ADF – History

Lois and I had spent the day visiting tourist attractions in London, UK, and we were tired. After a short nap, I opened my laptop computer to upload the pictures I’d taken that day. Instead, my mind wandered to the dream I’d had at the end of the nap. I had visited scenes of my teenage years in Niagara Falls, NY. What would I do differently, I asked myself, if only I could do it all over again?

I imagined it being in the summer of 1960 before I started high school. My fingers began describing my yellow bedroom in the small, ranch-style house I lived in with my parents and sister.  My mind leaped past all the domestic and world-shaking events that I knew I would experience. What would I do differently? I asked. You’ll have to read American Democracy Forever for the answer.

Idea followed idea as I mentally traced my life history—what I called Life 1—and the world events that defined it. The descent of the Republican Party and its unholy linkage with Evangelical Christianity into fascism had to be defeated in my hero’s second life—his Life 2. Telling the story of Life 1 was a necessary prelude to saying what Charlie Durand, my alter ego, would do in Life 2. The preservation of American democracy became his overriding goal.

The initial title of the novel was simply Life 2, but I soon found half a dozen existing novels with the same or similar titles—not good—a new title was needed. At the same time, Angela Weichmann, a professional editor, did what she called “a developmental edit.” She read Life 2 and provided much needed criticism and many suggestions that improved the flow of the novel. It took many more months of writing and editing to finish the manuscript of American Democracy Forever.

And now, I am in the marketing / publicity phase of my work on this novel—all with no guarantee of commercial success. Oh well, all independent writers face the same dilemma.