How long did it take you to write your book?
It was a five year journey without a paycheck! Initially, Cold Rock River was to be the story of Adie, seventeen and pregnant and unmarried during the early 1960’s. I know today if you’re in her condition, they throw you a shower. In those days they threw you out. I decided Adie would do some chicken farming to feed them when it became apparent Buck wasn’t going to be one she could count on. I went to the library to research Georgia chicken farming and stumbled onto the Slave Narratives. The complete collection— which contains more than two thousand first-person accounts—is housed at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. They were commissioned by President Roosevelt during the depression years, in order to record the journey of those freed slaves still alive. Writers ere sent across the nation to search for them. Their accounts are as fascinating as they are poignant. Over the years, there’s been a good deal of controversy as to their accuracy, based on the fact that some of the freed slaves were fearful or perhaps suspicious of the government—brings to mind “forty acres and a mule”—and hesitant to speak candidly regarding the treatment they may or may not have received at the hands of their sometimes still powerful former masters. The collective consensus is that somewhere amidst the vast amount of material lies the truth. After months of reading, reviewing, and re-examining all of the narratives I could locate, Tempe’s portion of Cold Rock River emerged. Her story, based on what I found, is remarkable. Everything that Tempe experiences was lifted from the lives of actual people who wore the chains and bore the scars of slavery. I won’t ever forget her; nor am I able to forget those I ‘met” through the narratives, who bravely shared their life stories so that Tempe could tell me hers.
I know some authors who outline and then some just let the words come as they may. Did you outline or just write as you sent along?
When I first begin a novel I let the words flow on the page and characters show up on their own. When I discover what it is I want to say with that particular work, I make some notes as to where it’s going and what the climax will be. Once I decide on the culminating events that will turn the story completely around and change the protagonist forever, I put together an outline to plot the points leading up to the climax. I understand there is no right way or wrong way. Whatever works, works.
Article comments
1 - Cheryl Malandrinos
This sounds like a wonderful and inspiring novel. Southern fiction has such a charm to it. I just read Karen White's "The House on Tradd Street", and though it's spooky in many parts, southern charm and Confederate legends flow through it.
Best of luck with your book!
Cheryl