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| The chattering, lecturing, Barn Swallow soon became one of my favorites. This photo was captured through the window of the second story of my house. Yes, I allow the birds to nest on the overhangs of my windows. |
But also, this post isn't really about nature per se, but my love for it, which I tried to portray somewhat in "The Bellwether," my very first novel, begun in the seventies, but not published until far past 2000.
Back in the seventies I had a small manual Smith-corona typewriter, where every mistake was laboriously corrected with a roll of Whiteout. As I recall I typed the entire original thousand pages twice, and sent a not-perfect copy to a lady who advertised in the back of Writer's Digest Magazine. I don't remember how much money I paid her, but that poor lady read the whole thing and commented with my first critique. Not exactly a pleasing one, but after I got over her words I bought an electric Smith-corona, and typed it out again. This time I had a cartridge for correcting mistakes, but still Whiteout. That copy I sent to an agent who also charged, and again I don't remember what I paid, only that he was more critical of my writing and not as nice about it as the lady had been. Sending a thousand pages with return postage was an ordeal, believe me. This critique, though, devastated me. I stopped writing for at least two years.
But, again, I eventually got over the critical criticism and typed the story out again, but this time on a computer, where I could correct mistakes with a simple "click!" Wow! I don't remember how many times I edited that story, but with a computer it didn't matter. The print-out was different, as, you see, it was one of the early computers. It actually was a typewriter with an adjacent screen. To print-out I still had to enter one sheet at a time into the typewriter part, but it printed out perfect copy. I didn't send it out again, though. This time I placed the finished manuscript into folders, and began a long process of writing letters to possible agents and publishers. As many other authors have said, I soon could paper my wall with rejection letters.
So, again, I placed The Bellwether on the shelf and began working on other projects.
Over the years I wrote three more novels and about thirty short stories, all on that first computer, which half the time was in the repair shop.
And the rejection letters continued to pour in.
In 2006 I bought my first laptop, and the internet.
Now I could send my work via email, but the rejections kept on and on and on, until I discovered CreateSpace.com. There I could self-publish my own work and sell it through Amazon, and later digitally through Kindle, where the reading public began to tell a much different story than I had grown accustomed to hearing from bona fide publishers, editors, and agents. The reading public "liked" my work.
So, again, out came The Bellwether. I spent two months transferring it from typing paper to my laptop. I was told I could have used a scanner for that transfer, but there would have gone the first chance for editing and updating. Even so, I spent another two months editing and updating to the new millennium.
I believe the agents, editors, publishers--and for sure the first readers--of the regular publishing world have an agenda (they know exactly what they want) and if your work does not please them, well, then you move on to the next, and the next, and the next, and, I plain got tired of it.
And, as I said, the reading public likes my work. Not everybody, of course, as I've gotten good reviews, great reviews, and some reviews that attempted to blow me right out of the water, but I take the bad with the good.
To get back to The Bellwether, nature didn't become a big part of the story, but I did try to include nature wherever I could, often just be a description of the landscape. Economics entered the story, as about that time the gas shortage hit us and we saw the first big increase in gasoline--Whoa! $1.25 for a gallon of gas? Nothing like today, of course, but it hit us hard back then. Drought hit us about then, too, and the American Indian Movement (AIM) began. With those three items: The gas shortage, the drought, and the Native American, my novel began to live and stayed long, really long. As one recent reviewer put it: "...a long story but "not" a slow read..."
Now for the main character's love interest: Aaron Hodges met Caroline Jentner just one time. He was eleven, she was nine. For their goodbye, he kissed her on the lips and never forgot her, and, as it turned out, she never forgot him either, but their re-connection years later came close to driving them both to distraction.
The scene on the cover shows the modern day mountain man character, Daniel Friskop, and his four animal companions. The distant army represents that the story does take place in contemporary times, (Friskop is a major character, but "not" the main one.)
Think of the 1800s, the
wagontrains, and the people who crossed the prairie looking for a better life.
Now fast-forward to the new millennium and the worldwide economy totally
crashing, causing unbelievable chaos and violence. Through Native American
prophecy, Aaron Hodges sees it coming and envisions building a hidden colony to
ride out the likely decades-long crisis.
When the crash came nobody could
point a finger and blame a specific thing. The United
States and the world were locked in drought,
stagnant economy, and rampant pollution. Too many people were wasting too much,
demanding too much standard of living, and too much money created too much free
time and entertainment, for, as one height was reached boredom prevailed, and
more and greater thrills were demanded.
More wood, more metal, more food
and drink, and more oil.
The oil flow stopped.
Then the flow of supplies stopped.
The civilized world found itself trapped inside a steel, concrete, and plastic
wasteland with no utilities, no food, no water.
And no gasoline.
Set in the near future, novel runs
for two years. The main theme is a modern-day wagontrain with over sixty people
driving sixteen covered wagons pulled by four-horse teams for 30 days across
300 miles from southern Minnesota
farming country to northern Minnesota
wilderness, where they will build their colony. Background themes include the economy, environment, and a shadowy
‘master race’ organization out to eliminate the Native American. This novel is
character-driven, just normal people loving and finding love, surviving, and
reacting to circumstances as best they can. You will like the characters, you
will care what happens to them, and at the end you will cheer.
That 300-mile trek I actually drove myself (by car, of course.) I started out down by Granite Falls, Minnesota, took notes of the landscape (fields, forest, prairie, towns and cities) and then attempted to follow the wagontrain's route all the way north. Up on the Gunflint Trail in Superior National Forest I ran out of road but the map showed where I wanted the migrants to end up.
Here is a short excerpt
from C11 The Hallowed Courage Creek Affair Part 1
(Main character Aaron Hodges has arrived home from his travels, just in time to take part in the confrontation between the people who live in and love the valley and the contractor planning to build a dam.)
Aaron’s horse began sidestepping as
the pickup roared toward them. All the horses did. They snorted and threw their
heads up. One began rearing. The horses couldn’t know the speeding pickup
would, likely, stop, eventually.
“Hold onto your horses, boys,”
Aaron said uncertainly, “I can’t believe he’ll run us down…!”
“I hope Helm can’t believe it!”
Kelly commented, “Whoa, boy!”
The profane voice became plain,
“Those people want to fight,” Luther Helm was yelling, beating on the cab,
“We’re sure as hell going to give it to’em!”
Violence.
“Head right at’em!”
The eyes of the younger man who
looked like Helm were wide open, and almost appeared frightened. All four
horses were straining to move, to run.
“Slam on the brakes!” Helm
screamed.
The driver—Aaron recognized Mallory
Spicer—eyes wide and wild-looking, hit the brakes. On the dewy grass the pickup
went into a screeching skid and hit two of the horses. It happened unbelievably
fast. Twenty-five feet past the horses the pickup finally stopped, was as if
Luther Helm had actually planned the uncontrollable skid. Two horses down,
Kelly and Simon both thrown. Aaron jumped off and held onto his frantic horse.
Kelly was up quickly, “Good Christ,
Helm! What the hell you tryin’ to do?”
The hunched man jerked around,
lower lip sticking out prominently, brown juice dribbling, catching in stubby
gray chin whiskers. He spat in the direction of Aaron, ”I know you, Bolander!”
he yelled, sounding something like a broken foghorn, “And I don’t mind seein’
you farmers so much, but who is that hippie-agitatin’ longhair?”
And four sample reviews:
One
Kingstonbears
Kingstonbears LIKES this book From
Free E-books.net
Wow, what a read. By far the best
I've downloaded on this site. Excellent plot and superb development of
characters. A "can't put it down" book.
Two
5.0 out of 5 stars Really enjoyable
story!, September 11, 2011
By Karen West - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's
this?) This review is from: The Bellwether (Kindle Edition)
This was a long book but not a slow
read. Mr. Nelson has written a very enjoy story that he described in great
detail in his synopsis. So many interesting people and events taking place that
the story moves so quickly.
If you are a fan of romance,
adventure and apocalypse you will not be disappointed in this book. After I
finished the last page, I was left wanting more so I hope the author will
continue the story with a sequel.
This was a true bargain and I think
will remain as one of my favorite books.
Three
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Work Of
Fiction Worth Reading!, November 14,
2011
By BookLoverRome - See all my
reviews
This review is from: The
Bellwether: The Mother of all Disasters (Paperback)
Great Work Of Fiction Worth Reading !
The Bellwether: The Mother of all
Disasters is an exciting tale written by author James W. Nelson. Nelson's
storyline and characterization are superb. The story is intriguing, yet full of
reality. The Bellwether is a highly recommended read for fiction lovers.
Four
Good but Long, December 20, 2012
By LC - See all my reviews
This review is from: The
Bellwether: The Mother of all Disasters (Paperback)
The Bellwether is an exciting novel
that takes us on a wild ride through the end of the worldwide economy and one
man's actions to get through it. If you like adventure with some romance thrown
in, this book will capture your imagination.
The book started out a bit slow for
me, but it picked up towards the middle and grew very exciting. There are many
characters to become acquainted with but the author includes a character
reference at the end that is very helpful. Although it is fairly long, the
author does a good job of keeping the story moving and preventing the reader
from getting bored. Overall, this book was a good read. If you want something
that will keep you entertained, check out The Bellwether. I gave this book four
stars.
From the author: Due to the
length of this book, and the large number of characters and chapters, at the
end I list all the characters and the main ones are described; also I list the
chapters and give short synopses of each. Reason being the reader might like to
look back to check something.
Thanks for reading
Contact
nelsonjamesw@hotmail.com email
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004GW465S Author page at Amazon
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Feel free to contact me.
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