On Thursday, I typed THE END on the last page of my novel, The Talking Table. And though there is a lot more to do with this book, I feel pretty damn good about this accomplishment.
The Talking Table is technically a Young Adult book, but I believe adults would enjoy it. I can think of many books I’ve read that fit the category such as A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Book Thief and A Wrinkle in Time.
So what’s The Talking Table about? Vivien Winslow, 15, wants to be reunited with her father, Graham Winslow, a troubled man who is famous for the first and only book he published, For Keeps. The year is 1967. The settings are Boston and a fictional town called Seaview.
Several years ago, Vivien’s mother left her husband and moved back to her hometown with their son, Gray, and Vivien. She works long hours at Woody’s, a seafood take-out place near the beach, to support them.
Vivien is one of those high school girls who doesn’t fit in with any group. She’s smart, a good reader and writer. The last time Vivien saw her father was a year ago. The letters and phone calls stopped months ago. But she hasn’t stopped loving her father and wants to see him. That happens in an unexpected way after she makes friends with a girl, Lucy, who comes to Seaview for the summer. The girl’s family has a special and unlikely friend who helps guide Vivien.
Here are the opening lines: “We lived in an ugly home, my mother, brother, and me. It wasn’t really a house, but something that came on wheels just like the other ones in Murphy’s Trailer Park and only a single-wide with white aluminum siding. It was like living in a tin can.”
I began writing The Talking Table in August after I completed The Unforgiving Town, a dark mystery I am pitching to a few publishers. I also had other writing projects, and then there’s life. I did feel encouraged when I read aloud a passage from the beginning at a writing group and got such a positive feedback.
When writing The Talking Table, I ended up tearing apart the last third of the book twice. The two plot ideas worked well, but they just didn’t ring true to me. This was a first for me. Ah, but I found my way through to THE END thanks to another first — an online meeting with my daughter, Sarah, and her husband, John, both big readers. They formed a great sounding board when I pitched ideas. I went two rounds with them. John also recommended The Hatchet, a YA book I thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks Sarah and John for your help.
And then I got to the point when I couldn’t stop myself. Scenes popped inside my head when I wasn’t writing, and I couldn’t wait to pursue them. I found myself writing more words than my daily 500. And on Thursday, I reached over 71,000.
So, after a pat on the back, I printed the manuscript and started reading it on paper, with a pen out, of course, for edits. I am already half-way through. I will likely give it another round before I ask a few trusted readers to read The Talking Table. Stay tuned.