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How This Series Came About
A funny thing happened on my way to young adult fiction. Story is where I live. I think in tension, consequence, people under pressure—what shows up when life gets hard and a person has to decide who he is. That never left. But while writing, a question kept pressing in: What actually makes a person steady? Not entertained. Not informed. Steady—when it costs something. This series came out of that question.
What I Was Seeing
We’re raising young men in a world that is loud, distracted, and constantly trying to do their thinking for them. They are not short on information. They are short on formation. And without formation—drift is easy. You don’t notice it at first. Then one day it’s obvious something didn’t get built.
What These Books Are (and Are Not)
These volumes are not textbooks. They are not even volumes in the classical sense—not a “substantial body of written material…” Nor are they lectures. And they are not meant to impress. Each volume is simple by design:
- Thirty entries
- Short enough to read in seconds
- Designed to provoke thought—and worthy of returning to.
Read one. Sit with it. Come back tomorrow. Or read them all in one sitting—and spend the rest of your life digesting the truths within. That’s it. Because the goal is not more content. It’s something you can actually build with.
Why These Men
I didn’t choose these men because they were perfect. They weren’t. I chose them because they carried weight—and kept clarity under it.
- Marcus Aurelius — governing the inner life under pressure
- Thomas Aquinas — aligning reason with truth
- George Washington — restraining power with duty
- Booker T. Washington — building through disciplined work
- Robert Baden-Powell — preparing through repeated action
- C. S. Lewis — recognizing objective moral law
- Viktor Frankl — answering suffering with responsibility
The aim is not imitation. It’s to think alongside them—and let that sharpen you.
Who This Is For
I write this with young men in mind—especially the ones who won’t sit down for a typical book. But I know who usually puts it in their hands. A parent. A grandparent. A mentor. Someone who sees the gap and doesn’t want to leave formation to chance.
If you’re trying to give your son something deeper than what the culture offers—you already know how hard that is.
A classical Christian education aims at formation: Truth. Discipline. Responsibility. But even with the best structure, there’s still the day-to-day question: What do I put in front of him that he’ll actually engage with? That’s where these books come in. They’re short enough to get read. Clear enough to be understood. Strong enough to come back to. Not a replacement for what you’re building—something that supports it.
The Foundation Underneath It
I don’t set my faith aside in this work. I follow Jesus Christ. That shapes everything. These men are not the standard. Christ is. But they help point toward truths that don’t change—truths about responsibility, discipline, conscience, and what it means to live under authority higher than yourself. What I’m after here is ordered liberty: Self-command under God. Discipline over impulse. Responsibility over comfort. When those are missing, drift begins.
Why This Matters
No one becomes steady by accident. You don’t wake up one day able to carry weight. That kind of life is built—or it isn’t. And by the time it’s tested, it’s too late to start from nothing.
Connected to the Stories
This series isn’t separate from my fiction. It sits underneath it. In my novels, you see people under pressure. Here, you get a look at what makes someone able to stand in that moment.
A Final Word
I wrote The Formation Series not because we need new ways to challenge ourselves, but because the old ways matter more than ever—and are still within reach.
The only thing new is stepping out of the intellectual grind.
Building is better than drifting.
Start
The Formation Protocol is a complimentary introduction to the seven volumes of the Formation Series.
Take the first step. Get your free copy, and I’ll meet you inside.
Preview: Intro & First Chapter
