Anthony Nicolosi - Author
Hi, everyone! Growing up in the American West shaped the person and writer that I am today. I was born in El Paso, Texas, but raised in Oklahoma City. As a young adult, I pushed myself to the west coast, living first in San Diego and then Santa Barbara, California, where I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Film at Brooks Institute of Photography in 1992. Later, I relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada to complete my Masters in Education in 2005 through the University of Phoenix online program.
While I’ve earned a paycheck working in insurance (25 years) and property management (15 years), I’ve always been committed to creative expression. I gained a few credits in the entertainment industry, including the management of “The Newport '69 Pop Festival” footage (Jimi Hendrix, Experience Museum, Bill Gates) and video production for clients as varied as the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, David H. Murdock’s Arabian horse farm, and a PSA for the National Association of Handicapped Riders with Ronald and Nancy Reagan.
I began writing on this book at the age of sixteen, pay attention to my preface, and have several lifelong projects (Short stories, Screenplays, Poems, and Novels).
Life seems to push you in the direction it wants you to go, only to realize you’ve been on the path you’ve needed to be on the entire way. I lost my father in 2001 to heart disease, and my mother in 2010 to colon cancer. Most of my personal relationships have been short-lived. I did not officially come out as a gay man until I was thirty-four. I experienced the dogmatic turmoil of being raised by a Catholic father, and a Church of Christ mother, and being a gay child in the Bible belt of Oklahoma. I did experience some of the sins of Los Angeles, if that’s truly what they were. From an Oklahoma child’s perspective, some activities were certainly “sinful,” but from the perspective of an adult who has truly learned to stand in the presence of Angels, Christ, and God, those activities were not sins. My life is His life.
While I did draw upon my own personal experiences while writing this story, and do see myself in both of the main characters, these two are very much their own, and they told me their story. I have no idea where a lot of this came from; perhaps deep inside of me, and perhaps from another realm of existence where dreams are created and do come true in whatever way they can. I learned, as I hope you will learn, through their realms of angelic existence. The closest novel to my heart has always been “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles. I felt my characters the same, bonding in their life’s experiences.
I have always forged forward despite life’s attempts to keep me down and away from what I most desire. I love animals and have been quite active with horses and animal rescue. I have three beautiful sisters, seven awesome nieces and nephews, and five grandnephews! I’ve met and made friends with some pretty spectacular people.
My love for a beautiful angel brought me back to my writing, and what I learned through this (again) life long project, was that I have learned a lot about myself, life and love. Mostly, I feel like I finally learned how to write. I’m very proud of myself in its completion and am excited to finally become a published author, even if it’s of my own making. When all else fails, just do it yourself!