James T. Durkin

Authors Marketing Group

James T. Durkin

Contact the Author: jamestdurkin@hotmail.com

Products: In My Dreams (AuthorHouse, 2002)

About the Author

James T. Durkin is the author of In My Dreams, a fictional novel about a young man from the Suburbs of Chicago who gets elected President of the U.S. at the age of 29. Many cities in the Chicagoland Area are named in the storyline. He is currently writing the sequel, A Call of Angels that continues the storyline set forth in his first novel.

Durkin, 39, is a Civil Investigator serving as a contract employee at an agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. He previously was a Strategic Analyst in the insurance fraud business. Before beginning his career he earned both his Bachelor and Masters of Science Degrees in Political Science from Illinois State University.

Durkin teaches as a part-time college instructor of American Politics. Teaching political science classes since 1992, he believes in a lively discussion format and encourages his students to challenge their opinions in addressing today’s problems. He performs various charitable activities, including running his church drama team.

He used his experiences from working on several political campaigns, knowledge about politics from teaching in the classroom, and from his academic studies to write a fictional novel that many readers have described as educational, inspirational, and motivational.

Also, he is the co-founder of the Authors Marketing Group. The group consists of published authors from the Chicago Area who wish to share positive marketing experiences with other published or potential authors---in order to sell more books.

P.O. Box 6136

Woodridge, IL 60517

About the Book

Robert Hamlin, a 19-year-old college student lacking self-confidence and motivation, returns home from college one weekend. After another long conversation with his mother about "it’s now time to pick a college major . . . ", Bob goes to sleep for the evening and his future is revealed to him by a series of dreams.

While in college, two major events occur in Robert Hamlin’s life. First, he wins the Illinois lottery, co-winning a $12 million purse. His great luck financially permits him to create a successful political consulting firm and be elected to the U.S. Congress at the age of 25. Second, the U.S. Constitution is amended to prohibit discrimination in employment by one’s age. He later uses the amendment to run for the U.S. presidency----and gets elected at the age of 29.

In his short political career and young age, he offers policy proposals with a strong sense of candor, not too often seen by elected officials in our democracy today. In doing so, he subsequently wins over the hearts of both men and women by working with people to realistically address the problems facing our country. Throughout the story, he addresses the disbelief young people have toward politics from repeated scandals of corruption, lying, and other "questionable" activities.

Robert Hamlin lives his life in a manner to demonstrate how elected officials can help our nation’s citizens. He believes that, "Public officials have forgotten that they are elected and paid by us." He summarizes the need to move forward by saying, "Let the future begin."

The first in an anticipated series of three stories, In My Dreams helps to inform Americans about the political process. More importantly, it tries to serve as a symbol of hope for a better future in our political system--by giving people an opportunity to "vote for a candidate, rather than against one."