Lee Tidball really did walk a mile through howling winds and driving snow (and at least partway uphill) just to get to school when he was a kid.  Growing up in northern Iowa just south of the Minnesota border afforded many such opportunities, as well as ferocious thunderstorms and tornados in the spring, summers filled with “road tripping” to the rugged, exotic lands of the West to escape Iowa’s endless days of heat and humidity, and practically perfect autumns filled with stunning colors and the hope of the first snow by Halloween.  It was a safe, “normal” upbringing that masked inner struggles and turmoil, leading him to not only a love of all things related to weather and natural disasters, but a longing for adventure in beautiful, faraway places and a deep desire to be secretly dashing and heroic while the world knew only his bland, nerdy pseudo-self.  The seeds of future stories had already been unknowingly sown.

Later, after one of life’s unexpected curveballs, Lee found his first true “calling” in spite of himself.  Determined NOT to follow in his father’s footsteps as an educator, he nonetheless found himself in a classroom substitute teaching; the only job he could find at the time.  Within an hour there, the scales fell from his eyes.  An uncanny, God-given ability to both instruct and inspire children became instantly apparent, and so began what would become a 30+ year career of public school teaching in his adopted home town of Modesto, CA.  He also combined his work with children with other passions—sports and the performing arts—leading to over 35 seasons of coaching youth runners, soccer players, and actors and the founding of two successful non-profit organizations; a USA Track and Field-sanctioned team for young runners, and a children’s community theater company

Marla has discovered she has ideas enough for screenplays and mystery novellas, the first of which comes out in 2018 through Short on Time Books.

But in his many years working with young people, Lee discovered that fear was the number one factor in a child not pursuing their biggest dreams.  Fear of not living up to their own expectations (or their parents), or of standing out at an age where it seemed so vital to “just be normal” shipwrecked child after gifted child.  Lee didn’t want the same to happen to him.  As teaching and coaching full-throttle began to take their toll, he decided to put fears aside and finally go for his biggest dreams—turning those seeds of stories sown so long ago into written words to share with the world.  He phased coaching out of his life and began writing, publishing his first novel, Windfork Secrets, in 1998.  It was among the most checked-out books in his school’s library for the next decade   Over a dozen screenplays followed, and another book, Malled, in 2013, a dark, R-rated YA romantic thriller based on his screenplay.  Most of his works earned critical praise and awards, and some were optioned by production companies.  To date, Lee continues to write and market both screenplays, teleplays, and novels from his California home, enjoys cycling, hiking, and travel with his wife Cyndie, and delighting all who will read with his edgy, dramatic stories of real people in unique, strange, and magical worlds.