On June 22, 2000, I was on the Appalachian Trail, 82 days and 935 miles into my thru-hike. I was walking along near the northern end of Shenandoah National Park, talking with my friend, Kit, otherwise known as "Split P." Our conversation that morning touched on many topics and eventually turned to writing and real people who would make great models for fictional characters. And that's when Split P began telling me a little about a therapist a friend of hers had known, until the man passed away in the early '90s. I was fascinated by her story. As the day and miles went along, the man Split P had described morphed into a character I soon named I. Joseph Kellerman. Purely figments of my own imagination, Constance Fairhart, Orla Heffel, Bernie Babbish, Lucille McBride and Maggie Carlisle also began to come alive before I fell asleep in the Jim & Molly Denton lean-to that night. Throughout the next three months on the trail, I spent countless hours walking and camping with Kellerman and the gang, and got to know them very well. When I returned home in early October after completing my hike, I typed the first draft of "I. Joseph Kellerman." That process took six weeks. The story and the characters went through a number of transformations, eventurally culminating in the book that bears the name of the character who now scarcely resembles the real man who'd inspired the idea.
If interested, you can find out more about the novel and read an excerpt on my website. The book is also available on amazon.
If interested, you can find out more about the novel and read an excerpt on my website . The book is also available on amazon.