How I Wrote It
My last winter in Alaska was a tough one. I had been having a writing crisis. I’m usually kind of upbeat and confident, but some harsh words from a couple of sources had managed to get under my skin and shake my groundwork a little. I was paralyzed when I got in front of the keyboard. A whole new feeling for me.
Add the long dark days of the Alaskan winters and a record snow for Anchorage. More than eighteen feet. I looked out my windows to see nothing but snow. I felt buried alive. Paralyzed by words spoken and paralyzed by words I couldn’t seem to write. The idea of words, used, misused and not used and how they can harm started to percolate. It meshed with entombment and Cass McBride was both born and buried at the same time.
I wrote the first draft in Alaska, then moved to Texas where I did revisions, sold the book and did all the edits. Moved right into the light.
