Of Excerpts and Excitement

Ever wonder where an author's ideas come from? I know I do, and have learned that not all of them come from the same place--or the same type of inspiration.

There are some stories from my youth that, as I grow older, have morphed into different, sometimes longer pieces of work. The Six Trials is one of them.

When I was about fifteen, I wrote a 206 page novella in (yes, by hand, took about a month) called "Steer Clear of Blackstone Creek." The story was, somehow, misplaced in my world of ol...