Ruff Creek man has love story published
Every story has a beginning and an end, but J. Judson Lacko believes the middle of the journey is the part that makes the difference.
The Ruff Creek man, who was an airman in the U.S. Air Force, has always been busy, but over the last four years, he decided to take time to make his dream of writing a book come true.
His first book, “A Breath Away: Life’s Final Chapter,” was released June 30 and is about young love that is not typical “puppy love” felt between two teenagers.
“I took a pair of normal male and female teenagers and got them together and used the soulmate concept to form my story,” Lacko said. “But there is a surprise in the story that no one will see coming.”
Lacko struggled for years over the concept. He began writing it from a first person perspective, but quickly realized with the help of his publisher he should take a different approach.
“When I first started with this idea, I looked at a lot of romance movies and books and I noticed how they are almost always told from the female’s perspective,” Lacko said. “I wanted something a little different and the male point-of-view is the main difference.”
The story follows the love story between the main character, Chris, and his soulmate, Elise, beginning when their eyes first locked across a dance floor in the 1960s. The book spans 50 years of Chris’ life and shows how love, loss, mistakes and decisions can form a person’s life for better or for worse.
Lacko took a lot out of observations and experiences from his own life to create the characters, scenes and situations within the book. From a young age, he remembers going to the Pittsburgh airport or a local bus station to sit and watch how people interacted with one another.
“I have taken from a lot of people to create the personalities of my two main characters,” Lacko said. “I think that makes them more relatable.”
Even though Lacko wrote the beginning and the end first, the real struggle during his writing process was the middle.
“It all has to flow to make sense at the end and that is one of the most difficult parts,” Lacko said.
He received help with the middle after giving a transcript to a friend, who told him he needed to develop the two female characters more. They were too flat, she told him.
Lacko said that was some of the best advice he received. He added 15 pages to the story that ended up being only 82 pages long.
“That’s a large portion of my book that would have not been there before,” Lacko said.
Even though the book has been out for only a month, the couple of comments and reviews he has received have been positive and have given him the encouragement to continue this passion. He is currently working on his second book with plans of writing a trilogy.
The second book will based off of the “star wars” initiative during the Ronald Reagan presidency, Lacko said. He added it’s set a year ahead with Chris’ brother working as a Navy SEAL whose team has to save a kidnapped scientist.
He hopes to have the second book released by the end of this year.
Even though he is already working on another piece, Lacko, who previously worked as the EMS coordinator for Greene County, continues to go back to his first book and hopes the readers feel a connection with his characters.
“I hope that they get an insight into their own life and how they feel about their significant other is it solid is it forever love are they your soulmate,” Lacko said. “I would like to have the book remembered long after the reader puts it down and be a part of their life.”
Lacko’s book can be purchased online at Amazon.com.