Path to a publishing deal was a long, sometimes painful journey for Wilson Memorial grad

Ron Jones credits a teacher with developing his love of writing, a love that disappeared for a time as an adult but returned as a way to heal. It was late in his high school career when Jones met Mike Leonard, an English teacher at Wilson Memorial.

"He was that guy who could get a redneck to write a creative story," Jones said.

That sparked an interest for Jones, although family and work obligations didn't always leave him the time to pursue that interest. Then, through struggles with mental health, he returned to writing as a way to find peace.

This past December the Fishersville native released the fictional novel, "Buried at Sea," a tale that begins in the 1970s with the Treasures of Tutankham tour in the United States. On the journey from Egypt, part of the shipment, and two sailors, go missing during a ferocious storm at sea.

Fifteen years later two crew members aboard the USS Redstone discover a dark secret hidden in the heart of the ship. The lead character is from Fishersville, with Jones making sure to have an Augusta County connection.

Jones said he's still discovering things about this book after it published.

"It was not just about a hidden physical treasure," Jones said. "It's about hidden emotional treasure and finding something real that will keep you from getting buried."

Experts tell authors to write what they know, and Jones spent nearly 12 years in the Navy. He grew up in Fishersville, attending Wilson Memorial High School. His dad was a longtime principal in Augusta County. Jones joined the United States Navy following high school.

He trained to operate nuclear power plants mainly because there was a $20,000 bonus if he qualified and Jones's main reason for joining the Navy was to earn enough money to marry his high school sweetheart.

Four years later he got an ROTC scholarship that allowed him to study at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, then went back into the Navy after college. He's been in the southeastern part of Virginia since that time, getting married when he was 21. The couple had two children, so work and family obligations left little time for writing.

"Life was going faster than I had time to keep up with," he said.

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Once out of the Navy, Jones went into the ministry, serving at a Baptist church. That's where he rediscovered writing, working on sermons and Bible studies. He was in the ministry for 20 years but for part of that time was struggling with mental health issues.

"I started getting depressed somewhere in the middle of that," he said. "I don't know why. If you've ever had depression and mental illness, it's not like it announces itself. I just noticed I was more and more depressed."

By the end of 2018, Jones was so depressed he struggled to get out of bed. He told friends that the only reason he did was because he felt he owed it to his wife. Writing was once again on the shelf, although by that time he had written 50,000 words of what would become "Buried at Sea."

He talked with his wife and made the difficult decision to leave the ministry, saying that it wasn't the church that was a problem, but he needed a change.

"I wasn't wired to let things go," he said. "Everybody dumps things on you as a pastor, which I know I should be giving these things to God, but I thought I could handle them."

Jones became a courier at a Navy hospital in 2019. With an undergraduate degree in engineering and two master's degrees, Jones was driving around samples of blood and urine for not much more than minimum wage. It was the change he needed though. He never woke up feeling inadequate in his work, wondering if he could perform his job.

During his breaks, he began writing again. He had an idea for a story that he ended up writing on his iPhone, using Google Docs to churn out 150,000 words. He took guidance from Anne Lamott's book "Bird by Bird," when she suggests making short assignments, writing a description of a river at sunrise or a young child swimming. Nothing more. Looking at the whole project can be like "trying to scale a glacier," Lamott wrote.

Jones felt like writing on the iPhone helped with small assignments. It was too hard to go back and constantly edit, so he just pushed ahead with the story.

That book is called "Tabitha," but he had no luck in finding a publisher. Despite the demoralizing nature of rejection — he had 50 of them for that book — Jones said the writing process had been inspirational.

He was still trying to find an answer to his mental health issues. Medication, diets, prayer, therapy, none seemed to help him, but one thing did. While writing "Tabitha," he felt the depression starting to lift.

By then Jones had returned to the church, not as a pastor, but as a parishioner. He had made one last ditch effort to ask God to help him, and he said he believes that his prayer was heard. But Jones also thinks the creative aspect of writing helped, that inspiration he found through the words.

He decided to revisit the 50,000 words he had on "Buried at Sea."

"I don't want to stop creating because I think this is part of getting better," he said. "If you understand depression, there's nothing to look forward to any day. And I was looking forward to writing everyday."

He reread what he had written, put it in Google Docs and, once again, during breaks at work, began writing more and more. He got the idea of putting the ship in the story in the Gulf War and placed some of the action in Egypt, both of which he had actually experienced. While in Egypt, Jones got to see the Valley of the Kings. And when he was younger he got to see Treasures of Tutankhamun with his mom when it came to Washington, D.C., in the late 1970s. It arrived in the United States aboard a Navy ship.

"It was like lightning," Jones said. "It was bang, that's the story right there."

Write what you know. The story came together from that point forward.

Jones's son is also a writer. It was about the time Jones was marketing his second book proposal, in April 2022, his son got a two-book deal. Jones was thrilled for his son, but was wondering why his book wouldn't sell.

"Three weeks later I get the deal," Jones said.

He spent the summer and into the fall editing the book, which published in December, right before Christmas. He's heard mostly good things from those who have read it, but he said a friend of his mom's said it was too dark for her.

"There are some dark themes in it," he said. "But I think that's a win, if you make somebody feel something. If it was too dark and you considered the darkness, good."

Jones is now a Christian counselor, after leaving his courier job after 3 1/2 years this past fall. He is also a published author, with plans for another book. His current work is about an accountant for the Mafia who had two families, one in Florida and one in Virginia, specifically Brands Flat, another Augusta County connection. The accountant steals the Mafia's money then dies. When the two families find out about one another that's where the intrigue really begins.

He is about 50,000 words into the book with plans to get to about 80,000 words

"But I don't now," he said. "I write until the story's done."

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— Patrick Hite is a reporter at The News Leader. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Wilson Memorial grad publishes first book after long journey