Monday, June 1, 2015

Back Writing

I started writing Stalked by the Devil in the summer of 2013. I liked the characters the moment I started writing. The first ten chapters (draft) were enjoyable, easy, and the characters were alive. I was slam dunked by the news I would need a major operation for a non-malignant cancer. The novel went on the shelf as I concentrated on the operation.  After reviewing my choices, I decided to go to MD Anderson in Houston, Texas to have the operation. This would be the sixteenth time under the knife, and I wasn’t too thrilled with the idea. The operation was successful, but only when physical therapy started did I realize that the major surgery was far more major and complicated than I first envisioned. The doctor told me that “old guys” like me take anywhere from one and one-half to two years to fully recover. I’m doing well, but still in the recovery stage. After the surgery, I married a wonderful woman and the vigors of starting a new life with someone and recovering from the surgery curtailed returning to Stalked by the Devil.

A month ago, I picked up the rough draft and read it again. I liked it, but my confidence was shaken. For some reason I didn’t know if the flow of the book was just right. I asked two of my friends, who are very critical, to read the manuscript. The next three weeks were hell as I continued to write and wait for their critique. They liked the rough draft and felt the flow was okay: just wanted to know when I’d finish it.

I’m now half-way with through the first draft and write a chapter a week.

I’ve returned to memories of my childhood for this book.  The southern Missouri counties of Polk and Hickory provide the backdrop for the story that takes place in the mid-thirties during the depression, but it is a tale susupense that is old as time and present today.

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