More on the experience of writing Einstein's Trunk

     I must admit that it's very difficult - make that impossible - for an author to be objective about his own work. With that in mind, I'm not going to say what I thought were the best parts in Einstein's Trunk, just which parts I most enjoyed writing and which parts gave me the most difficulty 
   Somewhat to my surprise, my favorite part of the writing process was not constructing the action scenes but, rather, developing the characters. I remember writing the scene where Yohaba makes a pass at Rulon in her apartment, and sitting back afterwards and thinking to myself, "Wow, that was a surprise!" When I started writing that day, I honestly had no intention of having that happen at that point. I wasn't even sure then if Yohaba or Isabella was going to be Rulon's love interest. Even up until the time the two women were in Rulon's apartment later that night, I still wasn't sure which one was going to end up betraying Rulon. And that was the interesting part for me - that while the characters were all my creations, nevertheless, their characters unfolded for me in sometimes surprising ways. It was as if the act of creation and the act of discovery had blended together. The characters really did come alive in my mind.
    I'd say the next best thing for me was writing the dialogue between Rulon and Yohaba. I enjoyed playing Rulon's dry wit off of Yohaba's more emotional but equally caustic humor.
    The part I found most dificult to write - by far - was the beginning . I realize now how challenging it is to write the opening of a thriller. You have to keep the action going while at the same time revealing just the right amount of information about the character and the setting. If you give too much information, it slows down the action and bores the reader. If you don't give enough detail about the character and background of the situation, then readers are confused. Also, if you give too much information, you run the risk of stunting your reader's curiosity. It's a real balancing act.
    I'd say the next most difficult parts were the physical descriptions of places and people. What details do you put in? Which ones do you leave out? The eternal questions!

In my next posting, I will write about the trials, tribulations, and joys of being a first time published author.

Best regards,

Jim
Zurich