Doug Wesselmann has written for newspapers, broadcast advertising, symphony orchestra, and stage. His stories have been performed by the Boston Pops and other orchestras from Jacksonville to Salt Lake City. In September of 2002 he ended a twenty-five year stint in radio and turned his attention to writing fiction. The Goodness Of Trees is an amalgam of wisdom from people he has known, stories he has heard, and his core belief that we all are meant for lives of quiet service to others.

An award-winning writer, at one point he decided to seek a writer’s life and simplify a few things. Otis now lives in bucolic Walnut, Iowa (pop.897) with his wife of 27 years - author of The Whole Parent (Perseus) - and an odd kid or two. He writes eight hours a day, everyday, unless the dog is sick, tornadoes threaten, or his neighbor needs help bringing in the corn.

Wesselmann, writing under the pen name “Otis Twelve,” had his first novel, On The Albino Farm, shortlisted for the 2003 British Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger Award. The sequel, Sometimes A Prozac Notion, is now complete in draft, and is on the short list for the 2004 British Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger Award. He is represented by Donna Levin at Manus&Associates Literary Agency (New York/Palo Alto).

When a scarred and traumatized young man named Vincent returns from combat under the deadly trees of the Mekong River’s Nine Dragons region in Vietnam, he searches to find his purpose in the world. He seeks answers in a small isolated monastery among the quiet trees of the Ozark Mountains, where he finds lessons are often taught in silence and in song. A hermit, a nightbeetle, and an ungrateful little girl lead Vincent to the healing he needs and a realization that changes his life in a single sentence: “I am here for you.”

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