Blackwater will always be my all-time favorite novel.  The main reason is because I allowed myself to soar as a word artist.  I wrote in what I call an artsy-fartsy way, allowing the character to lead, and using Mikey’s language his way.  It takes guts to write a book like Blackwater.  I ignored every rational thought about writing and just wrote something that came out much stronger than I ever imagined possible.  I ignored editor squawks, fellow writer balks, and just allowed myself to open the channel and write, write, write.  And I’m glad I did.  I’ve been blessed by the multitude of readers that let me know how much they love the book.  The highest praise I could ever wish for: my readers report that they’ve read Blackwater numerous times, and will continue to read it again and again in the future.  That is some seriously good praise.  Thanks, gang.  I appreciate the feedback and encouragement.

Many people have asked me how I can write so much and write so many different characters with so many different voices.  Every one of my books is very different from the one before and after.  In some ways, I feel like a trance medium when I write.  I call myself a clear channel.  When I sit down to write, I can almost feel something open above my head, like my spirit expanded and opened to possibilities.  It sounds really odd, but I almost feel like a stream of energy comes down through the top of my head and out my fingers.  Do you ever see writers in movies sitting around tapping their fingers and agonizing over one word, or one theme, or one idea?  Writers are often portrayed as being inside their heads a lot, frenetic little people who pace back and forth trying to get the next sentence to form for them.  Well, one part of that is true.  Writers are inside their heads a lot.  But the scenario I just described has never happened to me.  I’ve never had to struggle for anything.  Pretty much, a concept hits me like a bolt of lightning, and I just begin.  I open up and it flows and flows and flows.   And…argh…flows…and…  GEEZ, stop flowing once in awhile, will ya?  It can get @#* aggravating at times.  Once in awhile, a good night’s sleep would not be a bad thing.

It took me a full year to write Blackwater.  That’s a long, looooong time for me.  The fastest I ever wrote a book was two weeks.  Blackwater was agonizingly long.  But it was worth every minute.  The research was a killer.  I did a lot of very thorough, detailed research.  And it paid off big-time.  Also, I had to switch from voice to voice, taking Mikey from childhood into adulthood and back again.  Voice is the word we authors use to describe the way the character speaks.  Sometimes we use the term to describe the tone and character in general.  Throughout a book, the author has to be careful to maintain the same voice the novel began with.  Readers are savvy.  They notice these things.

But the reason I love Blackwater so much and always will is because the book is pure character.  Pure story. 

C. D. Blizzard is the author of the novels Blackwater, Profile, and Broken.

Copyright 2008 C. D. Blizzard   Go To  www.cdblizzard.com