Charles had always wanted his Grandparents to meet their great-grandson, and it was with that intent that Charles, his then-wife and newborn son moved across America and settled down in Zephyrhills, Florida. Having fulfilled the huge goal of introducing his son to his grandparents, Charles was satisfied. He spent from 1989 to 1993 living the life of an independent sports memorabilia dealer, which he calls "the second greatest form of earning a living, right behind writing."

During his time in Florida, disaster struck. Charles was diagnosed with cancer on his right ankle in 1991. Charles' doctor informed him of the only two options available. "This is how it is," the doctor said. "You're a young guy, so you're probably going to want to keep your leg, which is fine, but you're only going to live another year ... year and a half, tops. Or we can amputate a few inches below the knee and you'll stand every chance of making a full recovery." Charles was 22 years-old at the time, and more active and sports-oriented than ever, which turned the news into a devastating blow. Nonetheless, having thought about the choices for mere seconds, Charles recalls, "It really wasn't much of a choice to make. Be proud and stupid and keep the leg ... and count every day I have left to live ... or have it hacked off and move on."

To this day, Charles does not resent the decision. It did, however, come at a heavy price. With almost no warning, Charles' first wife divorced him. "I'm not the least bit interested in rehashing the reason she gave for it," Charles recalls. "Let's just say it was cowardly and the most selfish thing I've ever seen or heard of anyone ever doing to another person. And ... quite frankly, it turned out to be the best thing that's ever happened to me. Because of what my first wife did to me, I was able to move on in life and meet my second wife ... the only one that matters." 

Before meeting the woman who would become his lifelong soul mate and best friend, Charles left Florida and headed west. He admits having no direction or goal. "Why would I?" he says. "I'd spent years thinking I'd found the right woman, someone I could love and who would love me back and live up to the vows we both swore to, and we'd just had a son together. So you can see how, when that little piece of paradise turned out to be nothing but a web of lies and deceit, life really ran out of direction for me." Charles ended up at the home of a close friend in North Hollywood, California, on January 17, 1994 ... just after midnight. It was just down the street from the epicenter of the 6.7 Richter Scale Northridge Earthquake that shook Los Angeles for 20 seconds, completely destroying whole sections of major freeways around the area, killing 72 people. "I'd been through a few earthquakes before that, but this thing was officially listed as having the highest ground acceleration ever instrumentally recorded in any urban area in North America. I'd fallen asleep on my friend's living room couch and ... WHAM! That earthquake literally threw me off the couch and across the room. After picking myself up off the floor, I ran into my buddy's bedroom, woke him up by screaming about the whole house shaking like crazy, and then stood dumbfounded as he told me, 'It's just an earthquake, man.' Well, just an earthquake or not, I wasn't about to stick around for a second helping." Charles recalls grabbing his friend's pickup truck keys, telling him, "I'll let you know where you can pick up your truck. I'm out of here! Call ya later!"

And within seconds, Charles sped off into the still pre-dawn darkness, alone and startled.

Having arrived in Las Vegas hours later, Charles recalls, "I pulled into a hole-in-the-wall casino on the edge of town. The marquee sign out front advertised ten cent beer! So, after the recent changes in my life, and still only hours after that whole earth-shaking thing, I figured ten cent beer was right up my alley. I flipped open my wallet, counted the amount I had in bills inside, did the math and figured out that I had enough money to spend pretty much the entire day there, and decided Las Vegas was the place for me. Think about that. No earthquakes there, no blizzards, no hurricanes, tornadoes, or anything else, really. I figured, what's the worst that can happen there? I'd spend every day waking up to weather forecasts warning me of pleasant, sunny weather for all eternity. Oh, sure, there was always the possibility of going outside and having my flesh melt right off my skull as small animals burst into flames in front of me, but the heat was everything I was willing to trade for in order not to have to deal with snow for the rest of my life."

And a few months later, coming home from a long walk across the city, Charles says, "I opened my door and there she was ... just sitting there at my chess board ... as if she'd been there all along. The most beautiful vision of my life ... just sitting there." The "she" was Amie and she'd accompanied a friend (Jennifer) who'd gone to spend time with her boyfriend (John), Charles' roommate. It was love at first sight.

Then and there, Charles vowed to make Amie his new wife.

Charles and Amie Chilton married on September 10, 1996 and moved across town to a quaint house beside Nellis Air Force Base until April 1999, when Amie decided she had had enough of life in the desert. Having grown up in Las Vegas, she wanted to see America, so she and Charles moved back to New England, Charles' boyhood stomping grounds. They lived in Framingham for a brief period, both working jobs they hated for companies they hated even more, before Charles became fed up and suggested a move deeper into New England, to Maine, where they resided until 2003.

It was there that Charles took up the idea of writing for a living. "I'd toyed around with a few plot ideas before, always wanting to write, but I just never did," he recalls. "But there's something about Maine ... something that jump starts the creative engine in a person. I mean, I must be right, because it's where Stephen King got his start and he's pretty damn successful."

Six years later, Charles' stable of work includes 650 short stories, 25 novelettes, 32 novellas, and 4 feature-length novels. "A Song of Independence is easily my best work," Charles says, "and that presents me with a pretty big problem, too, because it was written early in my career. So it sets a pretty high bar in how and what I have to write in order to top it. And that, above everything else, is the goal I've been searching for all my life."

Charles says he owes his entire writing career to Amie. "It's all her fault. It all started as a way for me to tell a story to just one person ... one Ideal Reader ... her. She's who I write for. She's who I constantly seek to entertain with my work. It's her opinion I value most, even above my own. The day I hand her a manuscript that she doesn't enjoy reading, I'm done. I'll be gone from writing that very day. But until that day comes, I'll continue pounding out as much material as I can, as often as possible. Because, if not for her, I'd never have known I could write for a reading audience. I owe it to her to write as much as I can ... while I can."

Charles adds, "It helps that I have the most awesome readers and fans on Earth, too. Without them and my wife, I'd have no reason to do what I do."  

::: UPDATE :::

On Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 11:51 PM, Charles held Amie in his arms as she passed away from a heart attack. All efforts to revive her were unsuccessful. Please bear with us as Charles works through the intense grieving process. Thank you for your understanding.