Writing from Memory

I’m surprised at how much I still remember about serving at Howard Air Force in the Panama Canal Zone; I’m surprised at how much is still crystal clear.

For my latest novel, which is a thriller set in Panama in the 1970s and 1980s, I am drawing on a lot of memories of the time I spent there from 1976-1978. I can just close my eyes and I am back there at Howard. It’s weird you know, how much that I still remember and how all these memories are overwhelming me now. There are a lot of things which are crystal clear, as though they happened yesterday.

I started this book a little over a year ago. I shelved it last year so I could work on When A Hard Rain Falls and I’ll Be Home For Christmas.

It was a little slow moving at first, but I think I have finally found my rhythm; this past week I have written over 5,000 words.