Nearly four decades after beginning his first novel, Dissension: A Disagreement that Leads to Discord, Baldwin alum Rodney Phillips decided to finish it and get it published.

The story follows Kiley, a student at the University of Miami, who finds her way into the middle of a conflict between two drug cartels. When he started working on the novel again, the characters evolved and the ending changed.

“When I went back and started editing and inserting my life experience back into the characters and back into the story, I let the story take me where it wanted to go,” Phillips said. “As opposed to at 19, I had the ending in mind and was trying to write to the end. That totally changed the way that I was writing and the way that I was looking at it.”

Phillips graduated from Baldwin in 1987, going on to earn a bachelor’s degree in computer-based systems management and an MBA in human resource leadership management.

Though he started writing the novel at 19, he put the book down for 37 years while building his career. After his children grew up and he was no longer coaching their sports, he had free time and decided to revisit the novel.

“It’s almost like two authors wrote the book together — myself at 19 and myself at 56,” Phillips said.

Though starting a book at 19 and finishing it at 56 may not be traditional, Phillips said that he is grateful for the process, as it allowed him to pull from his own life experiences while writing the story.

“If I would have finished the book at 19 and tried to get it published, it wouldn’t be anywhere near as good as it is,” he said. “But what author takes a book and sets it aside for years? That perspective of that life experience allowed me to enhance the characters, enhance the story, and pursue themes that I never would’ve at 19.”

He also made sure the novel had multiple “strong female characters.” Phillips said he tried to raise his daughter to be strong and independent, and wanted to reflect those traits with the novel’s female characters. His main character, Kiley, “has a huge growth arc, since a lot of her natural leadership and determination come out as the story continues.”

Phillips never took a creative writing class in high school or college. He said his lack of professional writing experience presented a “very big struggle at first,” but as he continued writing, he learned to organize his thoughts into a cohesive story.

Additionally, Phillips said his experiences playing sports and coaching gave him a greater perspective while writing the book, and they taught him valuable lessons about criticism.

“One of the things I used to teach my athletes was that feedback is a gift. If someone is taking their time to give you coaching or feedback, it’s really a gift, positive or negative, because they’re allowing you to look at situations,” he said.

Phillips sent his book to several publishers until Dorrance Publishing Co. agreed to publish it. Then the editing process began.

“Most of the editing was grammatical, and they really didn’t change a lot of the story,” Phillips said. “But it did take longer than I expected. They got the book in February 2025, and it didn’t launch until August/September 2025.”

Jessica Stillwell, the director of author services at Dorrance Publishing Co., said Phillips’ journey to becoming a published author has certainly been unusual.

“Thirty-seven years is definitely a long time, so I’m sure it was a very exciting thing for him to see happen,” Stillwell said.

Stillwell said Phillips’ devotion to the novel was clear in his writing, which is one of the things that stood out.

“It’s a gripping novel with a good, page-turning plot to it,” she said. “The author was really passionate, and passionate authors make really good, collaborative relationships with their publisher.”

After his book was published, Phillips wanted to come back and visit Baldwin. He spoke Tuesday at a Highlander Time session in the Library.

Sophomore Emily Caldwell said she enjoyed the presentation.

“My favorite part was how lovely, welcoming, supportive, and inclusive he was,” she said. “He really made us all feel we were having a big group conversation, not that he was speaking at us.”

Sophomore Alana Ipolito also heard Phillips speak.

“I thought it was interesting to hear his whole process and the way he thought when he was writing this book,” she said.

Phillips is in the process of writing a second and third book for the series. Overall, he said finishing this book after so many years has had a huge impact on his life.

“I never thought I would be on this journey. As a father, it’s impacted me because I can tell my kids and the kids that I coached to never give up on your dreams,” Phillips said. “I had a dream at 19 that I wanted to be an author. Obviously, it took me a long time to fulfill that dream, but I never gave up on it. You can do whatever you want to do. You just have to work at it.”

This story was originally published on Purbalite on May 13, 2026.