Building a River: Part 1

A Muddy Red River was originally inspired by a chance meeting which in fact was barely worthy to be called such. In 1990 I was working with a volunteer missionary group called Youth With A Mission (YWAM). I was in Thailand where my team visited a high school in a province whose name I can no longer recall. I may have forgotten that name, but I have never forgotten the name of Jam, a beautiful young student to whom I was briefly and perfunctorily introduced.

Her name, her pretty face and her slender feminine body became the inspiration for A Muddy Red River. I never saw her again, and it was not until ten years had passed that I began to write the story: a handwritten draft about an Australian man who falls in love at first sight with a Thai women after a chance meeting. As most romances are, this tale would be full of drama and difficulty. Chris Cornell's lyrics sum it up nicely. "You fall in love from a great height, now the easy part's over."

The manuscript ran out of steam after four chapters so I shelved it. At that time, I was concentrating on short stories, believing I was too busy to attempt a novel, and very uncertain about my ability. The very short life of A Muddy Red River proved the point, and those first four chapters remained hidden away in a drawer for more than ten years. Until...

Work

Spent part of the morning writing emails to inform the various publishers to whom I submitted either a query and sample, or the full manuscript of A Muddy Red River, that I have signed with another publisher. Thankfully they were all okay with simultaneous submissions which meant I could send out a lot of submissions in a relatively short period of time. It also means that now I need to, out of courtesy, let them all know. No problem. I may submit to them again in the future, who knows?

Publishing update

The latest rejection of A Muddy Red River said that the there was no problem with the quality of the manuscript but they had reservations about its marketability. We'll see about that. Here's the state of play re A Muddy Red River. I have accepted a contract so now it's time to advise all those other publishers who have been nursing the manuscript, or part thereof, in their laps, or on their desks or ignoring it in their inboxes, that A Muddy Red River is no longer available.

Six publishers liked the sample enough to request the full manuscript. Two of those subsequently offered me a publishing contract. I haven't heard from the others yet. I also received 5 joint venture/subsidy publishing offers which I declined although I am considering using one of them to re cover and re release my debut novel, Devolution, into a large, specific market of readers.

10 publishers rejected A Muddy Red River, and I have not heard anything from 47 others to whom I submitted the manuscript. It is to that 47 that I must now direct my correspondence.

Any of you writers have tales of great rejections? Either in number or character? Anything to share. If not, simply share my joy as my fourth novel goes into production.

A Murder of Crows

After many successful years as a criminal defense attorney, Lawrence Russell finally succumbs to his own conscience and verbally attacks one of his own clients in court. As a result, the defendant is found guilty and Lawrence is disbarred.

Happy to now be free of the burden of defending people whom he knows are guilty and unrepentant, Lawrence sets about making a new life for himself. He decides to write a book but can't get started so he spends his days drinking and dreaming instead. One day he meets a man who gives him a manuscript about a man who murders five defense lawyers, and asks him to read it over and give an opinion. When the man dies suddenly, Lawrence makes the fateful decision to put his own name on the novel and submit it for publication. A Murder of Crows is a huge success. However, it also turns out to be a true story and as the "author", Lawrence becomes the prime suspect for the murders.

Lawrence Russell did the right thing in obeying his conscience to quit as a defense attorney, but when the rewards he hoped for, like success as a writer, did not materialize  he disobeyed his conscience by putting his name to a manuscript which he did not write. The consequences of his decision were life threatening.

Lesson 1: the rewards for doing the right thing are not always immediate or obvious. Lesson 2: Making a decision for good at one time in your life does not make it any less likely that you won't make a bad decision at another time.

When have you learned the truth of lessons 1 & 2?

A Murder of Crows

After many successful years as a criminal defense attorney, Lawrence Russell finally succumbs to his conscience and verbally attacks his own client in court. As a result, the defendant is found guilty, and Lawrence is disbarred.

Happy to be free of the burden of defending people whom he knows are guilty and unrepentant, Lawrence sets about making a new life for himself. He decides to write a book but can't get started so he spends his days drinking and dreaming instead. One day he meets a man who gives him a manuscript about a man who murders five defense lawyers, and the man asks him to read it over and offer his opinion. When the man dies, Lawrence decides to put his own name to the novel and submit it for publication. Although A Murder of Crows is a huge success, it also turns out to be a true story. As the "author", Lawrence becomes the prime suspect in the subsequent criminal investigation.

Lawrence Russell did the right thing in obeying his conscience to quit as a defense attorney but when the rewards he hoped for, like success as a writer, did not materialize, he disobeyed his conscience by putting his name to a manuscript which he did not write. The consequences of this latter decision were life threatening.

The film, A Murder of Crows, demonstrates two things. Firstly, the rewards for doing right are not always immediate or obvious. And secondly making a decision to do good, or to do the right thing at one time in your life does not make it any less likely that you won't make a wrong decision, or a decision to do something bad, at another time.