A Spearhead's Duty

Swords of Fire is a saga. It will go at least six books. (Two are already written, and a third has been begun. But none are "finished".) The Great Sea is a place. It has hundreds of stories which can be told as short stories, novels or epic sagas. I already know some of them.

Flames of Hatred (yes, I will rename it some day) has the honorable - and difficult - position of being the first book "out of the gate". It will introduce the Great Sea. It will present key characters. It will set the tone for the entire saga. But most importantly, Flames of Hatred must have: a beginning; a middle; and an end. Yes, the book must end, despite it being the first volley in a series. There is one other requirement for Flames of Hatred: it has to be interesting.

When I began writing Swords of Fire back in 1976, I had no thoughts about it ever being published. It was simply a logical progression of one of my favorite pastimes: writing stories. No one read them. Not ever. I completely understood the George McFly character (played by Crispin Glover) from Back to the Future when he tells Marty (played by Michael J. Fox) he never let anyone read his stories. What if they didn't like them?

It was by accident the story came to the attention of some people I worked with. They wanted to know more. I had to read it to them. Suddenly, I had an audience! And with an audience came responsibility. I could no longer afford to write just what I felt and leave it be at that. The writing had to at least make sense. (When writing for myself I will change names, places and events - sometimes in mid-paragraph.)

When friends, lovers and relatives began speaking about Swords of Fire becoming a published novel I made a closer inspection of the story. I had begun too late. I abandoned the project and went back in time to restart. I would do this three times before I came to the time of Flames of Hatred. Now I had to establish who was important - and why.

Ultimately, I chose Khirhsa as my POV character. I introduced Abrin, Shello, Klarissa, Khaiu, Tura - and Kelso. NO ONE liked Kelso as I originally portrayed him. I guess I don't blame them. But the truth is, I failed to present any of the characters well. I'm embarassed to admit I ever thought that version was worthy of publication. In my defense I will only say this: I wasn't alone.

I don't remember how, but I suddenly found myself in contact with a man who had once edited books at some big New York Publishing House. He agreed to read my book - for $25. Not knowing any better, I sent him the book with a check. That was on a Monday in January. The same week on Thursday he called me at my work (I didn't have a home telephone) to tell me he very much liked the book and read it in one evening. He lived in St. Paul, so we arranged a meeting at his favorite restaurant on Saturday. During the meeting he not only returned my check, but he told me that, while the book was clearly written by an amateur, the story had tremendous potential. It did need to be edited - heavily. Then he told me something completely unexpected. He told me to send the book to his friend: Lester Del Rey. No promises. The book needed a LOT of work. But if I used his name (I don't remember it, but "Demerest" sticks in my head. I have the documentation in the archives some place.), Lester just might be willing to take on the project. That was what he was willing to do for me.

I did send the book to Lester Del Rey. After what I considered to be an interminable amount of time he returned the manuscript. The story was good. Unfortunately, the writing was not, and it would take an inordinate amount of effort to make it good. Sorry.

That was twenty-five years ago. I have rewritten the story several times since then. The original story, Prophecies of Madatar, eventually was divided into two books: Flames of Hatred and Prophecies of Madatar. This past spring I had thought the story ready at last. I have since taken another painful lesson to learn that is not so. But now I am receiving some quality help in learning to present a novel length story. Flames of Hatred should be ready to go by spring of 2009 - with a new title.

When it is ready it will have a beginning, a middle and an end. It will be written well. The story will still be interesting. And the readers will learn about Khirsha, Kelso, Sayla, Avalina, Tavaar (I just love her), flameswords, the Great Sea and - Madatar.