A Novel in 220 Lunches

People sometimes ask me how long it takes to write a novel.  Having just completed one, this is a good opportunity to explain how difficult a question that is to answer. I started writing Enemy of the gods: the Legend of Nicholas in June of 2015 and I finished drafting it just this week. So the simple answer would be about 11 months. However, the idea initially came to me about 25 years ago. It struck me that the true historical person that inspired "Jolly Saint Nick" would make for a fascinating story, so I started researching him and the time period, outlining a script for a movie. Then other projects came to the forefront, and I set it aside for a later date. Over the years I came back to it once in a while, but never quite saw it come together in a way that seemed to work for me. Neither could I drop the idea. Then last year, sometime after having completed another book (12 Tales for the Christmas Season), I took a fresh look at the concept and saw a way to write it as a novel.  Mostly, I did my writing on weekdays, during my lunch breaks. So if you're curious about how many hours it took, a rough estimate would be about 220 hours, or 220 lunches. That doesn't include the time researching it, and thinking over scenarios while doing other things; but how many other creative endeavors involve thought time while away from it? Maybe you have an idea you've been sitting on for a while (hopefully not so long as mine). Pull it out and do it. It might only take you 220 lunches to complete.

12 Tales for the Christmas Season

12 Tales for the Christmas Season is a collection of original fables illustrating the good news behind the Christmas celebration. If you enjoy a good short story, these will entertain you and give you a fresh appreciation for the meaning of Christmas.

The Story Behind Clickey & the Clockmaker

A strong theme in Clickey and the Clockmaker is waiting, and the story behind the book is a real life example. The book began as a script for a half-hour TV Christmas special, and I spent a good amount of time developing that. But as with many ideas in Hollywood, it drew nothing more than mild interest.

Years later I thought it would make a great book, and so I spent more time on it, writing the story in rhyme, sketching, scanning and illustrating the pictures in Adobe Illustrator. Then I sent out queries to any and every publisher likely to have an interest. One publisher offered to pick it up. They were a newer company and I couldn't find much information on them, but a lawyer friend looked over their contract and said it looked legit, so I signed on.

I discovered however that my book wasn't being published, it was being hijacked. After mangling my print-ready pictures and messing up my text, the publisher priced my book so high that no one would buy it beyond me and any friends I could guilt into paying extortion. Only after I signed the contract did Publish America's reputation become known on sites like Predators and Editors. They owned the rights to my book for 7 years. Sort of. They had it on their website, but since the book didn't sell one copy and they hadn't provided me the free copy promised, the contract was not fulfilled.

Then something immensely frustrating happened. My computer died before I burned another backup of the completed art. That was a tough lesson in backup for me, and it left me with Publish America holding my only copy of the finished art. I tried requesting the CD back, but they never answered. I could redo the entire book, or wait 7 years and hope maybe they'd do as their contract stated and return my materials at that time. So I waited, but nothing came.

So many years later, I set to work recreating the artwork from my scanned sketches, making my broken Clickey whole again. Why I would spend all this trouble to do it all over again? Because I believe it's a timeless tale that will enrich anyone who reads it.

The Big Idea Behind Clickey & the Clockmaker

The concept behind Clickey and the Clockmaker came together when I first began working in feature film animation. I thought a story about clocks might be a great venue for examining the concept of absolute truth. Where a clock can certainly run fast or slow, it cannot change time. It can only follow what the time is, or not. So I came up with a clock who naively believes that if he runs fast enough, he can change the time to suit him.

From there I followed this anthropomorphized clock through his logical path of trying to defy time. As I did, I could only trace a downward spiral of brokenness. It didn't seem a happy story at all. But the brokenness of the human condition is only half the story. I thought of ancient king Nebuchadnezzar and how God proclaimed this "lion" of a ruler had eagles' wings that would be plucked off him. He would be broken in his defiance of God. Then he "was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given" to him. He was broken, but he was made new. The story of Clickey then came into focus, not merely as a story of brokenness in defying an absolute, but a story of redemption where his brokenness is made whole by contact with the clockmaker's son.

First Review: Clickey & the Clockmaker

Here's a five-star review on Amazon for Clickey and the Clockmaker:

Great story and the art work appears to have been done by the author. This is a picture book of the kind - young children will want read to them, over and over. Seldom do I read a picture book with such a gentle tone.

After you've read the book, please go ahead and post a review. Remember the worst review is no review at all.

Clickey & The Clockmaker is Here

Clickey & the Clockmaker is now selling on Amazon. Yes, it's been out since August, but I haven't had time to announce it here until now. If only we could make time move the way we want it! Kind of like my story.

Here's the back cover description again in case you missed it.

Clickey the clock thinks that if he runs fast enough, he can make Christmas come sooner. In this fun-filled fable, Clickey’s backwards thinking leads him into trouble until at last he’s rescued by kindness. With its easy-to-read rhyme and colorful cartoon style, children and adults alike will enjoy this modern parable the whole year round.

Clickey & the Clockmaker Coming Soon

Coming in August: Clickey & the Clockmaker

Clickey the clock thinks that if he runs fast enough, he can make Christmas come sooner. In this fun-filled fable, Clickey’s backwards thinking leads him into trouble until at last he’s rescued by kindness. With its easy-to-read rhyme and colorful cartoon style, children and adults alike will enjoy this modern parable the whole year round.