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Personal message from author:
“This story is close to my heart. It started out as a screenplay in hopes of making it into a feature film. At one point in 2014 we were incredibly close. We were funded, casted, in preproduction and on our way to principal photography. My story was finally coming to life. Words cannot describe the satisfaction I felt during this time. More than just excitement, it was a sort of euphoria.
A week before we hit camera, a man posing as an investor to bring on additional funds for our production budget that was needed, gained access to our production’s bank account and stole thousands from us, thus forcing my current investors to pull their money immediately. Production was shut down. Everyone who worked on the production blindsided. My investors were able to move on as they had the means to. But me, I suffered the biggest blows. I lost everything. Friends, credibility, the love of my life, business partners. I was nuclear, even though I did nothing wrong. Everyone left my side suddenly. A harsh reality of being used for career/financial advancement that I was forced to realize. What was once a full operating production office was now to me who populated it.
My crew was owed money. I took on the responsibility to make things right with them, and so I paid them out of my own pocket. Afterwards, I was broke. I didn’t know where to go from there. Telling this story was a dream of mine ever since I began writing it in high school so many years ago. How could my dream hurt me like this?
It took a while but I picked myself up. I found the most important thing for me was just telling the story– no matter the platform. Somewhere down the line I lost sight of that. Regardless of the film’s demise, I had to tell this story. I had to tell the story that symbolized so much of me, my family and where I came from.
So from that point forward I dived in and wrote the novel for THE SONS OF SUMMER. I was able to expand on stories I never had the opportunity to tell in the screenplay. Suddenly, I found that euphoria again. That feeling of accomplishment and fight.
This story is my love letter to baseball and the Midwest. It captures the relationships of fathers and sons and the unique struggles of middle-american towns and families.
In the end, what’s important to me now for this particular story is to share it with everyone I can whether that be physical, ebook, or audiobook form. And I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing this piece. Truly, thank you.”
— Michael Dault
The Dalton family moves to the mining town of Rupland, where baseball is that of a religion. The surrounding counties help make up the storied Summer League, where the best baseball in the country is played. In Rupland, little boys dream of donning the orange and black of their idols, the Rupland Hawks.
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