formal kit as well as a Media Kit page.
Absolutely. WhatsApp, Zoom, and Google Meet work well for Q&A, meetings, discussions, interviews, and podcasts across time zones.
Date/time, audience size, format, in-person or virtual, location, and the theme you have in mind.
Oui, je suis egalement disponible en francais. J'espere aussi que mon histoire sera traduite en francais bientot!
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