Tabor Alumnus Wins Fiction Writing Award

Alumnus, and Pikes Peak Writers Fiction Contest “The Zebulon 2020” award-winning author, Bill Bush, attended Tabor from 1987-1990 and notes it had a profound effect on his life. “Not only do I have wonderful memories of activities, teachers, and friends, but Tabor helped me build a spiritual foundation that has sustained me through many ups and downs. I cannot think of a way to truly quantify the impact my college years made on my life.”

Bush said he actually has three degrees from Tabor: a bachelor’s in Church Ministries; bachelor’s in Business Administration; and a master’s in Accounting.  He may be the first student to have earned three separate degrees from Tabor.  While his first degree prepared him for life, the last two degrees helped him work in business & accounting, a career he enjoyed and helped support his family for most of two decades. Bill noted, “Earning those degrees at Tabor gave me the confidence and ability to study for and pass each section of the CPA exam on the first try in 2010.”

Although he continued in the accounting field for another eight years, Bill realized he had accomplished all he had wanted in accounting. It has become just a job and a paycheck.

“In 2016, I spent a few months unemployed. It was during that time that I started the novel, When the Time is Right, which recently won the Pikes Peak Writing contest first-place award in the category of Mystery/Suspense/Thriller.”

Until then, the time Bill spent writing was sporadic. The free time he had to dream, consider his future, and write daily, created a vision and passion for how he wanted to invest the rest of his life.  Bill shared: “I had story ideas and an itch to write for decades before I submitted an article to the Harvey County Newspaper in 2013. The editor invited me to write a weekly column, which I’ve done ever since.”  Writing the column fueled his desire to write;  in November 2013, Bill participated in National Novel Writing Month and completed his first novel, a middle grade science fiction story, with his son giving inspiration.  After several rewrites, he published it in book form called, Vetrix, in April 2017. Bush will publish the fourth book, Sevitan, in that series later this year.

Bill said his inspiration for writing came from family, especially his mother. “My mom loved to write and published a couple of books. I watched her and two of her sister’s brainstorm and write story ideas and even submit television show ideas to networks. Another of her sisters published a couple of books and has written a blog.”

Bill has two children who are his favorite people in the world. Daughter, Sydney, is a flight attendant for Republic Airways. His son just finished his junior year at Halstead High School, where he served as Student Council president. 

Besides writing, Bill enjoys running, reading and spending time with God.  He attends Crossroads Community Church in Halstead and has served on the leadership team, worship team, technology crew and leading Celebrate Recovery.