IF YOU FOUND THIS PAGE FROM GOOGLE SEARCH AND THEN MY SUBSTACK THE PICTURE SHOWN BY GOOGLE IS NOT ME. Below is a picture I took of myself last winter 2025.
I recently sent out this query letter (A portion of the letter has been removed because part of it gives away the plot of the book. I'm not going to include that because if you're here you might be deciding to read the novel. Knowing too much about the book might detract from your enjoyment)
The letter.
"A Builder's Tale"
“He remembered and regained the reasons that had caused him to pursue this business, in the first place. The absolute pleasure and enthusiasm he felt for the process… Not the money, not the people, and surely not the clients, but simply the sheer childlike joy and fulfillment… a kid stamping in a mud puddle, building twig boats, damming streams as water poured about his feet and legs. Building made him that kid again."
In my literary novel "A Builder's Tale" (250,000 words, books 1 and 2, if preferred), architect-builder Wilson Abernathy rediscovers his childlike joy in creation even as he navigates the compromises his craft demands.
Drawing on my decades as a builder, sailor, and skier across Northern Michigan and in Colorado, I've crafted a narrative that authentically portrays the art of building while examining deeper questions about integrity, class, and the search for meaning in an increasingly commercialized world.
When financial pressures force Wilson back to Michigan from his Colorado retreat, he accepts a commission to build an expansive lakeside mansion for Tim and Daphne Stevens, nouveau riche owners of the "Mighty Burger" chain. What begins as a Faustian bargain—sacrificing his modernist vision for Victorian excess—evolves into a complex meditation on craft and identity.
As Wilson navigates class tensions between old-money residents like the Wainwrights and the aspirational Stevens family, he also contends with his enigmatic relationship with Grace… whose appearances and disappearances mirror his own internal conflicts (Here I removed the surprise ending of book1) which allowed ( In book two) for book 2's added plot lines that force the characters to expand, and in some cases reinvent themselves, amid economic uncertainty and personal upheaval.
By the novel's conclusion, Wilson must decide whether to abandon his greatest creation—his own meticulously crafted home—in search of a more authentic life elsewhere…
With prose that demonstrates what John Gardner called the "musicality" that cannot be taught, "A Builder's Tale" will appeal to readers of Richard Russo's "Empire Falls," Wallace Stegner's "Crossing to Safety," Ken Kesey's "Sometimes a Great Notion." With comparison to the meter contained in Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian and Tony Morrison’s Jazz.
My previous novel, "It Be Just Alright: An Island Journey," was published in 2003 and received excellent reviews in sailing publications.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely, J Matson Heininger (Jay) hjayhein@aol.com 231-676-7937
(You may read the synopsis but it might detract from your enjoyment of the novel)
Synopsis
A BUILDER'S TALE
In the waning years of the twentieth century, as the dot-com bubble expands and Americans embrace a prosperity that feels both exhilarating and hollow, architect-builder Wilson Abernathy confronts the central paradox of his existence: the structures he creates with such passionate precision have become a gilded cage trapping him in financial anxiety and artistic compromise.
The novel opens with Wilson reluctantly leaving his sanctuary in Aspen, Colorado—where he had retreated to reconnect with skiing and simpler projects—to answer the siren call of money. Financial necessity drives him back to the pristine shores of Northern Michigan to build an extravagant lakeside mansion for Tim and Daphne Stevens, nouveau riche owners of the "Mighty Burger" chain. Wilson, whose modernist soul recoils at Victorian excess, must sacrifice artistic integrity for commercial demands—a Faustian bargain made more palatable by the prospect of future freedom.
**************************
Begin With the Prologue Chapter followed by chapter 1 etc. Select archive for all chapter
I once designed and built unique residences. I have used this experience as the basis of my 2nd novel, 'A Builder's Tale' set in 1998 - the story of a resort town and the people in it and a builder- architect and his clients, and the characters who make up a construction project, hung on the design and fabrication of a large home...what this entails, with the creative design process included, as well as the economy and the nature of man, set in the USA, before the twin towers disaster. Skiing and sailing are also mentioned as well as the history of Northern Michigan. And, of course, it is a love story, love of creativity, love of design and building, and the love of a woman.
The book begins in the Colorado mountains. I'm serializing the chapters before I publish it next year. The sub stack serialized version will be free. Make sure you begin with the Prologue Chapter.
Why subscribe?
Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and website. Neve inr miss an update.
Stay up-to-date
You won’t have to worry about missing anything. Every new edition of the newsletter goes directly to your inbox.
Join the crew
Be part of a community of people who share your interests.
To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.
