Five Years
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
I haven't published a new novel in almost five years and I know some of my readers and fans have been asking why.
Some of the reasons were business related, painful and not worth getting into. But after the publication of Serpent's Kiss, I was burnt out for a while and spent a few months wandering around in the woods and along the rivers near my house in Montana, trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. The answer after all that therapeutic navel gazing was that I wanted to continue to write. I realized that writing is one of my favorite things to do, and that got my butt back in the chair and my fingers on the keyboard.
Here's a brief account of the last five years.
I was still burnt on novels, so
I taught myself to write screenplays. I wrote three scripts the first year, and then I wrote a novel that I loved but nobody else liked. Then Serpent's Kiss became a huge bestseller in Germany and that gave me the ability to fly to Italy and research what I believe is the last great untold story of World War II.
I returned to the United States, and at the same time wrote the first drafts of both TRIPLE CROSS and the World War II screenplay called THE FORGOTTEN FRONT.
Then I wrote a novel under a pseudonym that my agent's trying to sell.
And
I'm about 90 percent through the writing of my new, new book, tentatively entitled THE 18th RULE.
Along the way I wrote twenty full length magazine articles, founded a business that offers eco-friendly alternatives to asphalt, and became president of a non-profit foundation dedicated to alpine ski racing.
In short, it's been a busy five years even if there hasn't been a lot to show for it on the bookshelves.
I learned a lot in five years and had a heck of a good time for the most part. I try to live every day like it's my last. I laugh a lot.
I go on adventures as often as possible. I spend most days writing down my dreams. I can look out the window of my office and see the Bridger Mountains cast in snow. I'm healthy.
I'm the proud dad of two great boys, and the loving husband of my wife of twenty-five years. I'm a lucky guy. I know it and I thank God for the blessings he's given me every day since I last published a novel.
With his help, I can assure you that it won't be five years until I publish another.
Some of the reasons were business related, painful and not worth getting into. But after the publication of Serpent's Kiss, I was burnt out for a while and spent a few months wandering around in the woods and along the rivers near my house in Montana, trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. The answer after all that therapeutic navel gazing was that I wanted to continue to write. I realized that writing is one of my favorite things to do, and that got my butt back in the chair and my fingers on the keyboard.
Here's a brief account of the last five years.
I was still burnt on novels, so
I taught myself to write screenplays. I wrote three scripts the first year, and then I wrote a novel that I loved but nobody else liked. Then Serpent's Kiss became a huge bestseller in Germany and that gave me the ability to fly to Italy and research what I believe is the last great untold story of World War II.
I returned to the United States, and at the same time wrote the first drafts of both TRIPLE CROSS and the World War II screenplay called THE FORGOTTEN FRONT.
Then I wrote a novel under a pseudonym that my agent's trying to sell.
And
I'm about 90 percent through the writing of my new, new book, tentatively entitled THE 18th RULE.
Along the way I wrote twenty full length magazine articles, founded a business that offers eco-friendly alternatives to asphalt, and became president of a non-profit foundation dedicated to alpine ski racing.
In short, it's been a busy five years even if there hasn't been a lot to show for it on the bookshelves.
I learned a lot in five years and had a heck of a good time for the most part. I try to live every day like it's my last. I laugh a lot.
I go on adventures as often as possible. I spend most days writing down my dreams. I can look out the window of my office and see the Bridger Mountains cast in snow. I'm healthy.
I'm the proud dad of two great boys, and the loving husband of my wife of twenty-five years. I'm a lucky guy. I know it and I thank God for the blessings he's given me every day since I last published a novel.
With his help, I can assure you that it won't be five years until I publish another.
Labels: burnt out, Italy, novel, Triple Cross, World War II, writing
posted by Mark Sullivan at
11:35 AM
