I see the look from time to time at book signings or other gatherings. It’s usually on the face of someone I’ve known for a long time. I’m referring to that expression that asks, “How does a just-get-by high school and college jock go on to become a traditionally published mystery author?” I’m the same guy who introduced my daughter to my high school English teacher, requesting she not reveal anything about my work as a student. Her reply was, “But he was such a good boy.”
So how did it happen? How does such a person become a published author? I can think of five prominent factors that increased the odds.
The first is that I became a reader and lover of books early in my life. Much of my early existence was in an extreme poverty environment, created by an alcoholic father. Often, we were without TV to keep us entertained; even if one were available, there was no electricity to plug into. I turned to books for something to do. In my early high school days, before athletics began to occupy so much of my time, it was not unusual for me to read three or four books a week. Mind you, most of the time I wasn’t reading the great classics. It was usually the Hardy Boys or some youth adventure story, but I grew to love books and unwittingly began to understand a little about the creative process.
The second prominent factor to my becoming a published author is I had an exceptional high school English teacher. I heard a well-regarded author recently tell a group his high school English teacher flunked freshman English in three colleges. My teacher, Mrs. Witherington, never flunked anything in her life. She was brilliant and expected one hundred percent effort from her students. She loved literature, and it rubbed off on a lot of us. I struggled through two years of grammar with her, but I am convinced that her input is one of the reasons I am today a published author.
A third factor is that I have always operated with a high degree of curiosity. A friend once told me, “Danny, you have the greatest storehouse of useless knowledge of anyone I’ve ever known.” Very little of what we call knowledge will be useless to the writer of fiction. That desire to know who, what, when, where, and how can be a valuable tool for the mystery writer.
Fourth is that, through the years, I have mostly listened, rather than talked. My college roommate once said of me, “My roommate doesn’t talk much, but he sees and hears everything that goes on.” Some people call it shyness or bashfulness, but whatever it is called, it has enabled me to see and hear how people act and react. One cannot write effectively without knowing people. The way to become knowledgeable about human behavior is to watch and listen.
The fifth factor enabling me to become a published author is I married a girl who was committed to mastering the craft. Wanda’s desire to write went all the way back to her high school days. She began to do assignment writing shortly after finishing college. That evolved into other opportunities. While still a relatively young lady, she wrote MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR CHILD’S TEACHABLE MOMENTS, a parenting book, published by a major Christian publisher, Moody Press. That book went through five printings. I saw how much she enjoyed writing. If it was that much fun, maybe I would give it a try. I started with articles for various periodicals, and in the beginning had my own in-house expert go over, and often correct what I wrote. From there I went to a newspaper column and finally a book published by a small traditional publisher. Today we spend a lot of time together creating cozy mysteries with a message. I am the story-teller with the wild imagination, while in her words, she is the sounding board and fixer. My own writing career has produced more than forty articles for national publications, many newspaper columns, and six books. I strongly believe that had Wanda not come into my life, not one piece of that work would have ever become a reality.
LIKE A TREE is the fourth and final installment in the Davis Morgan Mystery Series, but another series is in the works. I love creating stories with a lady who really knows something about the printed word. And I love seeing old friends at book events with that look that is asking, “What are you doing here?”