What is your book all about? 

Tomato Fields is about a small group of people in a rural community faced with a dangerous threat at the hands of a mysterious mythical animal that turns out to be real. This threat forces them all out of their comfort zones as they work against time to rid their town of this mysterious danger.

What inspired you to write the book? 

I had been thinking for some time about the possibility of using fiction to draw more people to the legitimacy of this creature. I felt that good stories involving interesting characters could do a better job than non-fiction to win people to this topic. When my brother shared a real life frightening encounter he had with this animal, I used his story as the inspiration I needed to write the book.

What is your target audience for the book? 

Readers who enjoy horror/adventure and monster stories. It is like Jaws, but it occurs in the forest and the monster is not a fish.

What do you hope readers could get out from your book? 

I hope it aids them in suspending the temptation to succumb to the materialistic biases that haunt our current age and celebrate the value of mystery, if only for a moment.

What are your future goals/plans for the book? 

I would like to write full time. I am currently working on a sequel to Tomato Fields, which I hope to make into a series. It would be great to see it made into a movie as well. I am interested in writing other books too.

About the Author

Tim is a husband of one, a father of four, and a grandfather of two. He is also a longtime middle school and high school teacher who enjoys occasionally sharing his lifelong fascination with the mysterious cryptic monsters. His students get a kick out of the fact their history teacher believes in some of these beasts.  

Tim and his wife live in Austin, Texas. He is a longtime educator and administrator, with a passion for subjects related to history, philosophy, politics, theology and cryptozoology. He also loves basketball. Tomato Fields is his first novel in what he hopes will be a series.

At its heart, Tomato Fields is a celebration of mystery. A scary, tragic and occasionally gory celebration, but a celebration nonetheless. What if the materialistic pridefulness that haunts our age could be at least briefly remedied by such a mystery? A mystery, ironically, introduced by a monster. 

Tim has also hidden a personal monster for most of his life, the monster of alcoholism. Trapped in prideful isolation, this monster eventually drove Tim to the end of himself, forcing him to trust a transcendent voice within, which led to a mysterious and miraculous release from a monster whose grip had seemed so strong. 

This book has been ten years in the writing, but prior to this recovery 5 years ago, its completion would have been impossible. The monstrous preoccupation with alcohol would have continually derailed and blinded such an effort. “Tomato fields” is thus a product of the very mystery it celebrates, delivered at the hands of a monster. 

Mystery gives breath to life. It is the hope that this book will provide a small breath of fresh mystery for you, in a surprising way.