Square Squire and the Journey to DreamState

About the Book

Square Squire and the Journey to DreamState, my 394-page, 96,729-word novel, is a semiautobiographical story of growing up geeky in the last innocent time when all the basketball players had hopes and none of the gangs had guns. Squire Brooks is a precocious nerd whose only awareness of the transitions in his neighborhood of Compton, California, in the ’60s is the opportunity to chuck stones at the increasing number of For Sale signs in the yards of his white neighbors. His father’s deepening involvement in civil rights creates increasing chaos in his home, where Squire writes his short stories and daydreams. Adolescence brings peer-driven lessons about girls, puberty, girls, bullies, and girls as he navigates the temptations during his elementary, junior high, and high school years. Squire’s daydreaming has developed into an imaginative mechanism that frees his mind from all the chaos and allows him to escape to a dream state whenever he writes. After graduating from high school and on a road trip with his dog, Julius, Squire meets Octavia Steves, who teaches him that his dream state is actually a form of meditation that could help him become the writer of his dreams.

About the Author

My name is Duane Lance Filer. My dad, Maxcy, Filer passed away on January 10, 2011, but my mom, Blondell, still lives in Compton, in the same house we were raised. I got my artistic genes from her. (Love you, Mom!) I grew up in Compton, California, and had one of the greatest, richest childhoods one could imagine growing up in an inner city. My dad was involved in the West Coast civil rights movement, and during the late 1950s into the 60s, I got to witness and was involved in some wild and crazy events during this important time in American history. Since birth, I’ve possessed an extraordinary memory, an insatiable imagination, and a fascination with writing. I started writing at Walton Jr. High, then Compton Senior High School, and continued at Cal Lutheran University. I am and have been married to my beautiful wife, Janice, for thirty-seven years. My son, Lance, and daughter, Arinn, are both bright, ambitious adults who have made their parents proud. I have six brothers and sisters (Maxine, Kelvin, Anthony, Stephanie, Dennis, and Tracy) and a goo-gaggle of cousins, in-laws, and friends. God has truly blessed me these past sixty-two years. Life has been a blast so far! Besides my two other published books (the original adult version of Square Squire and the Journey to DreamState in 2012 and The Baby Boomers First-Hand, First-Year Guide to Retirement: 365 Days of Bliss or Diss [Not] in 2014), watch out soon for my series of children short stories books entitled LongTales for ShortTails.” I have tons of other far-out stories to follow. Please feel free to contact me at duanelancefiler@gmail.com or visit me on my website at http://duanelancefiler.wix.com/duanelancefiler. I can also be reached through regular Facebook or LinkedIn. I look forward to hearing from you. Keep on funkin’, and nothing wrong with being square!