What's Your Best Book
Question #4. Which of your books are you personally most proud of, and why?
Works out to be the same as asking about your
having a favorite child: the one I’m dealing with right at the time is my
favorite.
I’m in the
process of recording “The Making of Jake McTavish” for an audio version and I’m
constantly coming to some phrase I’ve forgotten I used that I feel is “cute” or
an “interesting mechanism” to develop some reaction in or from the reader.
I’ve been
giving away recordings of my first published story, “The Great Liquor War”
which I’ve always thought could have been a much longer story with a lot more
historical information. However, in the process of checking the recording for
things like volume, continuity and understanding, I was surprised by how well
the story works to not only tell of the working lives of the time but some of
the action around a large construction project.
The fourth
story in “People of the West: A short story timeline” is a story I created from
“whole cloth” that I believe demonstrates, through the character “Janet” the
tough, strong women who built the west. When I say “whole cloth” I mean I’ve
never heard a similar story or do I know a Janet. Yes, I know many woman who
have built, helped to build or expanded existing cattle operations and farms and
those operations are the finished modern operations of today. Yes, most of
those women work and act in a calm, controlled and productive manner through a
variety of difficulties but when they decide to straighten things out, get THE
HELL OUT OF THEIR WAY!
Catherine Schubert (nee O’Hare) was the only female member of a group of “Overlanders” who by horseback and Red River cart travelled from Fort Gary (Winnipeg) to the Thompson River. They then spent 6 weeks attempting to raft down to Kamloops where, before reaching that long time trading post, Catherine gave birth to her 4th child. She and her family then walked to Barkerville and became part of the Cariboo gold rush, though at least 2 years too late for any of the early discoveries.
I believe
“Stealing Janet’s Cattle” not only depicts those women but is a tribute to
their character and the children and institutions they developed.
Yes, all
the stories did what I wanted them to do and in answer to a specific question I
might pick one over the others, but in general, as with kids, I like them all.
Ask me about diverse characters learning to get along with each other? That
would be “Partners”. Ask me about conforming to the letter of the law, well
that would NOT be “Partners.”
Answering
this question does lead to something else that is closely related. I’ve never
published a manuscript that I thought was truly “finished.” There is always
something that could be better or something else to be added.
That
includes editing, for no matter how many times you go over it there is always
something that needs repair. In my case it’s usually a typo although “where”
and “were” are bound to be misplaced. More often than that it’ll be “though”
when it should have been “thought”. “Thee” instead of “there”, “cone” instead
of “done” and no matter how many times I read it over I miss them because my
brain translates what is written to what should be.
Something
else is the great love you build for the character you’ve created which results
in a gargantuan need to fully explain him / her. “If I add this little anecdote
in chapter x? the reader will understand why he mistreats women.”. “I could go
back and add another ….”
NO! Use all those ideas to start a new novel.
YOU ARE
DONE WITH THIS ONE! MOVE ON!
Here are three "digital only" collections that are only $1.95 USD
https://books2read.com/Alaska-Highway
https://books2read.com/What-Matters
https://books2read.com/Janets-Cattle
Look at some
entertainment with a longer life at
OR
https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B004V9WZVI
because a book is
good for at lest three reads over the years.
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