College football, romance, and timeless wisdom collide in Dan Howard's Inside the Front Porch!

A mid-major university with a struggling football program hits the jackpot when it attracts one of the top high school quarterbacks in the country, Todd Stevens. But the athletic bubble surrounding Todd begins to dissolve as injuries take a toll on his body and mind and he contemplates the future he wants with his beloved Diane King, a serious student and elite swimmer who sees all too clearly the inequities in college sports. Diane's willingness to speak out brings her in conflict with the athletic director of the university and leads to an altercation that will reverberate across the university and impact the lives of everyone touched by it, including the university president.

Athletic programs are often touted as the "front porch" of universities. In this gripping tale, Dan Howard portrays the blossoming relationship between two athletes as they negotiate the dark realities and outsized influence of college sports on an American university campus. Against the backdrop of the risks accepted by individuals and institutions to achieve excellence in the realm of college sports, a more universal story about vulnerability, uncertainty, and the power of love unfolds.

Dan Howard grew up on army bases scattered around the world, and attended Stanford University where he studied biology and graduated with distinction and honors. He then went on to Yale University where he received an M. Phil. and a Ph.D. While at Yale he met and fell in love with Jenifer Lichtenfels, and they have been married for more than 40 years. He spent most of his academic career at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico eventually becoming a Regents Professor and Chair of the Department of Biology. He left NMSU for five years to serve as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado Denver, but returned in 2013 as Executive Vice President and Provost, the chief academic officer of the university. He retired from NMSU in 2018 to take up a life of farming and writing in Mesilla, New Mexico. When he's not writing or caring for his orchards, Dan enjoys long walks with his dogs and slow evenings in the kitchen with Jenifer, who joined him in retirement in 2020. Jenifer and Dan have two wonderful daughters, who are both physicians, following in the footsteps of their mother. They also have two grandchildren, who keep their sense of wonder alive.