J.D. Barker

And the funny thing was even the people that I worked with who were making a living at it weren't very happy. You know, like they were getting by counting every penny that came in. And, you know, so that really kept me grounded in that corporate world because I hated the job, but it was a steady paycheck and it was a good paycheck. So it was hard to walk away from it.

And the funny thing was even the people that I worked with who were making a living at it weren't very happy. You know, like they were getting by counting every penny that came in. And, you know, so that really kept me grounded in that corporate world because I hated the job, but it was a steady paycheck and it was a good paycheck. So it was hard to walk away from it.

I mean, ultimately, that's what ended up happening.

I mean, ultimately, that's what ended up happening.

I mean, ultimately, that's what ended up happening.

happening but we kind of got trapped in that because you know when you have a decent corporate job for a number of years like I did you know we had all the trappings of that we had a big house we had cars we had a boat that lifestyle is expensive you know so I couldn't walk away from the job because we needed the job to pay for the lifestyle so ultimately when my wife came to me and you know we came up with this plan to become a full-time author she came up with this crazy idea we ended up selling everything that we owned we bought a duplex in Pittsburgh and rented out one side of the duplex and lived in the other one

happening but we kind of got trapped in that because you know when you have a decent corporate job for a number of years like I did you know we had all the trappings of that we had a big house we had cars we had a boat that lifestyle is expensive you know so I couldn't walk away from the job because we needed the job to pay for the lifestyle so ultimately when my wife came to me and you know we came up with this plan to become a full-time author she came up with this crazy idea we ended up selling everything that we owned we bought a duplex in Pittsburgh and rented out one side of the duplex and lived in the other one

happening but we kind of got trapped in that because you know when you have a decent corporate job for a number of years like I did you know we had all the trappings of that we had a big house we had cars we had a boat that lifestyle is expensive you know so I couldn't walk away from the job because we needed the job to pay for the lifestyle so ultimately when my wife came to me and you know we came up with this plan to become a full-time author she came up with this crazy idea we ended up selling everything that we owned we bought a duplex in Pittsburgh and rented out one side of the duplex and lived in the other one

just essentially so that I could live off of savings long enough to write Forsaken, write that first book. And I got lucky. It took off and it worked.

just essentially so that I could live off of savings long enough to write Forsaken, write that first book. And I got lucky. It took off and it worked.

just essentially so that I could live off of savings long enough to write Forsaken, write that first book. And I got lucky. It took off and it worked.

That actually came out of the corporate world. I was chief compliance officer for a brokerage firm, which is essentially I was in charge of making sure all the employees and clients adhered to all the state and government rules and regulations when it came to the stock trading. And I was really good at it, but the problem was I could work with numbers. I could work with computers.

That actually came out of the corporate world. I was chief compliance officer for a brokerage firm, which is essentially I was in charge of making sure all the employees and clients adhered to all the state and government rules and regulations when it came to the stock trading. And I was really good at it, but the problem was I could work with numbers. I could work with computers.

That actually came out of the corporate world. I was chief compliance officer for a brokerage firm, which is essentially I was in charge of making sure all the employees and clients adhered to all the state and government rules and regulations when it came to the stock trading. And I was really good at it, but the problem was I could work with numbers. I could work with computers.

I was terrible at working with people. And I was 22 at the time. I had a big blowout with a couple of the members of senior staff. And my boss pulled me aside and he said, listen, I want you to continue working here. You're a great employee, but we need to figure out how to deal with this. So he sent me to anger management classes. My first session, it was a one-on-one with a therapist.

I was terrible at working with people. And I was 22 at the time. I had a big blowout with a couple of the members of senior staff. And my boss pulled me aside and he said, listen, I want you to continue working here. You're a great employee, but we need to figure out how to deal with this. So he sent me to anger management classes. My first session, it was a one-on-one with a therapist.

I was terrible at working with people. And I was 22 at the time. I had a big blowout with a couple of the members of senior staff. And my boss pulled me aside and he said, listen, I want you to continue working here. You're a great employee, but we need to figure out how to deal with this. So he sent me to anger management classes. My first session, it was a one-on-one with a therapist.

She stopped about 20 minutes in and she said, listen, have you ever been tested for autism? And other than watching Rain Man, I had no idea what that even was or meant. She had worked with autistic children. That's what her day job was. And she had seen just in those 20 minutes, you know, a couple of signs that were, you know, they were flags for her.

She stopped about 20 minutes in and she said, listen, have you ever been tested for autism? And other than watching Rain Man, I had no idea what that even was or meant. She had worked with autistic children. That's what her day job was. And she had seen just in those 20 minutes, you know, a couple of signs that were, you know, they were flags for her.

She stopped about 20 minutes in and she said, listen, have you ever been tested for autism? And other than watching Rain Man, I had no idea what that even was or meant. She had worked with autistic children. That's what her day job was. And she had seen just in those 20 minutes, you know, a couple of signs that were, you know, they were flags for her.