Meet Charles Stonewall, Batavia’s Very Own Author
From L to R: Levi Lunsford, Charles StonewallJune 22, 2022
On a hot June day at Batavia Nursing Care Center, I had the privilege of meeting and serving many great residents. One particular encounter with a resident renewed my understanding of why I love long term care so much – connecting with people.
I planned on walking into his room to do a quick cleaning and refill of his water, but as I did, I met a very friendly resident sitting at his desk and playing a videogame. But this wasn’t a typical game, it was Resident Evil Village, a modern survival-horror game on a high end computer, from a series that I grew up playing.
“Dude is that Resident Evil?” I said. This admittedly, was a phrase I never thought I would say at a nursing home. He laughed, and said he loved the game. For a bit I watched him play and we discussed the series in depth. After I left his room, I ran into a nursing assistant in the hallway and she let me know that Charles Stonewall is not just an avid gamer, but is also an author. Instantly, I ordered his book.
A few days later, Sirolic, World of Ice Book 1, arrived in the mail. Fascinated, I returned to Batavia and met with Charles. We chatted for a while about games we used to play at the Arcade, and similar interest in tv shows and hobbies. I learned that Charles played drums for 10 years, was in a band, and inspired by Iron Maiden, Slayer, and the classical music of Tchaikovsky. His former roommate and close friend opened his eyes to the genre and how showed him how heavy metal is steeped in classical music. We talked for a while, getting to know each other, and to my delight, Charles signed my book and told me the story of how Sirolic came to be.
Charles has been playing Dungeons and Dragons for over 30 years, creating game worlds, and serving as the DM, or dungeon master. The stories and characters found in his book series, Sirolic, came from the campaigns that Charles created for his D&D group. As people enjoyed the world he created, they pushed him to turn it into a novel for others to enjoy.
Charles’ novels were actually written at Batavia! Book 1, “The Open Road of Adventurers,” is about a a group of travelers that face trials as they take on the open road, become involved in a murder investigation, and set off events that could change the face of the known world.
Charles Stonewall is a passionate storyteller. Each morning he wakes up, answers his emails, checks in on a few online video games he plays, and starts to write. He’s currently finishing up book 3 of 4 in the Sirolic series. To me, Charles is meant to tell stories. He’s warm and welcoming. He comes off as an open book, instantly connecting with you, and doing the thing he clearly seems like he is meant to do – tell stories.
Why was my visit with Charles so profound? I’m excited about reading his book, sure, it seems great, but what I didn’t expect to learn about from him was my story. I knew I loved nursing homes, but maybe I didn’t truly know why until I hear Charles say this:
“There’s people that make the game about the actions. It’s all dice rolls and stats. But great stories aren’t found in the mechanics, but instead in the story of the characters.”
Charles didn’t realize, but when he was teaching me about Dungeons & Dragons he was teaching me about nursing homes. As important as all the tasks we do are, nothing renews us more than connecting with each other and sharing our stories.
I’d encourage everyone to pick up Charles book on Amazon by searching “Sirolic World of Ice.” Charles has made the book available in paperback, or Kindle. He even has the Kindle version prices very cheap, or even free if you have Kindle Unlimited. This just reiterates another thing he said, "I provided cheaper options for ebooks because for me its not about selling books, but telling the story."
Buy Charles' Book Here
