In the beginning,
John David Graham spent a lifetime preparing, and 10 years writing what he called “everyman’s story” of second chance. But no one wanted to publish a story about an outsider struggling to fit in with normal society, written by a man struggling to fit in with normal society. So RUNNING AS FAST AS I CAN was rejected again and again. That’s when he realized he would do what he has always done—find another way. So he founded Don Quixote Press as a symbol of defiance, a voice for everyone who has ever been rejected by normal society, who has ever felt like an outsider, and especially anyone who has wanted just one more chance to start over.
That is Don Quixote Press. And that is why our motto is “We tilt at windmills—passionately!”
If you have a second chance story to tell, we are here to listen.
Our mission
Our focus is on stories of second chances, stories of redemption, stories of hope, stories of new beginnings. We have a specific passion for individuals who have been incarcerated and the stories they have to share. What we’ve learned about people coming from prison is they just want a second chance. They want their voice to be heard.
John David Graham
John David Graham is the founder and executive director of Good Samaritan Home, a non-profit social service agency in Ohio, offering ex-offenders reentry housing and mentoring support. He is the author of an academic book, Citizen Circle: A Mentoring Model for Rehabilitating Ex-offenders in Darke County, Ohio, that documents the positive impact that mentoring ex-offenders has on the community.
Prior to that, he was a door-to-door salesman, a children’s home counselor, a substitute school teacher, a truck driver, a fireman, a building contractor, a minister and a journalist. Sometimes the road home takes many twists and turns.
That long road and winding road is the best preparation for writing. John’s philosophy is the best writing occurs after a life has actually been lived—when we have had time to develop calloused hands and a tender heart.
His current novel, although fiction, is the very real story of too many of us who struggle to overcome generations of poverty, neglect or abuse that have left us totally incapable of the life, and love, we desperately want. It is everyone’s story because we all deserve a second chance.
John is a member of the San Antonio Writers’ Guild and the Writers’ League of Texas.
He can be contacted at his website: johndavidgraham.com
Soon to be published..
Running As Fast As I Can
This an epic journey for love and forgiveness. Most importantly, it is a page-turner story that readers will identify with because it is, on some level, everyone’s story.
Citizen circle
An academic study of the positive impact of mentoring men and women reentering the community following incarceration.
To be released 2024
Life on the Streets
One inmate’s story of life on the streets.
To be released 2024
Inmate Stories
An anthology of stories / events in the life of men and women that forever changed their lives—for good or bad. In their own words.
To be released 2025
Do you have a story to tell?
If you have a second chance story to tell, we are willing to listen.
Our focus is stories of second chances, stories of redemption, stories of hope, and stories of new beginnings.