The Writer’s Predicament

I’m writing a new book. My predicament?

Well, there are dozens of predicaments, starting with the choice of what I write now after the Dillard series has been tanked by the publisher. I sent an email to my agent a couple of months ago and told him Penguin had at least made an offer to sell the rights to the first three Dillard books back to me. I asked him whether, once I get the rights back, we might be able to go to another publisher who might publish the series right. I told him I wanted to write another Dillard book.

His answer? Once one of the big publishers tanks you, you’re screwed. It’s a small fraternity and none of the others are going to pick up a series that one of them has deemed tankworthy. He told me I should forget Dillard and go on to something else. I’d put the email up for you to read but it I like the guy and don’t want to antagonize him any more than I’ve already antagonized him by writing this blog.

But you know what? For the first time, I’m going to ignore his advice. The advice he’s given me over the past few years has been pretty much dead wrong, but I understand why. He’s been in the business a long time. He thought the business would go on the way it’s always gone on. He didn’t want anything to change. But it’s changed. Drastically.

So I’ve decided to write another Dillard book and just publish it myself. I’m not even going to send the manuscript to him. And then I’m going to write another, and another, and another.

And do you know what? For the first time in awhile, I’m excited about writing. I love the Dillard books. They’ve been an important part of me, an important part of my development as a writer, and I’m going not to blow them off because a publisher tanked them. My brain has been buzzing…

Once a decision is made about the first predicament (what to write) then the next question comes up. What story am I going to tell with these characters? When I last left Dillard, he’d become involved in a crazy situation that caused him to defend his home and family by killing people. He killed several. He resigned as the district attorney. His daughter had just had a baby and his sister had maybe fallen in love with one of his old Army buddies. His son was off playing baseball in Arizona. His wife was recovering from breast cancer. Leon Bates had betrayed him, or, at least, chosen to distance himself from Dillard. He was wounded, at least emotionally, and confused.

So what do I do now?

I have a basic plot in mind. A bare bones plot, but that’s the way I always start a book. I can’t do detailed outlines. I’ve tried it, and when I start writing, I feel like I’m just filling in the blanks in the outline. It doesn’t feel fresh. It doesn’t feel spontaneous or creative, and finally, at 55 years old, I’ve realized that creativity is an important part of my psyche. So I’ve chosen a story that incorporates the LOCK system propounded by James Scott Bell. Lead: Dillard. Objective: Satisfy his hero complex. Confrontation: I have a bunch of them in mind for this book. Knockout: I can’t tell you about that, now can I?

In this book, I want to explore Dillard’s recovery from the violent episode, his decision to get back into law as a defense attorney, and his psychological battle as he tries to reconcile his values with the strange and difficult demands of defending criminals, whether they be innocent or guilty. (Most of them are guilty, as you know.) I also plan to get into a major surprise, and an extremely difficult conflict, in his family. How I present and resolve those conflicts will determine how satisfying the story is to you guys.

I’m working on it. And when I’m done, I hope you like it.