Happy February,
I hope this post finds you
well and excited about the New Year.
This month I go to my first writer’s conference. I am looking forward to
rubbing shoulders with real writers, maybe some of the good stuff will rub off
on me. In the November post I mentioned that I was working on a project I
started over ten years ago. I began writing the story while flying to Texas for
a company school. The idea came to me as I was flying over the Arizona desert. I
thought what if I were stranded in the desert, how would I survive. The obvious
title was Survival. But, as with most of the stories I have written since, it
turned in to something different than my original plan. I believe there are a
few chapter of it posted on this blog. It is the first story that I started and
completed a beginning middle and end. It is not finished and polished because
it requires a complete rewrite.
I kept going back to it because there are
some very good scenes and I became fond of my main character, Felix Carver. But,
I decided to put this one in the drawer for a while longer. The number one
reason is, and I am a little bit embarrassed by it, (confession is good for the
soul, so they say) I hate editing! I am terrible at it and it makes my head
hurt. So for that reason I have decided to move on to my third book, (the
second book is in the percolating stage, I am stuck). I started this one a few
years ago. It has less problems and will be easier to spruce up. I have had
some good comments about it from my critique group so I have decided to take
this one all the way to publishing. My goal is to have it completed by October.
The title is Cherokee Clay. It is about a young man who was born to a Cherokee
Mother and English father, and takes place in the mid 1800’s shortly after the
forced removal of the Cherokee nation.
The research has been fun and
very eye opening. The most amazing part of the history of the Cherokee is there
overall endurance and perseverance in reaching their corporate dreams. They
were one of the Five Civilized Tribes.
The Five
Civilized Tribes is the term applied to five American Indian (Native American)
nations: the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole. These tribes
were considered civilized because they adapted to the influx of whites by adopting
many of our ways, such as building schools, developing city government, and
many Cherokee wore the clothes of the white man. This was in no way a sign of
weakness but demonstrates the built in adaptability of the Cherokee. They were
grossly taken advantage of by our government in a way that staggers the
imagination. They were forcibly removed from their land and relocated in a
foreign place where they were not wanted. The trip from Georgia to Oklahoma is
called the Trail of Tears. Over 3000 died from starvation and the elements. If
you have never read anything about the force removal of the Five Civilized
Tribes, it is well worth the effort to do a little research.
The
theme of Cherokee Clay is forgiveness, and moving past hurt to reach attainable
goals. The genre is Christian Adventure. I have had a blast writing this one. I
might even take a trip to see first-hand where the Trail of Tears started in the
name of research. Stay tuned to this channel, I plan on pasting a few chapters
of the book on this blog. Next month I will give a brief report on the writers
conference. Until then God Bless and Live for Him!
Cliff
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