Writing A Novel

An Expatriate Experience

Being an expatriate can lead to meeting people and doing things never imagined in your home country. I became involved in a project that brought me together with someone I would never have met in the U.S. and provided me with an opportunity to learn through hands-on experience.

It all began with a meeting at Espiga de Oro, a bakery/ restaurant near my house in Barranco, a district of Lima, Peru. Rodney Dodig had seen a blog I wrote for Living in Peru, a website, and suggested we get together. At that first meeting, we discovered that we shared an interest in writing, and we both admired authors like John Sandford.

After a number of meetings, we decided to consider writing a novel together. We did some research and determined that it was a project we could commit to. Neither of us had done anything like this before, so we were completely innocent. And I mean INNOCENT!

Things evolved. We made a lot of decisions. It was to be an action/thriller. The novel would be set in Lima, an exotic and unusual location and which added to its attraction. The plot developed as we went along. We decided that we would alternate writing chapters. We really got involved in the process.

I found that writing a novel meant living with the characters in your book. Rodney and I would talk about them as if they were real.

While the writing process proceeded quickly, it led to difficulty later in coordinating the story.

The plot involved a young man who was a serial killer with a very strange compulsion. His victims were young women he dressed in ballroom gowns and left lifeless in various well-known locations in Lima. He is pursued by a brilliant Peruvian policeman. I’m not going to spoil the plot. It is a good read and available on Amazon as Sacrifice: The Prince Charming Murders

We completed the first draft fairly quickly. I was so innocent that I thought our work was close to being done. What followed, instead, was an agonizing rewrite to tie up the loose ends. Then, a friend with strong editing skills volunteered to review our work. She put in a lot of work and kept saying, “show, don’t tell”.

I realized that Rodney is much more patient and detail-oriented than I am. He continued with the novel with great persistence. I was busy with teaching, so I left it to him. That I am listed as a co/author is an example of Rodney’s generosity.

Finally, he completed the work. Next, he looked for a publisher and sent out many queries. Several expressed initial interest, but nothing came of it. That was when he published it on Amazon.

I learned that writing a novel is a very challenging task. Rodney seemed to enjoy it a lot more than I did. In fact, he developed into quite a good novelist.

He continued writing with several more mysteries set in Peru. Then he came out with an excellent series of novels set in rural southern Illinois in the 1890s. All are mysteries and available on Amazon under his name, Rodney Dodig.

He is a very talented writer and deserves a lot more recognition. Unfortunately, it is difficult to promote books while living in Peru. One must go to the U.S. to get the attention of publishers.

Looking back, it was a good experience. We both learned a lot from the project, and Rodney developed his skills as a novelist. Rodney and I became friends and had a good time working together.

Would it have happened in the U.S.? I don’t think so. There, we are too “busy.”