"Fire on Black Mountain" Nearing Completion

Several years ago I started writing a novel about a twelve-year-old boy, raised on a cattle ranch, who is a competent horseman. (Gee - I wonder who that might be patterned after?)  The working title is "Fire on Black Mountain." The story is inspired by an actual event which has always captured my imagination and has been the foundation for this book.

My father woke me at 12:30 AM one August morning, telling he needed me to go with him up the side of Black Mountain near our home. A snag tree hit by lightning was smoldering near the peak. We took horses for the firefighters, then led them up a dark mountain, to find the snag before sunlight dried the dew. In my fictionalized tale, Dad has broken his leg and can't ride, so my character has to lead the fire crew up the mountain.

The book was taken to my writers group in Porterville, chapter at a time, until I had finished it. Even though it was complete, I was not satisfied with the content, and never did anything with it.  The file sat in my computer for four years, "gathering ether dust" and going nowhere.  I always had in the back of my mind to return to the book and improve it. But reality got in the way of dreams, and it never happened.

This past December I attended our Writers Group annual Christmas Dinner.  We meet at a nearby restaurant, and bring our spouses to enjoy a fun evening, visiting and chatting with no obligation to critique someones work.

One of our members, a pediatrician, has commented several times how much he enjoys being able to read my weekly column to his grandchildren. The tales in the column often include happenings around my small herd of cattle, most especially my "kissing bull" Mr. Boo.

As we enjoyed our dinner, Doc looked up at me, and in an effort to make conversation asked, "Have you ever thought of writing a book?"

Feeling a bit guilty because the book sat languishing on my hard drive, I took a deep breath, and told him I had, but it didn't turn out to be very good.

The other writers down the table entered the conversation, and within moments I was being encouraged - well let's be honest ... strongly urged - to get busy and get started.  It sounded as if maybe this might be a good idea, so I started going back through the early chapters preparing to take them, chapter at a time, to the group for their critique.

The night I brought Chapter 3, I could tell one lady, actually my Freshman (in high school) speech teacher, had something important to tell me.  She dropped a bomb in my lap when she said, "I think you should take Chapter 1, 2, and 3 and make it Chapter 1.  You've got to get this guy moving sooner."

Holy cow.  Combine three chapters into one? That's a whole lot of chopping and whacking.  And, it took me a week or more before I braved the task of serious editing needed to make it work.

Much to my surprise, and pleasure, I discovered the things that needed to be dropped almost literally jumped off the page at me.  I could see now, what I needed to chop, and what I needed to keep.

I am much more pleased with the content and structure now. Ultimately, I think it is going to be a reasonable piece of literature. It will probably never sell a million copies, but it is going to be fun to see it in print. The sequel to this tale is already rattling around in my head, waiting to be put down.

The final chapter will go to Writers in a week. Then I have to get busy formatting it and getting it ready to publish. I've asked a friend familiar with horses to read it when I finish, and look for "horse errors." I want him to look for things with or around the horses involved the tale that should be changed.

A final careful reading and editing of the entire book should put it in shape to publish. I must admit to a certain impatience to see this as a book i can hold in my hand.