A Novel Is As A Novel Does...

As most of you can tell, writing is a pastime of mine. In 1996, most likely due to a month long struggle with what seemed like depression, I started to write song lyrics and poetry. This past time took me away from the reality of being dissatisfied with my life and gave me a break from new experience of college life. Revisiting this habit only a few times through out the next couple of years, it was not until the winter of 2002, whilst the midst of a troubling relationship, that I again called on the art of the written word in the form of short stories to save me from my every-day world. Several short stories were written while I battled my own self-doubt during the aforementioned relationship and during the end of that horrid union, the idea of a novel sprouted.

That is were I am today. Currently the novel is still untitled but has a plot with a defined storyline to include twenty planned chapters. Slowly but surly I have added to this work, and periodically have been trying to polish my writing skills by going to the local writing group at InkTank, but over the past few months, it has been a bit harder for me to attend the sessions.

I am not sure how much I want to talk about the specific plot of the novel through this forum but I will divulge that it is a mystery, set in Cincinnati, Ohio (big surprise) with young, African American man as the lead character.

I have just completed the first eight chapters and it is 2006. I hope it does not take another 5 years to finish.