So just an update to those who follow along. If you do follow along, you’ve heard me say I usually have several things in the works at once. I have ideas bouncing out of my head almost all the time and sometimes they get written down and grow, while other times they just sit on digital paper in my computer. The advantage is that I don’t really ever suffer from writer’s block. If my well runs dry, I just switch to another project for a while. The disadvantage is that rather than battling through until I finish, completion gets pushed further down the road.
In the past year, I’ve worked on four different manuscripts for books. The stories are all considerably different, and I thought I’d give you some insight. I don’t know when or if all of these will get published, but they are in the works.
The largest project is Dhaenens’ Land. I’ve been working on Dhaenens’ Land for quite some time. It began approximately five years ago, but got little attention other than an outline, some research, and about three or four chapters. I have always expected Dhaenens’ Land to be one of the largest projects I’ve worked on. As an example, Loving Deacon had previously been the story which had involved the most research for me. It topped out at 236 pages. Dhaenens’ Land is currently at 248 pages at its halfway point.
It is the fictional tale of the immigration of Alois Dhaenens from Finland to South Dakota. Alois Dhaenens happens to be the name of my great grandfather, but this story is historical fiction. I have used an enormous amount of factual history (including some historical figures, events, and places) to add realism to the fiction tale. Even some of the cities and direction of travel coincide with my great grandfather’s journey, but story itself is imagination.
Research has included third-class travel, Ellis Island, Lake Erie, John Deere, Lakota Sioux language, railroads, cities, calendars, and homesteading. It has been very much a research, write a little, research a lot, write a little bit more kind of effort. Although I’ve put down close to 40,000 words this past year, I don’t anticipate finishing the first draft of Dhaenens’ Land until sometime next year. And that is only if I can keep going at the pace I’ve been writing.
Next up is Margarita’s Dance. Margarita’s Dance was a story I started that kind of stalled with other projects on the burner. I got back to it this year and it has moved along extremely well. Margarita’s Dance is much more of a romance and a little less of a bittersweet tale. The relationships are more intimate. It follows the story of David Walker, an Oklahoma rancher and a woman he meets on the beach in Galveston, Texas. Margarita’s Dance is very close to being finished. I would anticipate it being complete in the next few months, once the editing is done and I’ve had a couple of readers go through it.
The Suicide Squeeze was originally planned to be my next novel, but I’m not really satisfied with the story. I want to work on making the conflict more intense. So, even though I thought it was close enough to print a proof, it will probably follow Margarita’s Dance. The Suicide Squeeze is a bittersweet tale centered around the love of baseball. The characters are fun and witty. It’ll be after the first of the year before The Suicide Squeeze comes sliding into home. This is just one draft of the cover.
For Love and Honor is a book that I’ve been working on for several years. It is a story that seeks to honor our military and first responders. It is also a love story which includes the romance between a man and a woman, as well as the love of a Marine toward his country. This is another story which has taken a lot of research — hours of video clips, and study of military terms, ranks, battles, and logistics to get the story written. I’m not finished, but I am much, much closer. I think the first complete draft could be finished in the next couple of months.
And the final book I want to talk about is The Pied Piping of Peabody Pickerling. It is a whimsical tale of a flamboyant high school English instructor and his impact upon his students. It is inspired by stories such as Mr. Holland’s Opus, Dead Poet’s Society, and Goodbye, Mr. Chips. Though Mr. P, as his students call him, works hard to appear stiff and serious, he is deeply involved in lives of his students. He teaches them more about life than other adults, discussing the subjects no one else will cover, preparing them for college and the real world, and demanding they act as maturing individuals.
The Pied Piping of Peabody Pickerling is a fun, and (hopefully) witty tale. Told from the perspective of one of Mr. P’s students, it is a blend of childhood, curiosity, and understanding. It is a departure from most of my other projects, and it salutes those teachers who take the extra steps to connect with their students. It still has a long way to go and I haven’t completely mapped out the entire story, since it has been coming in pieces.
I haven’t published a novel since The Blemished Rose in 2016. I look forward to getting something new out there, but I want it to be worthwhile. I’ll back off publishing any of these novels if I feel they lack merit. In fact, that’s the reason The Suicide Squeeze wasn’t published this past year. I just didn’t feel the story was strong enough.
In addition to the books, I’ve worked on a total of six screenplays over the past year. Of the six, five are original stories and one was a speculation script based on another author’s work. All though nothing has matured, three of the screenplays were submitted to developers, and one is currently submitted to contest.
One screenplay I’ll mention is One Last. One Last is an original story. I had an extensive review of the screenplay by industry experts and, though there were a number of suggestions on format and pace which I welcomed, I was extremely excited about the reception of the story. To quote, “One Last is a compelling script that demonstrates the writer’s ability to provide for character and story. We really like the overall message and sentiment here and the ending is quite good.” I’ve made the adjustments to One Last I felt I needed to make to improve it’s salability, and have resubmitted it to three production companies.
So, that’s the update. Thanks for following along. Thanks for reading and supporting the blog. And visit my Amazon Author page if you want to check out any of the six novels that are already on the market. Locally you can find my books at the Jones & Plummer Trail Museum in Beaver, OK.
