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A Life Worth Dreaming About
A Life Worth Dreaming About" takes readers on an inspirational love story about Carl Robertson, a New York City executive who grew up in poverty in the Midwest. His revenge for, as he put it, his awful upbringing is to never think about it again. As an adult, he becomes self-centered and egotistical. He is someone who is hard to work with and work for. Yet, everybody around him tries to change him as an attempt to make him easier to work alongside. He refuses the help. He is making a dream salary so he doesn't care what other people think of him. He has long forgotten his past.
Then, he gets a harsh reality check, which puts his career, his life in danger. He's desperate to save what he has built up. He doesn't want to go back to poverty.
He meets a man that will change his life. Carl gets a second chance at life. He doesn't know why he is given this opportunity. He realizes he better take advantage of it. This story takes you on that journey. Will he do enough in time to save his career, life and find a life worth dreaming about?
Then, he gets a harsh reality check, which puts his career, his life in danger. He's desperate to save what he has built up. He doesn't want to go back to poverty.
He meets a man that will change his life. Carl gets a second chance at life. He doesn't know why he is given this opportunity. He realizes he better take advantage of it. This story takes you on that journey. Will he do enough in time to save his career, life and find a life worth dreaming about?
263 pages, Hardcover
First published February 2, 2012
84 people want to read
About the author
Nicholas Dettmann
1 book12 followersNicholas Dettmann is a veteran journalist from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He has worked at daily newspapers in Idaho Falls, Idaho, Michigan City, Indiana, and West Bend, Wisconsin.
He has also appeared in numerous newspapers around the country, including the Houston Chronicle, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Baltimore Sun.
He has won 11 writing awards at the local, regional and national levels, including six first-place honors. He is a two-time national finalist for the Award for Excellence in the Coverage of Youth Sports by Penn State University's John Curley Center for Sports Journalism (2011 and 2012). He is the award's only two-time finalist.
Nicholas graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a degree in journalism & mass communications.
In 2010, Nicholas wrote a story about a high school swimmer who suffered from dwarfism. His dream was to become a Paralympian. The Wisconsin Newspaper Association said, “Good story and nice storytelling getting the reader into the story.”
Nicholas was first published in 2001 at only 19 years old when he wrote a poem, “Remembering,” honoring the death of a classmate. It received an Editor’s Choice award from Poetry.com (http://Poetry.com).
His writing idols include Rick Reilly, Mitch Albom, John Grisham and Tom Hallman Jr. In his spare time, Nicholas enjoys reading and spending time with family and friends.
Nicholas’ specialty is writing personality profiles.
Nicholas is married to his wife, Elizabeth, and they have two cats, Daisy and Dory.
He is also on Twitter: @ndettmann
He has begun work on his second book. It is inspired by a true story.
He has also appeared in numerous newspapers around the country, including the Houston Chronicle, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Baltimore Sun.
He has won 11 writing awards at the local, regional and national levels, including six first-place honors. He is a two-time national finalist for the Award for Excellence in the Coverage of Youth Sports by Penn State University's John Curley Center for Sports Journalism (2011 and 2012). He is the award's only two-time finalist.
Nicholas graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a degree in journalism & mass communications.
In 2010, Nicholas wrote a story about a high school swimmer who suffered from dwarfism. His dream was to become a Paralympian. The Wisconsin Newspaper Association said, “Good story and nice storytelling getting the reader into the story.”
Nicholas was first published in 2001 at only 19 years old when he wrote a poem, “Remembering,” honoring the death of a classmate. It received an Editor’s Choice award from Poetry.com (http://Poetry.com).
His writing idols include Rick Reilly, Mitch Albom, John Grisham and Tom Hallman Jr. In his spare time, Nicholas enjoys reading and spending time with family and friends.
Nicholas’ specialty is writing personality profiles.
Nicholas is married to his wife, Elizabeth, and they have two cats, Daisy and Dory.
He is also on Twitter: @ndettmann
He has begun work on his second book. It is inspired by a true story.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 3, 2013
Finally, a book for grown-ups! A love story that relizes the foundation is in the life around you. If you and your life aren't right, how can another person fit? The wedding isn't the destionation, the life after is. Redemption comes to Carl. As it does, he realizes his life and actions affect those around him in small and large ways.
These are just 2 concepts in this book I was so happy to see. They seem to be missing in a lot of entertinment today.
There were flaws. It starts out slow, and the prose is choppy. (And some English teacher is going to have field day w/ the numbers.) Once you get used to it, the story flows. I, literally, did not put this book down.
I won a copy of this book, and Mr. Dettmann had to remind to read it. I'm glad he did. This will become a gem in my library.
These are just 2 concepts in this book I was so happy to see. They seem to be missing in a lot of entertinment today.
There were flaws. It starts out slow, and the prose is choppy. (And some English teacher is going to have field day w/ the numbers.) Once you get used to it, the story flows. I, literally, did not put this book down.
I won a copy of this book, and Mr. Dettmann had to remind to read it. I'm glad he did. This will become a gem in my library.
April 30, 2013
I think all of us can look back on our lives and see, in retrospect, pivotal times, where our lives could have gone one way or the other...I just found myself relating to the main character more than perhaps I should have, in that I also grew up in a small town and couldn't wait to leave--but I didn't do so by alienating myself from everyone and being mean! I just left...
I liked how the author did a Christmas Carol style thing and made the main character look back on his life and see what he could have done differently and was able to change and become a better person. I didn't like how all the main character's colleagues bugged him about being single and should get married with kids. I don't think that one needs a family to have a wonderful life, but I do think that everybody needs people and needs to treat people well.
A fun and easy read--will make you feel good about life.
I liked how the author did a Christmas Carol style thing and made the main character look back on his life and see what he could have done differently and was able to change and become a better person. I didn't like how all the main character's colleagues bugged him about being single and should get married with kids. I don't think that one needs a family to have a wonderful life, but I do think that everybody needs people and needs to treat people well.
A fun and easy read--will make you feel good about life.
October 8, 2012
Not a book I would CHOOSE to read. It was written by my brother's boss, so I read it. If you like near death experiences that cause a change in someone's life, then this book is for you. It is a decent book, just not a genre of my liking.
December 9, 2025
A Life Worth Dreaming About by Nicholas Dettmann is an uplifting, emotionally charged story about second chances, self reflection, and the courage to grow. Carl Robertson begins as a man hardened by his past and blinded by his own success a character readers may not immediately love, but will absolutely come to understand. When life forces him into a reckoning he can no longer outrun, the novel transforms into a heartfelt exploration of redemption, humility, and the rediscovery of purpose. Dettmann weaves a compelling blend of personal struggle and hope, leaving readers rooting for Carl as he fights for a life built on more than status: a life truly worth dreaming about.
June 20, 2013
Didn't love it but didn't hate it either. The plot line, the scrooge plot, is one that has been used many times. This was a nice variation. I couldn't connect to the main character. His personality was well developed but I didn't see any basis for the way he behaved that way. For being very shallow, he seemed to know a lot about all of the secondary characters...personal info, family life, likes, etc. Unless those were details given to us by a narrator and not details the main character himself knew. I found the word play between characters to sometimes be not realistic. They would say or do things to each other that people wouldn't normally say or do to each other in real life. I wasn't sure why this character got a second chance, why he was deserving of it.
I also had a hard time with loose ends that weren't neatly tied in a bow for me at the end. **Spoiler alerts** Why did his guardian angel see him in the hospital room after his heart attack. Did he live through the heart attack? Why would a seemingly healthy, stress-free person have a heart attack so young? Were there changes in his life afterwards? What was the behavior that got him black-balled from the marketing world in his first life? Why couldn't he remember details of his life once it had been changed? I was also a little skeptical that his younger self would so easily trust the older self when he told him how to behave differently in those three incidents. Just going by what we know of his character in the beginning of the book, he doesn't seem like a person to be so trusting.
I liked most of the secondary characters. I liked that the main character got a chance to change some of the horrible things he did in his life. I liked that he expressed true, realistic feelings about how he felt after all the changes were made. I liked the way his life turned out in the end.
A Life Worth Dreaming About
Nicholas Dettmann
I also had a hard time with loose ends that weren't neatly tied in a bow for me at the end. **Spoiler alerts** Why did his guardian angel see him in the hospital room after his heart attack. Did he live through the heart attack? Why would a seemingly healthy, stress-free person have a heart attack so young? Were there changes in his life afterwards? What was the behavior that got him black-balled from the marketing world in his first life? Why couldn't he remember details of his life once it had been changed? I was also a little skeptical that his younger self would so easily trust the older self when he told him how to behave differently in those three incidents. Just going by what we know of his character in the beginning of the book, he doesn't seem like a person to be so trusting.
I liked most of the secondary characters. I liked that the main character got a chance to change some of the horrible things he did in his life. I liked that he expressed true, realistic feelings about how he felt after all the changes were made. I liked the way his life turned out in the end.
A Life Worth Dreaming About
Nicholas Dettmann
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 21, 2012
“I like the easy, accessible style.”
--- Julia Forster, author of “Shadow Jumper”
“Extremely intriguing.”
--- Lisa Lickel, author of five novels, including “The Map Quilt”
“Good straight forward storytelling and the hook at the end of Chapter 1 works well, when we think the excitement is over. ... The writing is quite good.”
--- Tod Schneider, author of “The Lost Wink”
“It was an enjoyable read. Once I got into it, it kept my interest to see where it was going.”
--- Jill Badzinski, former editor West Bend (Wis.) Daily News
From consumers:
“The book was amazing. I couldn’t put it down.” - Mellisa G.
“I read the novel cover to cover in just 24 hours. I could not stop. I can’t remember the last time I did that. In fact, I am sure I never have. At first I thought the extensive detail was too much, but as I kept reading, the extra detail painted such a clear picture of who Carl was and who he became after his experience.” - Peter P.
"I just loved the book. I had a hard time putting it down. I can't wait for the next book." - Charlotte S.
“I thought it was easy to read, very descriptive; made me want to keep reading. I didn’t want to put it down.” — Liz J.
“It was really enjoyable. I usually take a long time to read books, but this one kept me going and looking forward to coming back. I don’t follow many authors, only one in fact, but now I have a new one to follow!” - Kim S.
“I liked it a lot, hoping the next is a continuation; I think there could be. I look forward to reading the next. … It got to a point where I had a hard time putting it down cause I wanted to know what happened next. So all in all a good read!!” – Robyn B.
"Really loved it. At 72, I wish I could undo a few things, too. Every person's dream I guess." - Tom M.
"A great read!" - Linda M.
--- Julia Forster, author of “Shadow Jumper”
“Extremely intriguing.”
--- Lisa Lickel, author of five novels, including “The Map Quilt”
“Good straight forward storytelling and the hook at the end of Chapter 1 works well, when we think the excitement is over. ... The writing is quite good.”
--- Tod Schneider, author of “The Lost Wink”
“It was an enjoyable read. Once I got into it, it kept my interest to see where it was going.”
--- Jill Badzinski, former editor West Bend (Wis.) Daily News
From consumers:
“The book was amazing. I couldn’t put it down.” - Mellisa G.
“I read the novel cover to cover in just 24 hours. I could not stop. I can’t remember the last time I did that. In fact, I am sure I never have. At first I thought the extensive detail was too much, but as I kept reading, the extra detail painted such a clear picture of who Carl was and who he became after his experience.” - Peter P.
"I just loved the book. I had a hard time putting it down. I can't wait for the next book." - Charlotte S.
“I thought it was easy to read, very descriptive; made me want to keep reading. I didn’t want to put it down.” — Liz J.
“It was really enjoyable. I usually take a long time to read books, but this one kept me going and looking forward to coming back. I don’t follow many authors, only one in fact, but now I have a new one to follow!” - Kim S.
“I liked it a lot, hoping the next is a continuation; I think there could be. I look forward to reading the next. … It got to a point where I had a hard time putting it down cause I wanted to know what happened next. So all in all a good read!!” – Robyn B.
"Really loved it. At 72, I wish I could undo a few things, too. Every person's dream I guess." - Tom M.
"A great read!" - Linda M.
July 14, 2013
I had the pleasure to narrate the audio book version of this novel. The prologue leaves you wanting to know more. As you get to know the characters you find yourself wanting to see a change. The way it all happens by the end is rewarding and leaves you with a real "feel good" kind of vibe. Books that make you feel positive like this are good ones to have around and I'm honored I got to be the narrator for this story. I liked the way we got to see the main character go through some pretty crazy stuff and how he came out at the end. It made me tear up a bit. It leaves you in a good place and wraps it up nicely. I wasn't sure where it would go many times and found the journey a fun one. I hear he's writing a sequel, I wonder where he'll go with that one.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews