While I was in college in the 1980's earning a degree in Communications
Journalism, I had an idea. Like many thoughts that launch novels it began
"What if a runner from today went back in time and competed, say in 1936
when Jesse Owens was making history?" I began to day dream that the runner
would seem to be from another world and his dreams of fame and triumph could
be realized in that so much simpler time.
I began to research the time period. More importantly, I began to
write the book. I found my character, Scott Teller, living in a
historically Jewish section of Louisville. He ran with visions of the
Olympic Trials. He struggled with a failing relationship with a long-time
girlfriend. He was friends with Max Senn of the Courier Journal. And a
funny thing happened. As I looked out through the windows of Scott's world,
the story became an entity of its own. Scott went back in time and met a
female would-be Olympian, Rebeccah, and began to fall in love. He also
realized that if he won a medal in the games in 1936 that he would meet
Hitler face to face, and he could possibly avert the Holocaust by murdering
him. He wondered if that was the reason he had been given the chance to go
back in time in the first place. Surely he would lose his life in the
process. He couldn't possibly put Rebeccah in jeopardy, so he tried his
best to keep the relationship at bay while struggling with a myriad of moral
and ethical dilemmas. I lived his journey.
Flash forward twenty years and the book has finished its fifth
revision. I've written others in the meantime, two young adult novels and
two other mainstream novels that I'm not ready to give the light of day as
of yet, but Bold Venture isn't a baby anymore. It's not throwing peas into
the floor from a high chair and it doesn't utter monosyllabic phrases
incoherently. The version offered on lulu.com is still in many ways like a
galley proof, but for all intents and purposes it is finished. If it's
never picked up finally by a mainstream publisher, it will never change
again. It's run its course. I can honestly say that I finally like the way
the novel has grown up and finished.
As a writer, I find that it's much easier to write about those things
we're passionate about. Scott Teller is a runner, and his journey is much
easier to enjoy if you can empathize and realize that we all face the same
obstacles in some form or other as he does. He tends to find himself
thinking of the sport most of the time. He compares most things in his life
to running. Most of his day is spent preparing for a couple of periods in
that twenty-four hours of space when he will take the vehicle of his body
and test its limits on the roads and on the track, all in an attempt to
become stronger and faster. It may be unnerving for the non-runner at times
as they realize just how strong this tug of motivation is for our hero. I
tried my best to make this just a bit easier for the sedentary portion of
the population that might begin to take the journey with him, but in the end
I realized that I didn't care for that section of the world's approval much
anymore. It's Scott's life and that's what motivates him, just as it does
for many of us, and if someone doesn't approve then to heck with them. Find
other people to associate with who can appreciate that we are each testing
our own level of discipline and devotion to achieving what we desire from
the sport. I still think anyone can read Bold Venture and walk away with
not only a new appreciation of running but also a sense of hope. It's a
nice ride and a purposefully easy read.
So while the novel begins a new portion of its journey to find a home,
hopefully somewhere with a view of the world, it has been printed as
inexpensively as possible. I want to go ahead and share it. You can find
the novel at lulu.com and if you search on the title you can locate how
to acquire it if you like.