Thanks to about five degrees less than good beach bum weather in South Florida this winter, my keyboard has been my favorite winter venue, and unreal characters have begun to show up on my computer screen. I love it when that happens! Fiction writing is a psychotic art–delusions are the stock in trade–but it can be a lovely place to spend the day. It is amazing to me how created characters can become so real to the writer, at least this writer. (The challenge, of course, is to make them real to the reader.) Sometime in the late last century I noodled around with a short story that never got beyond a few close friends. Today those characters comprise a whole novel with a whole ‘nother plot, soon to see the light of day. They’ve been joined by a delightful character who had a cameo in Son of Thunder, written in the last decade of the last century, and has refused to go quietly into the night. Now I can’t wait to get out of bed in the morning to see what they are going to do next. Some writers plot, but I just let the characters talk to me. If it takes a plot outline and summary sheet to write a bestseller, then I’m just banging away for my own pleasure and that of a few friends. It’s sure a fun way to pass my codgerhood. Thank God I’m not doing it for a living. The novel should be out next month. It’s entitled, In the Place of Justice, and you can get a few hints about it by following the link.
Amazon is offering my memoir, Grace in the Growing Season, (2nd edition, 2015), Kindle version, FREE today and tomorrow, Feb. 15-16. Please check it out. It may be worth no more to you than you what paid for it, but you never know.
COGITATIONS 