My name is Mark Wilder, and I'm a debut author, a global storyteller, and a retired U.S. Army First Sergeant. I spent over 25 years in uniform - much of it as a tank commander - and lived in places as different as Germany, Australia, Japan, the Caribbean, and the United States. That journey gave me a front-row seat to how cultures rise, connect, and sometimes fracture. It also taught me something deeper: there's more than one way to serve.For most of my life, I carried another name... in silence - Billy Wyatt. It was the name I was given at birth, before I was adopted, before I ever had a chance to hear the voice of the woman who gave me life. I never got to ask her why. Never got to say thank you. And I never truly spoke that name aloud... until I wrote the Pact of Stars and Stone - If I Had A Genie.In this story, Billy Wyatt isn't just a character - he's the man I hope I could have become in a world where anything was possible. He's brave, but flawed. Loyal, but haunted. A man who tends gardens as fiercely as he protects people. He doesn't chase power - he offers mercy. And when given the chance to make one wish, he doesn't use it to fix himself... he uses it to give humanity a second chance.The Pact of Stars and Stone novel is more than fiction. It's my thank you. To the woman who made the hardest choice.To the quiet moments that shaped me. And to the belief that even one act of compassion can echo across centuries.I write for anyone who's ever wondered where they came from.For those who've tried to make something beautiful out of something broken.For those who believe family can be chosen, and that the past doesn't have to define the future.For those who believe legacy isn't what you leave behind - it's what you choose to carry forward.If that sounds like you, welcome. These novels are your stories, too.And it's for her - the woman I never met - who gave me life, and left me with a name.Through this story, I gave it meaning. I gave it hope.I gave it home.Her name isn't mine to share. But I will share my name with you.Her choice gave me life - and this book is my thank you.I'm Mark Wilder.And through these stories, I'm finally giving Billy Wyatt a voice. Maybe she will hear it and know her baby boy turned out okay.