No … I’m not quoting it wrong. I know it’s supposed to be fifteen men. I’m just superimposing my lifeless body among the other carcasses on board the ship’s deck. The image came to me this morning as I slithered into my daily regimen of formatting, proofreading, and editing a book I seem to have been working on for a decade.

Now, Mac lovers, please don’t be offended, but I’m finding my Macbook Pro somewhat different from the Microsoft PC I’ve known since the advent of the IBM 286 of time long past. YES. I’m aware of it! I just dated myself by many decades. But let it here be known by all and sundry that an old dog CAN learn new tricks. It’s just painful, that’s all.

So, trying to get this dog-gone book to the publisher, all the while moving ahead at a snails pace with my brand-new Mac PC, makes me feel like I’m lying among the corpses of other aspiring writers whose best efforts ended up on the deck of an over-run pirate ship.

Boyhood Adventures is replete with conflict. The most redundant is between Frank, Dennis, and Lee. Frank wants to be the best of pals with Dennis and Lee, but find them constantly engaged in sorties that would frighten a Kamikaze pilot. Frank wants to be “one of the crew” but he feels as though every mission puts him in great peril.

Conversely, Dennis and Lee are annoyed by Frank’s skittish nature, but they seldom plan a nocturnal adventure if they know he will be unable to accompany them. His panicked response to anything he perceives as even remotely life-threatening is so predictable as to lend comic relief to otherwise mundane moments.

The conflict between Lee Farmer and Bobby John Deacons is palpable. B.J. once listened intently to an adventure story told by Lee; something about an excursion to an abandoned asylum. The next day at school, Lee learns that B.J. is telling Lee’s story, claiming it for his very own. Not only does Lee see this this as an ethical infraction, he considers it a most dishonorable and deceitful act; one deserving of harsh retribution. This conflict is like a rubber band being stretched to its limit. The reader can sense that there will soon be a climactic eruption between the two characters; the question is: how soon?

Writing conflict into a story like Boyhood Adventures is a great deal of fun. I’m enjoying every minute of it. I hope my readers enjoy it too.

I’m in the process of formatting my manuscript for submission. This can be a daunting task. The publisher provides submission guidelines but they can be woefully deceptive or somewhat lacking in a few details. The good news, I have found, is that publishers are very willing to respond to questions about things I’m uncertain about. So, it’s working out okay.

Formatting is FUN. Okay, I’m being a bit sarcastic. But with practice, practice, practice, I find the task getting easier. Once again, paying close attention to publisher guidelines is a must. It’s amazing what publishers will do to help your work along.

Manuscript editing is a tough job. I really can’t trust myself to the task because I’m not as objective as others who’ve volunteered to do the job for me. My wife, Gail; my Sister-in-Law, Leanne; and my son, Brian are all chipping in as watchdogs on the project. I must admit to being surprised at the errors they’re finding: simple things I passed over without a discerning glance.

Manuscript submission closely follows the editor’s green flag of approval. This will be a moment long awaited. For me, being published by a “vanity” agency is nothing compared to being published by a legitimate publishing house. It’s a right of passage. It’s the difference between purchasing a BS degree based on a lifetime of acquired knowledge and a degree earned from an accredited university like BYU. One might like to believe one is as credible as the other, but it just ain’t so!

So, the month of April – May 2015 will be an apex in my writing career. I hope the experience turns out to be everything I’ve worked for.

I’m preparing a synopsis as part of my manuscript submission package for my publisher. As simple as it sounds, preparing a book synopsis is as perilous as walking a high wire without a net. What makes it all the more perilous is that this is my first interaction with this publisher. It raises certain questions: Does he prefer brevity over detail? Does he anticipate a single page synopsis or a three pager? Does he like plot curve more than character curve or is he an equal opportunity critic? There are so many facets to the complex world of book synopses, sallying forth is an unsettling prospect. Maybe some prayer and fasting is in order.

Character voice is critical to projects like Boyhood Adventures. But sustaining voices of young boys living in Texarkana, Arkansas in 1953, has drawbacks. After hours, days and weeks of writing dialog, I find my mind thinking in character voice and even speaking in character voice. It drives my wife crazy. But – to me – it’s all part of the process of creative writing. Here’s an example of character voice in my book, Haunted Haunts:

“Last summer, we was up at Nashville,” said Lee, “at Max Market. There’s this big place to park, all covered with gravel. Daddy and I was fillin’ boxes with stuff to take inside, and here come this Holsum truck, highballin’ right on up to where we was workin’. That ol’ boy hit his brakes an’ went slidin’ up by where we was. A bunch o’ gravel went all over the place an’ some of it hit Daddy’s pants an’ shoes. Burt got out of his truck lookin’ real mad, but Daddy faced him, lookin’ all calm like. Burt slammed his door and came right on up to Daddy. Then Daddy said somethin’ like, Howdy, cowboy?

“Cowboy?” said Frank.

“Yeah,” said Lee. “Daddy always called bad truck drivers cowboys, ‘specially if he seen ‘em drive real crazy like Burt done. Anyways, Burt started yelling, ‘bout how his bread got all smashed and shoved ‘round.  Daddy never said nothin’. He just took off his glasses and set ‘em on the step of his cab. I was standin’ by the back of Daddy’s bread truck, so I could see his face real good. I never seed Daddy look mad or nothin’. He just stood there with his left foot a little ahead o’ t’other. I seed him make a fist with his right hand but he had it hid from Burt, behind his leg. He never said nothin’ but I could tell he was fixin’ to get ready to throw down on that ol’ boy. It was kinda like when two cats square off on each other. When, like, ya can tell one o’ them cats is fixin’ to scrap an’ that other cat just wants to get the heck on outta there. I guess Burt saw Dad was set to fight ‘cause all of a sudden like, his voice got real quiet.  I couldn’t hear what he said after that.  Then Burt got back in his truck and just drove off, real slow like.”

“Dang!” said Dennis. “Was he short, like Jimmy?”

“No sir!” said Lee. “Burt’s a big ol’ boy, from Amarillo, Texas. An’ that’s another reason Daddy don’t like him so much. He always says Texans is full of hot air an’ … well … I can’t say the rest o’ what Daddy says ’bout them fellers.”

Dennis was impressed. “So, Jimmy stood up to that big ol’ Texan?”

“Yessiree Bob,” said Lee.  “I asked Daddy why he never said nothin’ an’ he tol’ me somethin’ like, Some fellers talk a hell of a fight. Chickens cackle ‘n’ cluck, but a rooster throws down. I ain’t no chicken.”

Personal memories have played a big part in my form of creative writing; thus far. Boyhood Adventures, Haunted Haunts, and Wings of Valor, are all works of fiction based on true-to-life events: my true-to-life experiences. This has caused me to wonder what I will write after all three works have been published. So far, because I’ve relied so much on personal recall, writing has been relatively easy. My next book will be a lot more challenging.

“The Troubleshooter” will be a work of fiction, void of even a modicum of personal recollection. Research needed to compose the book will be extensive. It will be set in the late 1940’s and have something of a Sam Spade feel to it. The main character is Sven Eriksson, a former Army intelligence officer, now working as a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. Under extraordinary circumstances, Det. Eriksson finds himself in the hunt for a person of interest in a homicide case. The person of interest is later identified by Det. Eriksson as a German war criminal, responsible for pursuing and assassinating more than two hundred members of the French underground. As a U.S. Army intelligence officer, Captain Eriksson came to suspect that the assassin was also a key figure in the execution of at least twenty American and allied escaped prisoners of war. Det. Eriksson knows the assassin to be a cold-blooded, psychopathic killer, but why is he operating in Los Angeles? Why is he not cowering in Venezuela among other German war criminals?