Tessera
Trilogy Blog
Post 136
I expect that very few, or none, of you will read this blog
post, so I can say pretty much what I want to. Most of my time of late has not
been consumed with writing, but with the everyday distractions of life.
Writers Group meeting - At the 13 December writers
group gathering there was plenty of food, non-alcoholic drinks, and cookies,
cakes and pies. Music set the mood, several songs song by musician members, and
a group sing-a-long was enjoyed. Readings also were part of the event and I
read a parody of Twas the night before Christmas. Fun was had by all – and
there were no calories.
Root for the Home Team! Prospective successes were suggested
based on scheduled “Local Author in the Lobby” events scheduled at two successive
branch libraries on 03 January and 18 January 2015. I hope to sell CDs with my
first two novels on them. I continue to
campaign with local writer groups and authors about the lack of local author
support by our local library system. While the library spends $10,000.00 a year
on eBooks, only one of its 73,000 eBooks is by a local author. For those eBook
authors in our neck of the woods that is a damning fact that disproves local
library support of local eBook authors.
UMW Alumni gathering - I went to a University
of Mary Washington event in Fredericksburg, VA – to network. Among the evening’s
events was a wrapped goofy gift exchange. I brought a CD with my first novels
on it, double wrapped. A wonderful woman thanked me several times when all was
over and I described to her the contents of her present – my novels. Her photo
is on my Facebook page.
Future detective series - As part of research
into a future detective based series I’ve begun reading the grand jury transcripts
from the Ferguson Missouri death of an unarmed black by a white officer. I’m
looking at the procedures involved and the effort is proving very instructive.
Stay tuned for Payroll Deductions – in about 2019.
“Don’t you ever
forget how you made this stuff (Mac and cheese).” Nancy P. Gerhard-Rowe, my
wife, said this in December 2014 as a compliment to my cooking skills.
Major distraction - One of the big distractions
to my writing bears sharing. Researchers occasionally come across a story which
is so compelling, so gripping and real that it overshadows and captures the
moment. One such story came to light recently, one that shattered the image of
a person of some family stature. The facts in that story, in those documents,
shined a spotlight on the clay feet of that individual.
Those documents uncovered a true story that was
breathtaking, surreal. Things were not what they appeared. There had been a
hint to this real truth. The documents in question had been legally kept from
view by some mysterious unnamed person.
One could surmise from reading the designation of ‘confidential’ that there
something was amiss, that if the story of those documents became public there
would be some consequence. The fact that those documents were, upon request for
them, officially termed “confidential” and therefore “cannot be disclosed” sat
for almost twenty years amongst the cobwebs of my mind.
Recently those documents were requested again, and after
spending a small amount for stamps, envelopes, and a $5.00 copying fee, they
came through the mail. I felt blessed, but shocked by what those documents
revealed. They were the perfect basis for a prize winning novel. The documents
dripped with drama, deceit, love, rejection, fear, hatred, and compassion, a
struggle for money, image, and control. There was a “bad woman,” “women of ill
repute,” and a home wrecker who was put “in trouble.” The facts addressed an
inheritance stolen, and a crippled woman defrauded of a huge sum of money. The
story included a mother beaten in front of her children and threatened with
death. There were lawyers and orders to
show cause, hearings and witness statements, all in a tone and in an age before
women could even vote – and the wife filed for the divorce.
The story was perfect with non-fiction as the genre, but its
elements, characters, and setting were the stuff of fiction. It has been said
that truth is stranger than fiction. This was the case. The outcome was not
what one could envision in terms of a story told on the Hallmark Channel. There
was not the redemption of a Scrooge character, nor any expectation of warm
background music. This was a dark story, rending a family asunder. A family
with four children was traumatized. One of the children testified as a witness
in these WWI years, in a rural small town in an eastern American state.
I felt I had to share the story, or parts of it. I had to
decide who to tell, and who not to tell. I decided some few should be told; others
who had too much invested in the status quo I decided could not be told. There
might yet remain some living individuals who had been involved in getting those
documents designated “confidential” and “cannot be disclosed.”
Yet the documents were factual, facts in a legal sense.
There were also very messy, out of character for the times they occurred in,
and could be considered controversial and inflammatory by those who had heard
quite a different story. Yet here were facts, the legalistic summary of a
family torn asunder.
I’ll have to spend time analyzing these facts, trying to
discover or guess what other unnamed witnesses were called, what they said
based on what they saw or heard. Perhaps it is the stuff of another book, or
several. And the question they raised remains – Does the apple fall far from
the tree?
As of 09 December 2014 Kashan Kashmeeri stands at 160 pages,
80K words. Much work ahead.
