"Closer To God (Through Hell" (memoir)

In this raw and redemptive memoir, a man traces his life from the sunlit summers of a Kentucky childhood to the gritty depths of survival and back toward hope. Born to a mother whose love once lit his world, he revels in memories of biscuit dough and creek-side fishing—until her descent into addiction casts long shadows, tearing their family apart with arrests and eviction. At eleven, he's thrust into a new prison: a farm ruled by cruel relatives who wield hunger and labor as weapons, forging his resilience through years of silent suffering until a teacher hears his cry at seventeen. Adulthood brings fleeting stability—a job, a romance, two daughters—yet the scars of his past strain his fragile family, compounded by a father's rejection over his mixed-race child. In 2023, a single night alters everything: a warning shot to save a boy lands him in cuffs, unraveling jobs and sobriety, leaving him with $21 and a motel room's despair. But in 2025, a spark ignites—enrolling in an automotive program, he finds grease under his nails and God in his heart, dreaming of a life beyond survival. Weaving vivid storytelling with reflections on faith, Grease and Grace is a testament to enduring love, loss, and the quiet miracles that pull us from the wreckage. Perfect for readers of raw memoirs like Educated or The Glass Castle, this is a story of a fighter shaped by pain, redeemed by purpose, and called to lead others home.