I'm Ending "A Tech Jones" Early

To Start a Novel - No Kidding

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS

2 Minute Read

Happy Friday and this is almost a 10 Seconds of Seriousness kind of thing.

But only almost, because when it comes to writing, I don’t take myself too seriously. Not even today, regardless of how it may appear as you read this.

First, A Tech Jones ran its course and is finished. I did have a few conclusionary things for today, but I’ve scrapped them. Except for this, which is too good not to share.

It’s a reminder that even the biggest can stumble.

Which is a perfect transition.

What could be so important as to short-circuit one of my ego-trips series? And start another one right up? Try not to spit out your cornflakes, but:

I am going to write a novel, and serializing it here is excellent motivation.

For both production, and quality, too: The fact I have any readers, let alone dozens, makes me want to create something worth your time. It’s true.

But about what to write? I’ve done plenty of autobiography already, so I wanted this to be different.

However, that’s not fully possible. It is difficult, at least for me with my nascent writing skills, to create characters and events from whole cloth, that have no connection to actual things I’ve experienced. So those who know me will likely recognize plenty next week.

I am hopeful I have created a story worth telling, of a time also worth telling. The book covers 1963 until 2005 or so and is set largely in Hoboken, with Manhattan in a supporting role. But there’s a chapter or two in Crewe, in the manufacturing heart of England. It even starts with my twin sister’s wedding (!) at a Caribbean resort just opened by Laurance Rockefeller.

But I’ve barely a framework for the whole thing, so the concept is still rough.

One could say I don’t know where this road will lead, because a car features prominently, as you may have guessed. But I didn’t and you’re welcome.

The concern, of course, is that the novel will suck, be boring, or some combination. Subscribers will then cancel - or worse, ignore my posts - and my writing life will end before it starts.

I can answer that worry in song.

But this will be a much different series. A novel is typically around 80,000 words; if I publish 2,000 word chapters (which take about 6 minutes to read, but much longer to research and write) each Friday, it will take 40 weeks or so to do it. I honestly hope I can, and that you’ll hang around for it.

For the record, no less than Stephen King suggests, in his amazing non-fiction how-to book On Writing, that aspiring authors commit to producing 2,000 words a day. So my goal of producing 2,000 quality words each week would seem attainable.

OK, with all of that out of the way, here’s a teaser for America’s next bestseller.

And it’s a 1964 Mercedes Benz 600 Pullman limousine, if you must know. And yes, I’ve decided it is as good a way as any for telling a story.

Next Friday: Chapter 1 of Ride of Your Life.

FROM THE UNWASHED MASSES

Much gratitude to Randy Smee for his comments at Substack regarding my Mental Health post.

A touchingly told tale indeed. Unfortunately a not uncommon story where a moment in someone’s life can trigger a spiraling turn of events with seemingly unrecoverable consequences.

Thank you for reading this newsletter.

KLUF

Shocker, but I’m going to use music of the era to help tell the book’s story. Like this, from 1973.