My Uncompleted Novels

I've loved to write all my life and at age 8 I wrote my first short story.  All I remember is that it was about a guy in jail. Starting in middle school I took all the creative writing classes I could, and I spent the 7th and 8th grades in an independent studies program, where I wrote for an hour each day. Throughout middle school, high school, and college I served on the yearbook staff and campus newspaper.

I was editor of my college newspaper and after graduation I became a newspaper reporter and then editor of a small town newspaper. From there I worked as an editor for most of my career.

I did most of my writing in my teens and early 20s. Once I got married I was eager to settle into a routine and write every evening after work.

Now, here I am, 30+ years later, and unemployed. The extra time has given me time to reflect, and I've been thinking about how much I loved to write. During my peak writing years I started 5 novels, but never finished them. I would write passionately for a while and then run out of steam. Each time I would be determined to complete my work, but the plot became boring or redundant, or whatever.

Here are the uncompleted works. I'm thinking about picking one and finishing it. Gosh knows I now have the time. I have most of the manuscripts lying around somewhere.

War Without A Cause
Time Period: Ages 12-16
Summary: It's a theme that's stayed in my head all my life. A group of people want to create a new world government that would fix all our global ills. They secretly built a fleet of 10-story tall robots and hid them in underground silos. The elevators lifted them to the surface and they began their invasion of Europe, Russia, and eventually the USA.

Winter Days & Weary Nights
Time Period: Age 16
Summary: A sequel to the first book, but this one gets more into the battle with the USSR. Americans raise two volunteer divisions that are stationed on the border with the Soviet Union. This book deals with feeding the troops, the new world government, and the famous General Larson, who was too cool to wear a military uniform, and instead walked around in a trench coat.

Rebellion in the Judi System
Time Period: Age 23
Summary: I was just out of college and thought I'd take a stab at sci-fi. The book was a play on the Roman Empire on a galactic level. I didn't realize it at the time but I think Star Wars influenced me more than I realized. Those little crappers stole my idea! I did study Latin for two years and was totally into anything Roman, so it was fun to write.

The Trashcan Novel
Time Period: Age 24
Summary: In college I was editor of my college newspaper and I had a guy and girl on the staff who were always together. The guy was a little geeky, so I already suspected he was doomed to be "just friends." Sure enough, one day he came into my office with his hair messed up and looking like a train wreck. His heart had been broken and he proceeded to tell me his story. One of the things he said stayed in my mind forever: "I was so upset last night that I wrote a 50-page poem and then threw it in the trash." I've always thought there was something particularly beautiful about a love you can never have. It's like the knights who said goodbye to their damsels and rode off into battle. Even if they survived, they would never have the woman's heart. Some baron or lord would get it instead. Hey, it sucks, but at least you get to experience that feeling of love, even if it's one way. So, anyway, it provided a great theme for a novel that centered on the beauty and intensity of a totally vain and hopeless love.

The Battlefield Life
Time Period: Age 25
Summary: Okay, this novel was a rip on St. Elmo's Fire and The Big Chill, which both came out around the time of my writing. But, hey, wait a minute, I think they stole MY IDEA. Anyway, the book is about a gang of friends who go through their contentious lives, and occasionally they get together to play a creepy board game with magic powers that takes them through screwed up lives. It's like the game of Life, with a twist of Jumanji. Hey, wait a minute, Jumanji stole my idea as well.

I also wanted to write a book on saving the world, but again, someone beat me to the punch. In 1992 Daniel Quinn wrote the book Ishamel, which drastically changed my life. More on that in a future post.