When I get a story idea, I add it to a document on my desktop, one of several such documents since I tend to create a new one every couple of years. I used to carry little notebooks around with me, but these days, if I’m away from my office, I’ll email the idea to myself (and try to remember to copy it over to one of my idea files when I get home). Sometimes I’ll even scribble an idea on the back of an envelope, or on a bookmark, and toss it in the big wooden toolbox I keep under my desk.
Once I write an idea down I generally forget all about it until I go back through my files looking for inspiration.
The Boatman is a major exception. I jotted the idea for it on the margin of a parking ticket twenty years ago, and tossed it into my toolbox. But it stuck in my head, so I eventually typed it out in the idea file I was using at the time. I had it recorded twice, which should have banished it from my thoughts, but it still hung around in the back of my head, insisting I pay attention to it.
It’s a pretty simple notion…
Not much to it, I know, but I kept coming back to it over the years, trying to figure out how to approach it. That one-sentence idea is concealing a ton of thematic and structural problems, and I could never quite figure out what to do with it. Nor could I let it go.
At some point, I added a child to the mix of senior citizens, and some modern-day pirates. I expanded the focus from the passengers and crew to a global crisis. I wrote and inserted fake Wiki articles. And I finally figured out what the story was really all about.
Yesterday, Bad Hand Books announced that they’ll be publishing The Boatman next year, and I couldn’t be happier. This book isn’t as long as my others, but it took so much longer to write. I’m pleased with how it turned out, and I’m really anxious for you to read it.
Here’s the description from their website…
Shortly after cruise ship the Maria Calypso embarks on its latest voyage, the passengers and crew notice someone in pursuit: An elegant figure wearing a white suit who somehow keeps pace in his rowboat.
No matter how hard the crew pushes the engines, they can't escape The Boatman... and it isn't long before sinister and mysterious events begin to unfold on the Maria Calypso.
What will it cost to learn the true nature of the man who hunts them—and will the price to keep on living prove to be too dear?
It’s early yet, and I’ll no doubt bug you again before its release date, but The Boatman is available now for preorder through Bad Hand’s site, and they’re even throwing in a signed bookplate!
And since we’re on the subject, please don’t forget Rose of Jericho will be out March 11th and is also available for preorder wherever you get your books. And so is the Proof Compendium, which will be out May 13th. I worked hard on all these books, and I hope you’ll enjoy them.
As always, thanks for hanging out with me!
Your friend, Alex.
And the parking ticket?