The mariachi band played just outside the open window, their melody drifting up and over the bustle of Faneuil Hall. Jim and I sat in our corner office, suite 720 at 84 State Street, with sandwiches from Al’s unwrapped on the desk between us. The energy of Boston—vibrant, chaotic, alive—surged below. It was our favorite spot for lunch. The window stayed open so we could hear the sounds of the city while we talked about anything and everything. On this particular day, Jim leaned back in his chair, chewing thoughtfully, and said, “You ever hear of Tom Wolfe?”
I shook my head. “Who’s that?”
Jim’s eyes lit up. “He wrote The Bonfire of the Vanities. You know what’s wild? He didn’t publish it as a book at first. He wrote it one chapter at a time, publishing each one in Rolling Stone. People loved it so much they demanded the full book. It’s one of the greatest novels of the 20th century.”
I could feel the wheels turning in his head as he stared out the window at the crowds below. Then he looked back at me and said something that changed my life: “You know, maybe you could do something like that. Just write your story, piece by piece, and put it out there. Start with MySpace.”
MySpace. It was 2007, and the platform was just beginning to blow up. At the time, I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to say, let alone whether anyone would care to read it. But Jim’s idea stuck with me. Could I build an audience? Just me, a keyboard, and the thoughts swirling in my head? Could I write something people would care about?
I didn’t know the answer, but I decided to try. That’s how I started blogging. One post at a time, I put my story into the world—vulnerable, raw, and real. To my surprise, people read it. They shared it. They connected with it. And somewhere along the way, I realized that writing wasn’t just about telling my story; it was about giving others a reason to believe in their own resilience.
That moment over lunch with Jim was the spark. It was the first time I asked myself if my words could matter. And now, years later, I find myself asking the same question again.
Is the World Ready for That Kind of Storytelling Again?
So much has changed since the days of MySpace. Social media is now a crowded, noisy landscape of short attention spans and endless scrolling. Everyone has a platform, and it feels harder than ever to stand out. But that’s exactly why I’m drawn back to the Tom Wolfe approach. He put it all on the line. He gave his story to the people, trusting that their belief in his words would carry him to his destiny.
Could that still work today? Could an author build an audience not with flashy ads or viral gimmicks, but with honest storytelling—one chapter at a time? Could the belief of a few readers grow into something powerful enough to shape the course of a writer’s life?
I don’t know the answer yet. But I do know this: Writing is about connection. It’s about putting yourself out there, not because you’re guaranteed success, but because there’s something inside you that has to be shared. That’s why I started blogging back then, and it’s why I’m considering a new experiment now.
Could the Tom Wolfe Approach Work for Me?
Maybe it’s time to put my story out there in pieces again. To share the next chapter of The Dog Story not as a finished book, but as a work in progress. To trust that if I write honestly, the right people will find it. The tools have changed since 2007, but the question remains the same: Can one writer, armed with nothing but a keyboard and faith in his words, make a difference?
I’m willing to find out. What about you? Would you follow a story told one chapter at a time? Would you take a chance on a writer putting it all on the line for the people who believe in him? Maybe this is the start of something new. Or maybe it’s just lunch over Faneuil Hall, with a mariachi band playing in the background and the spark of an idea hanging in the air. Either way, it feels like a story worth telling.