By: Chris Billingsley

​Twas’ the night before the Masters and all through the land
Not a creature was stirring, not even Mahan.

The green jacket was hung in Butler’s cabin with care
In hopes that our favorite player would soon be the wearer.

We fans were all nested all snug in our beds,
While visions of amen corner danced in our heads.

And Mama in her green kerchief and me in my 13under cap
Had just calmed our minds for a pre-Masters nap.

When out on the putting green there arose such a clatter
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like the flash
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the slope of Augusta’s 16th green
gave a luster of mid-Sunday to those in its sheen.

When what to my wondering eyes see below
But a handful of analysts, and seven crazy tour pros.

Led by a Masters Champion so lively and quick
I knew in a moment it must be Sir Nick.

More rapid than eagles and birdies they came
And he whistled and shouted and called them by name:

Now Tiger, Now Phil, Now Jordan and Day,
On Rory, On Rickie, On Scott now let’s play!

To the top of the rankings, to the top of them all!
You can't wear the jacket until all your putts fall!

So onto the 18th, the top players flew,
With a bag on their shoulder, their caddies came too.

And then in a twinkling, I heard one of them say,
"I can’t find my caddy! He was headed this way!"

As I drew in my head, and was turning around, in through the door, came Rickie Fowler with a bound.

He was dressed all orange, from his head to his foot
And his clothes were labelled in Puma, quite simply put.

With a bundle of loose clubs all strewn on the floor
he looked like might pass out, like he couldn’t take anymore.

His eyes how they twinkled! His dimples so merry,
But all was in vain as his desperation verged on very!

His droll little mouth had fallen to a frown, for he knew his Master’s bid was losing its ground.

He was lean and he was fit but his whole body, it was shaking,
I just had to inquire to the nature of this quaking.

“My caddy disappeared, do you know what this means?
I can’t win the Masters alone, I’m part of a team!” 

With a wink of my eye and a twist of my head
I soon gave him to know he had nothing to dread.

I spoke not a word, but packed his clubs so they’d work
And filled up his bag, then turned with a jerk.

“I’ll be your caddy Mr. Fowler, you have nothing to fear
You’ll don that green jacket, for this is your year.”

And laying his finger aside of his head
And giving a nod, to the 18th we sped.

After we’d put in the prep, and read all the breaks
Rickie Fowler and I, agreed on the stakes.

“If I win the Masters, my bag you’ll have earned.
And I’ll support 13UNDER, your kindness returned.

With victory assured, 18 was a mere kick-in.
I hung back from my player, it was his moment to win.

But I heard him exclaim as strode out of sight,
Happy Master’s to all! And to all a great night!

Enjoy The MASTERS everyone!

The Ravens Watch was born of necessity, but raised with love and encouragement. Here's some insight into its creation. In 2011, I gave my grade 7 and 8 class this challenge: "I'd like you to tell me a story in one sentence." They looked at me liked I was crazy. "But it can't be done!" they cried.

So, as any awesome teacher would do, I created an exemplar to model for my students and projected this line onto the SmartBoard(tm)

"A seventeen-year-old boy, and a magical tower of London raven must resurrect an ancient guild called, The Raven's Watch, to rescue his sister from an evil sorcerer before he turns her to the dark side."

And the students LOVED it.

Using their enthusiasm and excitement as motivation, I churned out TEN chapters the first month. I tried out my one paragraph synopsis on other students around the school, under the guise that I was looking for a "Read Aloud", and was considering this book. It went something like this;

"Seventeen-year-old Henry Halstead is in deep trouble. His parents are missing, their country Manor burned to the ground, and what’s worse, the Emperor he’s destined to destroy has kidnapped his little sister. And it’s all his fault. Thanks, in part, to his rightful place in The Raven’s Watch - an ancient order of magical guardians, once thought destroyed – the Emperor now knows that Charlotte is to become very powerful. In order to reduce the population by eradicating those he deems ‘flawed’, Emperor Voth will need to turn her against The Watch, and her brother."

The response was overwhelming. I was flooded with comments like, "What book is that?", "Is that in our library?", "Can I read it?"

Over the next year and a half, I wrote as much as I could when I had time. I had written up to the end of Part II: The Island, but my forward progressed had stalled and months passed without much writing being done.
Two visits within one week of each other proved to be the motivation I needed to get back to the story and finish the manuscript.

The first visit was a class trip to the London Central Library to listen to Wesley King, author of the Vindico (thevindico.com) speak about writing, and his novels. (which, by the way was the winner of the Red Maple contest, so I highly recommend that you read the Vindico and the sequel Feros right now!)

Actually. Wait. You need to finish reading this first.

While listening to Wes speak, my story-telling juices started to flow and I knew I had to finish my book. When he said that "Out of 100 people who start a novel, only 3 will finish. Of those three, only one will see it published."

It was right then and there, that I decided that I was going to be one of the three.

And I was going to be the one.

You can imagine my thrill when I approached Wes after the presentation and he graciously offered to read it over and give me some feedback. Needless to say, the next few chapters poured out like water from a crumbling dam. I sent it to Wes a few weeks later and as he promised, he returned it to me with some feedback, encouraging words and an offer to help me along the way as a mentor. I am forever indebted to Wesley King and Wes, if you are reading this, I offer my most sincere appreciation.

The second visit came form two former students, Liam and Tad, who were in grade ten now, returned to my classroom to visit me. The first question Liam asked was if I had finished my book. I was already motivated to finish, but to have these boys come back over a year later and ask about it had a profound affect on me. it showed me that this story was worth writing and worth fighting for.

Liam read the first (awful!) draft and loved it. He wants to play Keyln in the movie.

I have an amazing circle of friends and family that support me and have a long list of people who want to be beta readers. I have colleagues that were the very first beta readers who trudged through contraction hell, and too much "telling" and not enough "showing" to support this quest.

My manuscript is nestled safely in the wondrously magical hands of my agent Marisa Corvisiero of the Corvisiero Literary Agency, and I could not be more excited to be working with such an amazing agent.

I have answered the Call to Adventure and am looking forward to taking my first step into Departure.

Stay Tuned!