Notes from the Author: Why I Write

Notes from the Author

Why I Write.

Have you ever been knee deep into a saga when you got the sinking feeling that the author didn’t know where he/she was going? We start with a great premise but that is all the there, there.

This is something I’ve seen in bad mystery writing. I don’t understand how some authors can begin a book without having the ending worked out. It frustrates me when I get to the end of an otherwise great story only to have the author pull a miracle out of their hat.

Rest assured, you wont find that in the Harappan saga. 

When I write I know where I am going even if I don’t always know how I am going to get there. In the first Harappan book “The Harappan Secrets” Philip and his friend Dorian Thain are arrested and put in a dark dank cell. I knew that scene was coming and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how they were going to escape without it being a silly miracle.

I believe in serendipity and the muse came through for me that time. I was totally surprised by the solution but it made more sense that any thing I had planned. My first draft is barely one step above stream of consciousness writing. I am often surprised at what happens.

In my last post I mentioned that I have lived with this story and these people for forty years. The final scene of the saga is a very real moment for me and I get choked up when I think about it. Everything so far is leading up to that moment. Some people write because it is akin to breathing for them. I write so that I can get to this moment.

In the mean time it is my hope that people enjoy the journey. If it weren’t for Sanderson’s admonition to Max not to trust anyone who says “trust me” I would tell you that I do indeed have the entire saga planned out except for the little surprises that the muses offer us.

I haven't gotten a lot of comments here yet and I would like this blog to be a conversation between my readers, my characters and me. Is there any part in Kushan life you are curious about? Philip the Bard will be happy to tell you anything about the year 2479 that doesn’t give away too much about the coming stories and I am happy to share anything about my writing habits and technique.