My READ LOCAL presentation at
the Bettendorf Public Library has come and gone, but it will stay with me as a
big step forward.
By presenting a slide show of
my first visit to Bishop Hill and describing the Colony buildings as they were
then, 1986, I was really presenting my point of view and the beginning of my novel
writing journey.
My POV was, and still is,
colored by those buildings and by the people who tried to save them. Everyone I
met on my walks around the village influenced me and left behind something of
their personal selves. I likened my feature writing back then as slices of
life, snapshots, and small portraits of my subjects in the Krans tradition.
In the course of finishing my
first novel, I hope I did expand this early, literal, theme of preservation to
a larger world view that included family, friends, and community.
Did I succeed? Will anyone
catch the symbolism in the motives of the various villains? Or how the
103-year-old retired teacher may not have been so daft after all? Or catch the
final metaphor?
As a writer, I am probably
too close to the work to tell. It’s up to the readers to say if I succeeded to
any degree. This is also another reason why reviews are so important—feedback!
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