'A Story Whose Time Has Come'

With Author Rodney Strange

I stretched my arms and tiptoed to reach the old cardboard box that rested on the top shelf in the closet of my spare bedroom. As I lowered it gingerly while attempting to maneuver through the narrow door, a multitude of random sheets of paper and worn manila envelopes deluged me, scattering themselves on the floor beneath me. I uttered a curse word under my breath and plopped the heavy box on the bed, then swooped up the fallen debris and laid it on the bed beside the box. As I write this, I do not recall what document of importance I was searching for at the time. Perhaps old tax records or some divorce decree or another, but as I raffled through the box I came across something long forgotten, something of no importance really, but yet the discovery of it sidetracked me. I took the stack of papers in my hand and sat on the bed, smiling as I read the first few sentences. What I held in my hands was an extremely rough draft of a feeble attempt to write a novel, my very first attempt somewhere back in time...I believe it was 1994.
Typed on a word processor in the days before Bill Gates put a computer in every home, the draft consisted of a mere seventy some-odd pages. The plot was solid enough, I thought as my eyes scanned the pages. The characters had character, I decided. Perhaps something could be done to bring this forgotten work back to life nearly twenty years later...it would take work, lots of work.
The draft was written during a time of turmoil in my life, and the story followed a vague timeline similar to my true life experiences. Having long forgotten what I had originally set out to find in that worn cardboard box, I sat and read the manuscript into the wee hours of the morning. Over the course of the next several weeks, my mind began to rewrite this story, page by page, and before the first keystroke, I knew how it would end. Much had changed in my life since that first manuscript and with numerous life experiences and the advantage of now being able to see twenty years past the era in which this novel plays out, I felt satisfied that this seventy page script's time had come. If I could only take the words of an inexperienced wanna-be writer and make them blossom... that would be the challenge.
I don't know how most author's minds work, how their ideas flow through their mind, or where they find their prototypes to form a character, but many of my ideas come to me as I first open my eyes with the first light of day. I was well into my rewrite when I awoke one morning with an idea so overwhelming that I truly felt it had been sent to me by God Himself. It would change to course of this story. It would give this frivilous tale substance. It might possibly change lives! With renewed energy, I wrote fervently as more ideas flowed and my creativity fueled my brain. With a primary plot accompanied by numerous subplots, the story began to take on a whole new meaning to me.
My original draft had subtle hints of the supernatural, of dreams and visions and a mysterious force that seemed to always lead the character forward. As I formed this story into what I hoped would be a literary piece that might contain something for a reader to take to heart, I began to realize that the reason I had never taken this writing any further than a cardboard box was simply because...I was not ready! This book needed a purpose, and in 1994 neither it nor I had one. It was not an accident that I stumbled across it twenty years later. It was no accident that it had never found its way into a trash can over the two decades it had sat in wait. It had waited patiently at the bottom of an old box waiting for me to grow. Waiting for me to find my own purpose. Waiting for me to find God.
What would have fallen to the bottom of the rank in cheesy romance novels, this book has evolved into a powerful Christian fiction novel. A character desperately searching for answers, a man who will never find what he seeks until he allows himself to give his troubles to his Creator. This novel sets its boundaries as far as one can go to escape God's plans for man and some may find it a stretch to call it a christian book. It details the temptations, the sins, and the flee from a God who is so willing to assist. Packed with action, suspense, unexpected twists and the supernatural, the book will entertain even those who would never consider indulging themselves in literature with a Godly twist. This book rolls cowboys and Indians, bad cops, drug dealers, a faithful dog, and a budding love story all together to create an edge-of-your-seat, nail biting tale that will hopefully leave a reader clamoring for more. And more is what you will get!
'The Chimera Parables' is the first book of a trilogy entitled 'Lives of Steele.' I am five chapters into the second novel, 'Saving Steele,' and I can't wait to get to the best part of this book...and I'm the guy writing it! I believe there may be a bit of Divine Guidance assisting me with this book as well. I believe that this too, is a story whose time has come. I'll leave you with a sneak peak of 'Saving Steele,' but I warn you...you need to read 'The Chimera Parables' before I finish writing this novel. And here's an excerpt of 'Saving Steele'
He lurched upright in his bed, his sweat drenched body trembling uncontrollably. Gasping for air, his eyes darted around the dark room. His shaking hands found his face, covering his quivering lips. His eyes became accustomed to the dark and he saw Elisha Dawn Ellis beside him, sitting cross legged in the middle of the bed, her hand on his knee.
“Why didn't you tell me?” she spoke softly.
“Tell you what?” he whispered, still panting for breath.
“Why didn't you tell me you are like me?”
Dawn rose up on her knees, her face inches from his. She stared into his eyes in the darkness.
“You have it, too. The gift...the curse, whatever it is! You know it!”
“It was just a dream.”
Dawn brushed the hair from his forehead gently, placing her cheek against his.
“It wasn't just a dream, baby. You know it and I know it.”
Steele allowed his head to sink into the nape of her neck, exhaling deeply.
“You are the missing piece of the puzzle. It's why God sent me here. You have the answers I've been searching for.”

(Excerpt from the upcoming novel, 'Saving Steele' by Rodney Strange)