A Place to Start: Stories and Essays from Down the Road

We all go through tough times. When we do, it can be hard to find the silver lining, the happy ending, the lesson learned.

It can be especially hard to find the bright side when you're not an optimist - and Jim Grey is not an optimist. When his always difficult marriage finally ended in a brutal, protracted divorce, it nearly crushed him. He wanted to run away and lick his wounds.

But he had two young sons who needed their dad. He had to stay in the game. He started writing as a way of processing everything that happened. He published his writing on a blog and let friends and family know. It was a double accountability check: he'd keep writing if people knew to expect it, and he'd avoid telling terrible stories on his ex-wife. He sensed that wallowing in his pain and lashing out in anger were not going to help him recover. If he could weave all that had happened into a narrative that pointed to a better future, perhaps he could heal while still being there for his sons. His blog was a place to start building a happier life.

This book collects the best stories and essays from the blog's first two years. They're ordinary stories of an ordinary life, well told. Every ordinary life is interesting; it's all in how you tell it.