Waking Up at Rembrandt's stands out in the literary marketplace because it is a tale told in part by poems. These poems. Each of which were born of the novel. In a sense, they are one part abridged version and one part magic of their own.

Part of the beauty of love jaywalks lies not in its origins, as poems from the novel, but in these poems' ability to stand alone from novel and to tell their own story.

Rembrandt, the master, believed there was light in all things. The novel, Waking Up at Rembrandt's, is a story set in a cafe and told by a female bartender who is part purveyor of spirits and part spiritual guru. It is a story of three people finding their voices and learning that everything is on its way to somewhere else. It is a story about bridging the worlds of light and dark, spirit and senses, dreaming and waking. Like the work of the master painter for whom the cafe is named, the story is about finding the light in all things.

Whether they are about love, art, or words, these poems from the novel pay homage to the old master, affirming the light in all things, including the dark.

Thomas Lloyd Qualls lives and writes in the high desert beauty of Northern Nevada. He is the author of one and a half novels, a traveler of Europe, India & Thailand, the recipient of three Best Novelist awards, and a regular contributor to Rebelle Society and Reno Tahoe Tonight Magazine.

Waking Up at Rembrandt's, his debut novel, has received local and national critical acclaim. He is also the proud co-creator of the The Power of Words Video Project.

Thomas is currently at work on the other half of his second novel, Painted Oxen. In his spare time, he rides his bike, pretends he is still the runner he once was, attempts to corral his four-year old, massages his partner's feet (those belonging to children's author Lynell Marie Garfield), redraws the line between enough and a little too much (espresso, wine, dark chocolate, words), works up the courage to paint, and dreams of adding more stamps to his passport.
If you are curious to know more, just keep reading what he writes.