Thursday, May 6, 2010

Highs and Lows

September 25, 2007.

That was the day WHEN ONE MAN DIES was published. One of the best days of my life. I remember getting photo messages from friends, having people at work throw a party for me (Yeah, with a cake and cleavers, I kid you not.) I went to Barnes and Noble and then got kicked out (SERIOUSLY) because I was taking a picture of my book.

It was great.

I was also in the midst of writing another Jackson Donne novel... one that I was having a TON of fun with. The next ten months were a blast too.

I love bantering back and forth with my agent and my editor. We really felt we had something with THE EVIL THAT MEN DO. Sure, revision was frustrating, but I felt the novel getting better each time I re-wrote it.

That novel came out and it kicked off some great moments as well. I got recognized at a Pearl Jam concert in Boston and was told my book rocked. I flew for the first time in 13 years to Houston for a book signing. (Jason Pinter thought I was going to puke on the plane.)

Yeah, writing a novel is all it's cracked up to be.

At times. But there are also lows.

It took me over two years to write another novel. I got bogged down in revisions and plot ideas and character motivations. It was hard work.

I'm not with the same publisher anymore.

I've been researching terrorism and have completely freaked myself out. Seriously. I woke up in the middle of the night during a thunderstorm thinking we were being attacked.

I've suffered some harsh rejections and bad reviews.

And there were times I wanted to put my head through the computer screen thinking I'd never get the book done.

There are days where it feels like nothing is ever going to work out.

But now the book is done. And I truly feel it's the best thing I've written.

I have hope again. Looking forward to some more highs.

I'm not giving up anytime soon.

SPECIAL THANKS: Victor Gischler gave me the idea for this post. The Deputy is available now!

7 comments:

Ron Earl Phillips said...

Here's to more Highs than Lows.

JD Rhoades said...

I know how you feel, Dave.

Never give up! Never surrender!

Unknown said...

I've told you this before--and not like my opinion means all that much--but I think you're one of the best, most compulsively readable novelists working and the highs far outweigh the lows. Keep churning out novels, and I'll keep reading them.

John McFetridge said...

Wow, I've written this blog entry quite a few times and never had the guts to post it.

I'm very glad to hear you stuck to it and wrote your best so far. Looking forward to it already.

Dave White said...

Thanks for commenting, guys.

For the record, the highs greatly outweigh the lows. This is meant to be an optimistic post. I want to write the best I can and keep going with it.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Think how far you have gotten for someone just turning thirty. You are amazing.

Joelle Charbonneau said...

Wow. This post is amazing and yet shares the crap out of me. I can't wait to see the new book! I second Ron - here is to more HIGHS! The lows - well, let's just build some bridges over them and keep going.