Author, ocean enthusiast, sketcher and drummer.
As an adult I have enjoyed immersing myself in worlds of mystery, sleuthing and suspense as I sink into the pages of novels in genres satisfying that itch.
As a lad, I was a cowboy hero chasing rustlers and other baddies all over the neighbourhood. It was great to escape into another world for a time — just before parents called me in for the night. Cochise, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Wyatt Earp, the Cisco Kid, the Lone Ranger, Jesse James, the Wild Bunch and hundreds of other characters who made the West what it is today. Fabulous times.
That is why I turned to writing a Western — Yellowstone Fury. Spilling all the enthusiasm of youth over some pages with the hope that others enjoy this grand tale as much as I did soaking myself in earlier tales.
I live an easy 30-minute walk to the beach. My dog and I both like wandering along the edge of the waves. I like to draw, but rarely find time for it. Bashing a djembe drum is a good outlet for me. I am amateur at both drawing and bashing drums.
Oh, the things I learned about writing novels
There are so many things to read about authorship. You learn more when you do it. This is a growing forest of the things I learned. It is nowhere close to a complete diary of knowledge growth — simply a series of reflections.
A small, yet significant, introduction
Opening admission
I learned to admire an author who can write a book in a short time. No — I learned that an author who can write an excellent book in a short time has skills I want to learn.
About single words
I remember reading through my first and, so far, only book and coming across a word I wish I’d weeded out. Arrgh! It really bugged me to see it there. That was clearly a lesson in the importance that agonising over every word, sentence, chapter is worth the time and detective work it takes.
This reminds me of a similar lesson I learned while writing my current novel. I have a passage in it where a wife had been badly let down by her husband. Their lives and lifestyle were under threat. She told him so, in no uncertain terms, in both words and actions. That passage sat for months as the story flowed around it. I had niggling doubts about the words she spoke. Fortunately so. When I finally gave in to that gut feeling and researched the history of one of the words, I discovered it was not in use until much later than the novel’s time setting. That niggle has now gone.
If you come across a word that resonates with you, record it and see if it finds future pride of place on one of your pages. Some words feel so good when they are written in. Words, phrases, chapters can feel perfect for the role you set for them. Not always, but enough to keep you in the hunt for the Holy Grail where the completed work feels good, makes you smile inside. It’s a great chase.