This feels like it’s been a long time coming. For the last nine months or so (maybe longer) I’ve been saying that my next book is just about done. I should be uploading it any day now. Obviously, it did not happen “any day now.” Daily life tripped me up, I realized maybe it wasn’t quite as ready to go as I thought, etc. However, it’s now ready to send to amazon and hopefully I’ll get my author’s proof back for review in a timely fashion. The goal is to have copies of the book available for sale by the end of the month for a sidewalk signing event at The Bookstore Plus in Lake Placid, NY. I realize I am cutting it close, like almost everything else in my life, but my fingers are crossed. This will be my second sidewalk signing there; I did one last summer, as well. If you’re in the area I’d love to see you on July 29th, 3-5 pm on Main Street in Lake Placid.
This latest novel, Break with the Past, is a sequel to my first book, Beneath the Surface. It’s set in the summer of 1968 in a small town in New Jersey. The town is modeled on the one I lived in when I was very young. I’m a history buff and the late 60s were jam-packed with significant events that had major impacts on the the country and the world. They also impacted individuals. Including those living in small towns who may seem to be pretty inconsequential. The story is set two months after the town’s small police force apprehended a deranged killer who felt it was time to rid the town of certain undesirable females. This time around a respected, if not necessarily loved, town doctor is found sitting at his kitchen table with an icepick through his eye. Who knows why, but I love the image of a guy face-down in his dinner with an icepick protruding from an eye socket. I thought it would be a great way to kick off the novel. An “inciting incident” as they’re referred to. Events that are the reason for the story to take place.
Sequels can be a challenge. Actually, since I’ve never done most of this stuff before, it’s almost all challenging. And there are “rules” or at the very least, “suggestions” you need to follow with sequels. You shouldn’t just pick up where the last book left off, there needs to be something new and different about whatever the stakes are, you should include at least one new and important character. There other rules as well. I wonder if picking up two months after the events of the first book is enough distance? I hope so. As I said earlier, that time in history is so intriguing. Are the stakes different? Yeah. Instead of having to catch a killer before they strike again, this time the police need to figure out why someone would kill in such a specific manner. And I have introduced a new major character who comes with a lot of baggage. In fact, it was a struggle trying to figure out how to present this baggage without wandering too far off the path of solving the doctor’s murder. We’ll see how successful I was with it. I’d like to think there is at least one more book in this series. I am attached to the characters, the town (for better or worse), and the window in history. I would rather not just leave them hanging. They each have a lot to resolve before before their day is done.
The inciting incident in this book, the murder, the nature of the killing, and the victim himself, are steeped in history. As I said, I enjoy history and I learned quite a bit researching for the book. Particular events in the past, whether recent or from years ago, shape who we are. One of the characters in this book says her past is like a lion that hangs on and won’t let go. I certainly agree with this. Looking back on events in life is like reading a roadmap (or looking at Google maps, I suppose, ugh). There is a starting point, there are different routes to take to get to wherever the final destination may be (assuming you have a clue as to what it is), and there are various routes to take to get there. Some are direct, some are winding with a lot of road construction and detours all over the place, and some, even though the map shows it’s the correct route, don’t get you anywhere near your destination. I look back at events, decisions, turning points in my past that have brought me to where I am now. Some are what I would label as being positive, others aren’t. But good or bad, they made me who I am and put me where I am. I’m just an individual; picture these winding roads, decisions, turning points on a national scale. Or a global scale. History is created by them. What if Hitler had not been rejected at art school when he was young? Instead of becoming the monster he was, would he have gone on to be a mediocre-at-best painter instead? What about the people or person responsible for his rejection? Were they having a bad day and just decided to hell with this funny looking guy’s work? Was their breakfast perhaps not sitting well with them? Would a nod of approval on their parts have averted the entire second world war? Probably not. Hitler was rejected at art school twice and he really was a pretty shitty painter. But you never know….
Are any of you living with the fallout from the terrible fires in Quebec? We are. It’s like living in the second Bladerunner movie. I don’t know how people in California and similar places deal with fires on a regular basis. Let’s hope they’re under control soon. About 15 years ago my wife and I drove up to the area where the fires are currently burning to visit family. It was a stunningly beautiful area. I wonder what it’s like now?
Gotta go. Time to go to jail and then upload the book.
