Falling Into Trees

Question of the Week: What lessons did you learn from your first (perhaps, failed) attempt at a novel?

I've had a number of out of body experiences in my life, partly as I'm fortunate to descend from highly spiritual forebears, partly because I was a child who couldn't be contained and therefore experimented with touching live wires, hopping out of moving cars, jumping from tall Chicago trees. And then there's all the violence. While they were mostly bizarre experiences which left me feeling l...