Raised in Oak Park, Ill., and moved to Trinidad, Colorado, with my future (and present!) wife in January 1972. 5 years in an old mining camp outside Trinidad was plenty, and we moved up to the Denver area to begin a family. However, the Trinidad Experience never completely leaves former residents, and that period in time is recounted in the forthcoming novel, "The Purgatory Dam Project."

A couple of humorous columns published in "Fine Homebuilding" Magazine were the beginnings of what morphed into "Psychotic Remodeling: True Stories From A Serial Remodeler." It packs 30+ years of remodeling into the only laugh-out-loud home improvement book that describes what really happens during a renovation. Everything they leave out of TV, all you HGTV fans, is in this book. It has been a consistent seller for years.

Twitter : @Rick_MacKay