By David Fleet
Editor
In 500 years civilization has come far since the time known as The Great Event.  Ancient ruins remain scattered across the world of Solaris, echoes of a long-forgotten past. Siblings Amber, Zander, and Quinn have known only peace growing up in the mountain town of Thunder Ridge.  Each works diligently to master their talents.  Their futures seem secure.  Until… news from Thunder Ridge sends shockwaves across the land.  
A creature of legend has been born.
An excerpt from “A Gathering Storm,” by Lucas Fischhaber, a 2001 Goodrich High School graduate who recently published the young adult fiction novel—the first of five.
“I have an inspiring story to share about an engineer army veteran who didn’t like English class (avoided English at all costs) discovering a passion for writing and story crafting that was always there but never realized it until two years ago,” said Fischhaber, now a Portage, Mich. resident.
Fischhaber entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 2001 and earned a Bachelors of Science in Nuclear Engineering. He went on to receive a Masters of Science  in Nuclear Engineering at Idaho State University. He served as a company commander in the Army, deployed to Iraq, worked on designing nuclear thermal rockets for power and propulsion in space.

“From a character point of view, my life experiences have fed into them,” he said. “Emotions, empathy, compassion and the raw emotions, those feelings do not come easy.”
Fishchhaber says his inspiration stems from Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings and the Screwtape Letters—the eternal struggle between the forces of good and evil. His time in combat and the stress of the environment is also reflected in the book of characters that are not perfect and cope with their own struggles.
“I had a real interest in the adventitious side,” he said. “Then when my wife Shauna and I had kids we loved sharing stories together as a family. We’d just sit around and build a story.”
Fishchhaber emphasizes we are all given gifts to be used throughout our lives.
“Shauna is my ‘alpha reader,’” he said. “It’s part of the process, I bounce the story off her and it’s been an amazing journey that has brought us together, if I sold no books it was a success.”