Behind the Scenes: On Demon
I first got the idea for Demon in 1998 while driving home on a straight and hypnotizing stretch of Nebraska road. I was in the middle of another project, a fantasy novel about a woman warrior I had been working on for years and had affectionately named The Book That Will Kill Me, if only because I had spent years writing and rewriting the first 100 pages like some literary Sisyphus with his boulder. Had I known then what I know now, I would have pressed on to the end and fixed the rest later, but I was bent on getting it right (whatever that is) and pummeling that story into submission. (New writers: do not do not follow my example!)
I jotted down the idea of a demon telling his story, planning to revisit it some day after I had vanquished The Book That Will Kill Me.
“Some day” turned out to be only a few hours later when my motherboard short-circuited as I sat down to write. It fizzled and popped inside the case, a tiny wisp of smoke drifting out the vent. I freaked out, pulled the thing apart, beat my head against the desk, and finally sunk down in a concussive slump. It was early evening by then—help would have to wait til morning.
I sulked out to the sofa with notepad and paper, determined to march on.
Nothing came. Just the faint waft of burning circuitry from the direction of my office.
At last, I flipped the page and began to write this demon idea. The story that would become Demon: A Memoir, was finished six weeks later.
What you may not know about Demon:
-The manuscript took six years to sell.
-It was nearly published under the title The Appointment.
-Every detail of the setting is real, including Clay’s apartment house on Norfolk, the large house in Belmont and the artwork on display at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
-The dim sum restaurant, The China Pearl, is a regular stop for my sister (who lives in Boston) and me whenever I’m in town.
My father, my sister and I all have cameos in Demon. My sister immediately recognized the two of us standing in the Four Seasons’ Bristol Lounge scene. Dad, however, didn’t recognize himself (or his Gold Toe socks!).
For more Demon trivia, see the back of the book!
I jotted down the idea of a demon telling his story, planning to revisit it some day after I had vanquished The Book That Will Kill Me.
“Some day” turned out to be only a few hours later when my motherboard short-circuited as I sat down to write. It fizzled and popped inside the case, a tiny wisp of smoke drifting out the vent. I freaked out, pulled the thing apart, beat my head against the desk, and finally sunk down in a concussive slump. It was early evening by then—help would have to wait til morning.
I sulked out to the sofa with notepad and paper, determined to march on.
Nothing came. Just the faint waft of burning circuitry from the direction of my office.
At last, I flipped the page and began to write this demon idea. The story that would become Demon: A Memoir, was finished six weeks later.
What you may not know about Demon:
-The manuscript took six years to sell.
-It was nearly published under the title The Appointment.
-Every detail of the setting is real, including Clay’s apartment house on Norfolk, the large house in Belmont and the artwork on display at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
-The dim sum restaurant, The China Pearl, is a regular stop for my sister (who lives in Boston) and me whenever I’m in town.
My father, my sister and I all have cameos in Demon. My sister immediately recognized the two of us standing in the Four Seasons’ Bristol Lounge scene. Dad, however, didn’t recognize himself (or his Gold Toe socks!).
For more Demon trivia, see the back of the book!
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