C.Y. Stewart's Blog

“Fatal Float” Afterword

Believe it or not, this story was the amalgamation of actual events  (minus the violence) which really happened a few summers ago, a blindingly crazy time, one that I wish to not relive.

Writing this story was a departure for me personally and emotionally from all other stories I’ve written. In a way, “Fatal Float” was a bit boring to write, for it allowed minimal creative fun. A lot of times, I found myself merely recalling and recording what had actually happened. The reality itself was already wild enough; I merely needed to add some suturing details to zest it up.

I hope you enjoyed the book and I’d love to receive feedback from you. Please let me know what you think of the story and the characters. Which were your favorites? May I also ask you to please give the book a rating on Amazon and/or leave a review? Honest and positive ratings/reviews inspire and help me tremendously. I really appreciate it.

The journey of “Fatal Float” has ended. My writing will continue. We will meet somewhere, sometime, again.

Best wishes,

C.Y. Stewart

July 21, 2021

Missouri, USA

“Fatal Float” Almost Ready!

Fatal Float (my new thriller) is almost ready for release!

Both Steve and I have been working really hard in the past week or so, wrapping up the book for publication. Worked both Saturday and Sunday. Got up at 4:23AM this morning, even before my 4:30AM alarm could go off.

Right now we are working on the last round of proofreading. Also finishing up the cover (we may end up with a different cover design than we had originally planned; will see).

Thank you everyone so much for your support

Meet “Mandy”

Call us goofy, Steve and I like to name random objects in our life. For example, we named one of the hiking trails in Wildwood “Dinosaur Valley”, because the trail meanders along the crease of a valley and dotting the trail along was an abundance of “dinosaur trees”—I’m sure they are not called “dinosaur trees”; Steve and I gave the plant that name as Steve said its leaves and stems develop in such a binary way that it made him think of the primitiveness of the Dinosaur Age.

Another example: one winter, Steve and I bought a six-foot tall nutcracker from Michael’s as a Christmas decoration for our house. I liked the nutcracker so much that I started to fondly refer to him as “Mr. Stanley” (I know I am probably sounding like a nutcase now). The next year, we bought another nutcracker—a smaller one this time, about two foot tall–and that was “Stanley Junior”, of course.

Oh oh, and for those of you who have read 236 Leland, you remember the part in which I named the Dierbergs lottery machine “Helen”, guilty as charged, that part is one hundred percent real.

So last Halloween, Steve ordered a mannequin online and we named it “Mandy” (and he did place “Mandy” in our closet to totally startle me, just like Larry did to Michelle in the book). None of you are surprised, right?

“Mandy” is another example of how the ideas of my short stories oftentimes originate from real life. Luckily, our “Mandy” didn’t turn crazy; it is still standing in the utility room in our basement—as far as I know.

Mandy Posing for Halloween

New Book Cover!

Up till now, the cover on the website for my upcoming novel Fatal Float has been more like a placeholder. But this is going to soon change;) Next week, our photographer is going to head to the actual story site to take pictures which will then be designed into the official cover for Fatal Float. I’m excited!

I took a stab at it myself, just for fun…To the right of this blog post is a photo that I took of the Meramec River. The photographer will be taking his pictures basically at the same place. I’m curious to see how his work will turn out (I’m sure it will look better than mine…) and how it will be turned into the new book cover by our designer via creativity and imagination.

My new book, Fatal Float, is scheduled to be released in early June. Make sure you come back and check it out!