About the Author--

Terry Dean Scheerer was born, through no fault of his own, in the middle of a dark and stormy night in Carthage, Missouri, on September 26, 1949. Some may consider the fact that his birth took place during a raging thunderstorm an omen, of sorts, which may have been a deciding factor in the direction his life and resulting dark moods thus took.

Or not.

Born into a dysfunctional family, his life continued to follow that trend for the next eighteen (or more) years. Encouraged to enjoy literature by both his mother and grandmother, he found much more happiness living and playing in an imaginary world, than he could ever hope to find in the 'real' world which surrounded him. As he was an introverted and solitary child, at a young age his imaginary worlds kept him from becoming overly despondent, and he tended to be quite comfortable and happy playing by himself, in his own 'made up' worlds. In his youth, Terry often thought that he had been born 'out of time' with the rest of the world, feeling that he should have been born a few, if not some hundreds of years earlier than he was. As he grew older, he became sure of this fact.

An avid reader and storyteller from an early age, he would often entertain his classmates during school recess by reciting stories he thought up on the spur of the moment. By the time he reached junior high (middle school) and high school, he often made pocket money by writing essays and doing research on term papers for other students. He also had quite a little side business going on, forging parent signatures for students who had been absent, without cause. Throughout his school life, even into college, he was an indifferent student, obtaining A's in subjects he liked and frequently failing subjects he had no taste for, while his favorite subjects remained, history, art, literature and science.

He began writing in college, but approached this endeavor as he did so many other things in his life--halfheartedly--and while he sent off a number of stories for possible publication during those early years, all he managed to collect were a series of rejection notices. Frustration with the world in general and his life in particular led to frequent bouts of depression, which began at an early age and have continued to plague him throughout his adult life (self medication experiments during college, not withstanding).

While managing to survive into the 21st Century without experiencing a mid-life crisis, the past few years have given unto him a number of health situations that made him rethink his worth and purpose. Making a serious effort to continue (or start) a writing career in 2000, he sold his first fantasy short story in early 2001. For the next few years he penned and published a story here and there, but a serious, long term bout of depression in 2004 (which he barely survived) and another health setback in early 2005 spurred him on to produce a more lasting legacy with his writing--"Dreams of Darkness, Dreams of Night." This book collects a number of his poems, some reaching back three decades, and several short stories, all of which are dark, brooding and full of pain, but they give an insight into a troubled and sometimes slightly humorous mind.

We hope you take the time to enjoy this effort.