Travis Thrasher's Blog, page 28

Titanic and The Promise Remains

Letters From War and Paper Angels weren't the first books I wrote that were inspired by songs.
Actually, the first one was the very first novel I had published, The Promise Remains. At the end of 1997, I saw Titanic along with the rest of the world. I was very moved by it, to be honest. I'm a sucker for a love story set to an amazing soundtrack (and yeah, amazing special effects too).
I bought the soundtrack by James Horner. On it is a crucial track that plays during a very crucial moment.
That track: "A Promise Kept".
In January, 1998, I began writing a love story I'd been wanting to write for a while. But I discovered my hook through this song.
This story was very straightforward and simple. As I wrote it, I knew I was going to pitch it to the publisher I worked for. I also knew they had a well-selling title called A Promise Kept, so I decided to change the name of my novel to The Promise Remains.
I didn't have a clue that the eighth novel I'd write and finish would actually be my first one published. I hoped, just like I hope for twenty more. But I didn't expect it to really happen.
I've come to realize that music and movies have impacted my writing in major ways. And I write this as I near the finish line on a very important novelization for a very important movie coming this fall called Home Run.
Pretty cool.

Groundhog Day For One Writer

5:00 a.m.—Ideas

7:00 a.m.—Twin alarm clocks

9:00 a.m.—Ready, willing, and able

10:30 a.m.—In the zone

11:30 a.m.—Rush is over

Lunch—Nervous energy

1:30 p.m.—Recalibrating
2:00 p.m.—The Dead Zone

2:30 p.m.—Second wind

4:00 p.m.—So much left to do

5:00-6:00 p.m.—The witching hour

7:00—8:00 p.m.—Bedtime for Bonzo

8:30 p.m.—Mindmush

9:30 p.m.—Headphones and laptop

10:30 p.m.—Squeezing last drops out

Midnight—Last requests

Keeping Your Dreams

Dreams are a funny thing, aren't they?

We walk around with pockets full of them when we're young, but little by little, the dreams fall out by the time we get to adulthood. That's just part of the aging process, I guess. That's part of the wonderful thing called "wisdom".

I'm forty years old. Damn. Sometimes I just say that and it makes me feel old. I still feel twenty-seven years old. Or at least that's what I'd like to believe.

I've come to learn that dreams are seen differently when there are children in the picture. When there's a family and responsibilities and expectations. The teen years and even the eternal twenty-something years are long gone. You have to wise up and get with the program and start growing up.

Growing up for me has been hard. Very hard at times.

That's why on a night like tonight, as I'm watching a movie I'd already seen called The Rookie, I was balling like a baby.
I think first off, I've become a lot more emotional since having three girls. I've always been an emotional guy, but now—I can't watch a Hallmark commercial without wiping my eyes. For the love. Seriously. I'm wondering what exactly happened to me. But Kylie, Mackenzie, and Brianna happened. And I thank God they did.
I now see the weight of the world through their eyes and perspective. My dreams are just that--my dreams. But I have a family to think about and try to support in any way possible.
Yet every day, I live out my dreams. The dreams of a third grader. They're not just a slight reality—they're the real deal and have been for four and a half years. Weeks and months pass by and I wonder how in the world I'm still doing this. How I'm making it. But I continue to do so. Somehow and someway.
Those dreams haven't gone away. In fact, they've grown and intensified.
Because I believe I'm doing something I've always been meant to do. Something that I should be doing. And thankfully, God continues to open doors and allows me to keep the dream alive.
I watched The Rookie tonight because of this amazing baseball project I'm working on. The movie is called Home Run and it comes out this fall. I'm fortunate enough to be writing the novelization. Another door opened, another dream fulfilled.

But when I think about it, I don't think about ME. The teen or twenty-something me. Now, I think about my family and about being able to do something I love to do. I feel gratitude. I feel humbled.

Dreams do come true. But so often, they happen after many, many hours of hard work and persistence. Every day I live a dream to be writing. Yet I also wonder why the dream sometimes seems so terrifying. That's just reality. That's just the responsibility of a parent.

The line that stood out in The Rookie more than most tonight was when the baseball player's wife asks him this: "Do you still love it?"
It's an important question.

Yes, I do.

The dreams I've carried around are still there. They just look a little different because I'm a little different. Or a lot different. I don't know.
I want to dream for my three girls. That's what I want to do. I want to one day let go of this insane journey uphill and then coast downhill with those little ladies by my side.
That sounds all sweet and wonderful, but I know it won't be that easy. Anything in life—even dreams—comes with a price.
It's nice to be reminded that dreams do come true. Perhaps not in the way we imagined they might, but they can still happen.
It's never too late to keep hoping and keep dreaming and keep working very hard.

3 Types Of Story Ideas

I love coming up with story ideas. If I had to earn a living coming up with a story idea every day for the rest of my life, I think I could do it. Yes, some ideas aren't as good as others, but they keep coming to me.
I divide story ideas into several categories: Big Ones, In The Moment Ideas, and Random Curiosities.
Big Ones are ideas that I've had for a while, stories that I've either started or maybe even finished. Ones that at some point in my life, I hope to someday do. This includes my Pat Conroy-esque novel Bull Road. It also includes my Lost-esque series idea that I started to write then decided it was too big and special to simply crank out.
You know a story idea is a big and special one when it keeps coming to mind time and time again. Your perspective on the story might change, but the heart of the story will remain the same.
In The Moment ideas are ones that are based on what's happening to you at the moment they come. A high school reunion story that comes to mind because your reunion just happened. A story about someone your age going through something you might be going through. Even a collaboration like Paper Angels with Jimmy Wayne resulted in a story about a character about to have twins which mirrored my real life. (Thankfully Jimmy was gracious enough to allow me to add that storyline).
The one thing with these In The Moment ideas are the timely nature of their creations. My novel, Admission, was one of those stories. I knew that if I didn't write my college novel when I wanted to, the moment would pass and I'd move on from the idea. Many ideas are like that. It's a great idea for the moment, and for the month, but as the years pass, the idea fades and something new replaces it.
Finally, there are the Random Curiosities. These are story ideas based on something that I like or find fascinating. A profession, perhaps. An idea. A piece of pop culture. These are about diving into a world I want to know more about and creating a particular story around that.
The picture above is of the famous director Stanley Kubrick. I've always found his movies fascinating and his own life intriguing. There's an idea I've had for a while that involves Stanley Kubrick. The idea doesn't involve time travel and isn't set back when Kubrick was alive. It's a quirky idea that's completely original and could be brilliant or could be a trainwreck. The reason I want to do the project is to learn more about Kubrick and craft a story around him. But that would be quite an endeavor. I know it's not something I'm going to do anytime soon.
Another one is a story involving a climb to Mt. Everest. This has been a source of interest ever since the nonfiction work Into Thin Air was a bestseller. I'm intrigued by the compulsion by some people to climb this mountain. I've thought of various ideas--one of my book ideas attached to my Moody Publishers contract (Admission, Blinded, etc.) was an idea about a climb to Mt. Everest.
I'm fortunate to always be having ideas. I'm also learning to be realistic about certain ideas. The Kubrick idea--it's big and ambitious and I'm nowhere near even attempting it. The Lost-esque idea--I hope to get to that sometime soon. And the stories involving having twins or having three girls--well, yeah, those will be coming sometime down the road too.
Some ideas are too impossible to resist.

10 Reasons To Jump On The Solitary Tales Bandwagon

Haven't read The Solitary Tales yet? Haven't even heard of them?
Oh, just you wait. They're amazing.
Book three is coming out in April, and book four releases January, 2013.
There are some very loyal and devoted fans out there. But now is time to discover this series and jump on the bandwagon. Here's why:
#1. You loved the complex mysteries and backstories found on Lost

#2. You loved the Twilight series and are searching for something to fill that void

#3. You're tired of the Twilight phenomenon and wish Bella would have died in the first book

#4. The bandwagon isn't that big, so that means you're a leader, not a follower

#5. You want something unique, something that isn't like "insert any bestselling YA series name here"

#6. The SOLITARY t-shirts coming in the future are going to be amazing

#7. When author Travis Thrasher goes insane, this will be the series people point to. And the answers WILL be inside.

#8. Aunt Alice decapitated a groundhog. No, we're not joking.

#9. The movies are going to be epic.

#10. Wish Lost had ended with a lot more questions answered?? Never fear—the questions do get answered in this four-book-series

(Join the Solitary Tales Facebook Page before April 1 to be eligible to win a Kindle Fire!)

Running To Stand Still (The Joy Of Writing)

They can't take this joy away from you.

The Amazon rankings and the Facebook likings and the sales and the numbers won't dim your soul. They try but they fail.

The numbers can't compare to the words.

The stories in your mind and in your heart exist and aren't going anywhere.

There is a peace now that if it all goes away, so be it. You know on your death bed you won't think of these stories, because they're just that: stories. They can't compare the smiles of those three little girls who have your heart and soul tied and knotted and stumbling daily.

Yet those stories, as fragile and fleeting as they may be, can still be powerful. They mean something to you.

Every story means something.

Nobody and nothing can take that away from you.

Nobody can take away this joy of creating and imagining and falling in love again. Of unlocking treasures deep in the jungle and uncovering secrets dark in the soul.

When you immerse yourself, you feel like a child swimming in the ocean, unbound and free and alive.

The people who look you in the mirror are part of you but so different. They are heroes and they are villains. They are long lost loves you'd travel back in time for. They having beating hearts and they crush your own as you try in vain to make them come to life.

This can't compare to a paycheck. This can't even begin to equate to paying the bills. Yet paychecks and bills are reality and those people are just in your imagination.

Such is the balance.

Maybe one day the seesaw won't constantly sway. Maybe you will stop worrying and wondering. But worry and wonder bring discipline and determination.

The thing nobody can take away is this passion and this love and this desire. Not to have a smirk on the back of a hardcover book looking all that. But to smile in the deep of night when no one is around knowing you've given it your all and that you keep trying and failing.
And loving every moment of it.

The industry and the trends and the competition and the reality are constant road signs on this highway. You can't ignore them. You have to adhere to them. But that doesn't mean you can't give up your love of the journey.

You do this for reasons that only you can begin to understand. You feel fortunate and you feel finite and you feel like any moment things can change.

But nobody will take this amazing feeling from you. To make up people who vaguely resemble you and others you know. To bounce them around in situations that vaguely resemble ones you've been in or can imagine. To come up with an idea and flesh it out for better or worse.

You still love the craft. You're still learning. You're still trying. And you're still running to stand still. Every day and every night.

Singing In Heaven

The world is bored with the cliché of angels singing in Heaven, yet we marvel when someone can sing like one here on earth.

There's no question that was Whitney Houston's God-given gift.

They say God doesn't give us more than we can handle. Yet sometimes, God comes very close.

Soon the shock and the mourning will turn into reality. Details will surface and speculation will come and the sun will set on another tragic loss.

Yet the music will remain, right?

And yes, that's true. But here's something I'd like to think about.

This blessed young girl who was heard and discovered and given the keys to the world is no longer with us. But I want to hope and believe that some of her most glorious songs are yet to be sung.

I believe that one day she might sing them in Heaven.

Oh, call me a sap. Sure. Add on to the melodrama, Thrasher. Of course.

But I sincerely mean this.

I can't look into Whitney's heart and soul, but I do remember during her "comeback" in 2009 how she had reclaimed the faith of her youth. I think she had.
Does that mean she lost it again when she fell off the wagon?

We all know it's not that simple.

We also know that the demons of this world haunted Whitney just like everybody else. They knew she had more to give, so they took more. She had more to offer, so they tried hard to hold her back.

I believe that Heaven is real, and that eternity is really truly everlasting. Years ago, that felt like a really long time. It felt too long, too boring and too much. And while I still can't begin to fathom spending eternity worshiping God in Heaven, I do know there will be singing. I believe there will be songs. Many songs.

Songs that we can't even begin to imagine.

I also think Whitney will continue singing.

Not for herself. Creating art for yourself is not a lot of fun anyway. I do it—all the time. It gets old.

And not for others. That is a wheel that goes around and around and never stops. That's dangerous territory.

No. I think Whitney will be singing for the One who created her and gave her this incredible voice. I think she'll be thanking Him in her own way.

The broken pieces will all be fixed. The emptiness that can't be filled will be gone and forgotten. Her talent will no longer be fleeting, but she won't even be thinking of that talent.

She will sing of an eternal love and gratitude that she finally understands.

And that will be a performance I cannot wait to see.

Home Run--The Novelization

I'm delighted to be able to share with you some great news! I'm currently well into the writing of the novelization of a powerful movie coming this fall titled HOME RUN. Here's the official synopsis:

"A pro baseball player with an alcohol problem is forced to return to his hometown to face the pain he tried to ignore, the girl he wanted to forget, and the son he never knew."

This fits with so many of my other stories about broken people on journeys of redemption. I'm honored to be a small part of this amazing story! Check out this teaser trailer made last year. LOTS more to come!

The Most Interesting Author In The World (AKA "No Kool-Aid For You!")

I haven't mastered the epic grandiosity of being me. And while overall in the great scheme of eternity, this is probably a good thing, it's doesn't help when you're an author.

You see, when you're an author, you're selling yourself. You have to. It doesn't matter if you refuse to do interviews and act like you're a living William Faulkner. The very act of refusing interviews is a brand in itself (hello Mr. Cormac McCarthy). You have these things called books, and they have YOUR name on them. If you write nonfiction, then it's a no-brainer. It's all about you and your platform. But even with fiction, it's about selling a story, not just in the pages but in the author blurb.

Some authors have mastered the art of making their own Kool-Aid. You see them stirring big vats of it with a big old rubber spoon and you wonder what in the world they're doing. Sometimes you even take a sip from their plastic cup and you realize that yep, it's just Kool-Aid. It might taste sweet and feel refreshing, but it's still just Kool-Aid.

There's something about believing in yourself as a writer. You absolutely have to or else you're not going to get very far in the field. I also think you have to help sell those books, meaning you have to promote and talk about them and engage readers. I struggle between overdoing this and not doing this enough.

But then there's stepping over the abyss and sinking into a delusional world where you begin to talk like Yoda.

I'm not joking, either.

Sometimes I hear authors talking as if they wrote the second book of John in the Bible. Not in public but in private. I've had conversations with bestselling authors who were doing amazing things and absolutely knew it. They not only knew it, but they liked to remind everybody about it. They had bought into their press. They'd started sipping their own Kool-Aid. And they were starting to walk and talk like a live infomercial.

Then there are authors who try to outdo The Most Interesting Man In The World. You know, that sophisticated man with the accent surrounded by wealth and women in those Dos Equis commercials. Not even Donald Trump or Jay-Z are that interesting. Yet there are some authors who look and act and talk like they are The Most Interesting Author In The World. The very mention of another book idea should stop the world in its tracks.

Sometimes, the public buys this, the myth and the fantasy. It's marketing and it works. Why do people spend lots of dollars trying to make this car out to be The Most Amazing Vehicle In The World or to claim this liquor to be The Most Awesome Beverage In The World or to have this bra be The Most Sexy Piece Of Clothing In The World?

I, for one, know I'm not the most interesting author in the world. Those around me know this too. So if I started to act like this, they'd all start mocking me. They'd all see through the bologna. They wouldn't just refuse a sip of the Kool-Aid. They'd knock down the table of cups and empty the jug.

But still, sometimes I wish I could live a life of mystique. To leave readers wondering and breathless in anticipation. If I had enough sales, perhaps everything would be different. J.K. Rowling helps her brand by remaining out of the public spotlight. Because even the biggest authors like J.K. Rowling and Stephen King are not Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. (Okay, Rowling is royalty, but she's unique).

Whenever I mention a story idea, I sometimes feel like a dog barking at a stranger walking by on the sidewalk. Eventually you just tell the dog to be quiet because you've heard it a hundred times before.

Then again, sometimes I feel like there's nobody else doing what I'm doing, that there's nobody out there in my same boat. That I'm unique and that the world will wake up one day and get me and then I might possibly be "The Most Interesting Author In The World" (say that with a South American accent please).

For now, I might be one of the top ten most interesting authors in the western suburbs of Chicago. But I don't know—I know some really interesting authors around here.

Becoming a father is a reminder that life is not about me. Being a Christian is a reminder that life shouldn't be about me. So maybe it's a good thing that I don't make my own Kool-Aid and try to get people to drink it. Knowing me, every single cup I'd make would taste different anyway. The Kool-Aid branding police would come to me and in a Nazi-like tone tell me "No Kool-Aid For You!"

And you know what? That'd be just fine.

0 for 19

Dale Earnhardt was 0-for-19 when it came to racing at the Daytona 500. Sure, he was already a proven winner by the time he finally won the big race in 1998. But this still goes to show that persistence pays off. And even some of the greatest at their craft have to wait a LONG time before finally being able to celebrate.
There is no such thing as an "overnight success". There are just those who dream about success and wake up wanting it to happen now. And then there are people who show up day after day and work hard to make it happen. Raising those hands in victory isn't everything.
The journey is.