WHY DO I WRITE? Santee Library Presentation 1/28/2016

Why do I write? There are important things that demand, even clamor to be known.

They chose me to express them, so I struggle to find the words that will give them voice.

An actor can express truths more compellingly by wearing a costume, mask, and makeup.

An author can express truths more fully in literary fiction because it loosens inhibitions.

My vehicle is a multigenerational family saga that follows identical twins reared apart.

I study the Old Order Amish mindset from inside, outside, and down the generations.

I portray male and female psychopaths cunning and lucky enough to escape police radar.

I show family abuse: parent child, child parent; husband wife, wife husband; sibling.

The drivers of my tale include Ayn Rand, Harvard, medical malpractice, and money.

The Stained-Glass Woman is a dark tapestry, many figures interacting, flashes of gold.

A tragic trilogy with elements of suspense, mystery, historical romance, even ghost story.

A leisurely gourmet smörgasbord enlivened by sprinkles of play and garnishes of satire.

I strive for verisimilitude, so passages I made up, some readers believe really happened.

Conversely, my accounts of real life events, some readers think I must have invented.

Even those who know me best, disagree whether a detail is true (one could be in denial).

Let future scholars fight it out! I shuffle together two packs of cards, one truth, one imagination. Some writers use alcohol, I sometimes need vicodin in order to write at all.

To finish my final editing, I gave myself a deadline of December 31, then January 31.

I met the latter deadline––but discovered this is my penultimate editing. I need another.

As some of you know, a year and a half ago I fell and sustained an orbital fracture.

The cockeyed vision cleared up in a few months, but I wasn’t firing on all cylinders.

This week, another cylinder began firing (a damaged instrument can’t read itself well).

Mentally, it’s as if I put on glasses, and realize everything previously looked fuzzy.

A sudden improvement in my writing is what made me aware that my brain is healing.

“A man’s reach should exceed his grasp” (Robert Browning), so I re-embrace my original goal: to create a masterpiece that deserves awards and deserves to become a classic.

I know that the probability of achieving this is infinitesimal––but it’s greater than zero.

Now, it’s pare, hone, and polish until I’ve passed the point of diminishing returns.

If I’m finished before the book is, I ask anyone who likes my writing to help my daughter Mary publish it and get it out there. I set up an account to pay for a cover artist, lightweight acid-free paper, sewn binding, ads, etc., to create a beautiful book that lasts.

My academic background is mainly anthropology, archaeology, architecture, art history.

As the title suggests, this is reflected in my characters’ occupations, settings, and values.

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Experience: university faculty, corporate vice president, Hollywood, adobe home design.

Scholarly journal articles, poetry, index, short stories, novellas, novelettes, filmscripts.