Novella: The Nightmare 1
Sam, a man who loves ships and stories, falls victim to a single recurring nightmare that ends the same way every night; in his death at the wreck of the Titanic. When he is sent there by his boss, he fears his fate has come to claim him. Instead, he meets the ghost a a man who traveled and died on the great ship that April night in 1912. Is Jeffrey all he really seems to be, and why does Sam feel so drawn to him?
My first published work, a novella rather than a novel, though if I had been able to finish the story from Jeffrey's POV it might well have been a novel. Still, I really like how this one turned out in the end. I think the story has stood up well since I published it, though I may do a second edition with a bit from Jeffrey's POV one of these days.
This story is unique amongst my works in two ways; it is told in the first person of an original character, and it is the only story I have ever written where I knew the ending - the last two chapters - before I knew the rest of the story. It also presented some interesting problems while I was working on it.
A small bit of background. I grew up in Northern Idaho, very much landlocked in the wheat and lentil fields. For a week each summer - for several years in the 2000s - I would travel to Coeur d'Alene for a week's retreat at a camp on the lake. It was a lovely area to spend a week; there was no TV, computer, radio, or cell phone service, so there were no distractions. We had the option of reading, writing, talking, hiking, boating, swimming, or just enjoying spending time focused on things important to us while we were there.
I found it much easier to work on this particular novella when I was close to a large body of water. Lake Coeur d'Alene isn't the Atlantic, but it is large and deep. To be honest, I'm not sure why I needed to be near water to be able to focus on this story, but I've learned over the years not to argue with my characters. all that does is lead them to not cooperating with me. So I worked on other pieces during the year and focused solely on this novella during the week's retreat.
My friends soon got used to seeing me out of my room pacing the top of the bench overlooking the lake while attempting to work through a specific plot point. One friend, Bill, especially would come ask me what I was trying to work through. I can remember him commenting that I certainly didn't go easy on myself. That comment came when I told him I was attempting to figure out how to explain the Internet to a man that died in 1912.
I did manage to figure it out in the end, but it required about 30 minutes pacing on the deck.
My first published work, a novella rather than a novel, though if I had been able to finish the story from Jeffrey's POV it might well have been a novel. Still, I really like how this one turned out in the end. I think the story has stood up well since I published it, though I may do a second edition with a bit from Jeffrey's POV one of these days.
This story is unique amongst my works in two ways; it is told in the first person of an original character, and it is the only story I have ever written where I knew the ending - the last two chapters - before I knew the rest of the story. It also presented some interesting problems while I was working on it.
A small bit of background. I grew up in Northern Idaho, very much landlocked in the wheat and lentil fields. For a week each summer - for several years in the 2000s - I would travel to Coeur d'Alene for a week's retreat at a camp on the lake. It was a lovely area to spend a week; there was no TV, computer, radio, or cell phone service, so there were no distractions. We had the option of reading, writing, talking, hiking, boating, swimming, or just enjoying spending time focused on things important to us while we were there.
I found it much easier to work on this particular novella when I was close to a large body of water. Lake Coeur d'Alene isn't the Atlantic, but it is large and deep. To be honest, I'm not sure why I needed to be near water to be able to focus on this story, but I've learned over the years not to argue with my characters. all that does is lead them to not cooperating with me. So I worked on other pieces during the year and focused solely on this novella during the week's retreat.
My friends soon got used to seeing me out of my room pacing the top of the bench overlooking the lake while attempting to work through a specific plot point. One friend, Bill, especially would come ask me what I was trying to work through. I can remember him commenting that I certainly didn't go easy on myself. That comment came when I told him I was attempting to figure out how to explain the Internet to a man that died in 1912.
I did manage to figure it out in the end, but it required about 30 minutes pacing on the deck.
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