Long before I became a journalist, novelist or creator of S.O.L.A.D.™: Soldiers of Light Against Darkness™, I was a kid absorbing stories and quietly learning what heroes, villains, families, sacrifice, fear, courage, humor and hope could look like.

Wisdom teaches us something impulsiveness often forgets: Knowing something is true does not automatically mean this exact moment is the right time to reveal it. That tension appears throughout S.O.L.A.D.™: Soldiers of Light Against Darkness™: The Angelo™ & Angeline™ Chronicles, and few characters represent it better than Wiseman J.

A character who spends 300 pages refusing to trust anybody should not suddenly become emotionally open because the story reached the final chapter. A selfish character should not become sacrificial because the climax needs them to. A coward should not turn fearless because the writer wants a heroic moment. A bitter person should not forgive years of pain after one speech unless the story has carefully built the emotional road that gets them there.