A plug for my friend Andy and “Light Children”

When I moved back to SW Virginia and started my web job with my employer, I got a lot more than I would have expected. The work is fun, the environment is great, the founder/president is an honest, good and caring guy, and the employees are smart, sweet and helpful. It is basically an oasis in the desert of corporate America.

One of the guys at the company was Andy Horner, who did a combination of account management, project architecture, sales and creative direction. For a long time I shared an office with Andy and our technical guru Phil – two of the brightest and funniest guys I have ever known.  Both Phil and Andy are so imaginative and clever. They would spin yarns ad hoc and basically leave me in my corner laughing my head off.

Andy was the account manager and architect on many of the projects I ended up managing. So, we worked together a great deal and spent many hours in the car together as we traveled to client sites. I always enjoyed these trips; Andy would tell me about some of his creative ideas for business ventures, children’s stories, movies, posters – you name it. I was always stunned by Andy’s endless fountain of amazing ideas. I figured if I knew anyone who would eventually be rich and famous based purely on ideas and enthusiasm, it would be Andy.

A year or two ago Andy moved on to a bigger company and bigger job in a bigger city. But his energy and creativity have never waivered. As a side project he has teamed with illustrator Kyle Webster to develop a graphic novel. They released Book One (the novel will be in 3 parts, which will be comprised of a number of books) in late June. Entitled “Light Children”, I bought a copy last week and started reading it tonight.

With every page I can’t help but shake my head at the world Andy has created and Kyle has illustrated. How the heck does he think this stuff up? It is amazing. I encourage you to head on over to the website at http://lightchildren.com/. Buy a book. You may even get Andy to sign it for you if you ask. You do not often get a chance to watch a creative genius hatching in our world. Don’t miss this one.