After 13 years of struggle, and despite scoring several modest recording and publishing deals in the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, R.J. Reilly found myself broke and on the edge of despair. The specter of success in the music business had become a monster about to ruin his family life. Something had to change, or something was going to break beyond repair. He decided to give up his dream and take a steady job—as a prison guard. To call the experience sobering would be the ultimate understatement: "As time crawls by, I become jealous of the inmates leaving the prison. I start to slip; I start to feel like I'm losing my faith. Any trace of innocence that I thought I still had starts to evaporate. I begin to feel trapped, imprisoned, locked in a dark heartbreaking world, just like an inmate." This gritty, astonishing story of one man's journey will resonate long after the last page is read.
Born in England, R.J. Reilly moved to the United States to pursue his dream of being a professional musician. He worked as a prison guard for six years, leaving the corrections system in 2007. Today he lives in midcoast Maine with his wife and three children, and works as an outdoor education instructor. This is his first book.
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