I’ve lived enough decades to know that every chapter of life feels like a different book. I started writing in my thirties, stopped for a long while, raised two beautiful daughters, and eventually found my way back to the page—older, sharper, and far more curious about the strange machinery beneath ordinary life. I write stories when the familiar—no longer is. About standing on the cusp of remembering something that never happened, and where characters like Clay Dorado refuse to stay dead. I still believe in notebooks, real books, and the magic of finding old words written by a past self for a future one.

On weekends you’ll find me in a Jersey diner, drinking coffee, listening, watching, shaping the next story. Other nights I’m out with a telescope, staring into the universe and wondering if anything is staring back.

I write about normal things that are so much more than what they really are.

Birdfeeders maintained in the prettiest yard in the universe. Yard Sales that are more than a price gun and sunhat and junk. Afternoon lunches, beneath a sky of blue that is so much more. Stamp collections that bring out the best in people. And vacations, being trapped in a hotel, during a hurricane.

My novel—MILTON—is from the latter. I was denied the watching of the Europa Clipper launch in October 2024, which is what I flew down to Florida for. There was a natural disaster heading our way. And I flew down there anyway—you can call that middle-aged wisdom. It was the catalyst to get me back into writing. Being stuck there with everyone.

I witnessed how a community in Titusville came together during the storm. It was a life experience and will stay with me. Many conversations with fellow rocket launch aficionados like myself and many with those effected by the hurricane in unfortunate ways.

Life is wonderful, weird, fragile, a struggle, ending, and occasionally hilarious. The best any of us can do is pay attention, bookmark the important parts of our pasts, and stay present with the people we choose to love.

With each sale of Milton — if there are any — a portion of the royalties will support organizations doing work that matters:

• The Clinton Foundation

• National Audubon Society

• NAMI – National Alliance on Mental Illness

• Homeward Bound Pet Adoption Center (Gloucester Township, NJ)

Be authentic. Be yourselves.

Wishing you luck and laughs in your lives.

Mark Nuzzi

Person standing inside a glass observation deck on a tall building, overlooking a cityscape with a river and numerous buildings under a clear blue sky.
A man sitting on a bench against a plain beige wall, wearing a black polo shirt with white trim and gray pants, with tattoos on his arms.