CROSSING DAY by William A. Glass

CROSSING DAY

William A. Glass

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GENRE: Young Adult/Alternate History

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BLURB:

It's been one hundred and sixty years since the Confederacy won its independence at the Battle of Altamaha Crossing. Slaves of African descent still perform most of the work in the South. This seems normal to Ryan Walters and his friends who attend high school in Huntsville, Alabama. Like teens everywhere, they enjoy sharing videos, playing sports, and hanging out with friends. Jaybird's drive-in is their favorite gathering place. There, they befriend Mish, a slave girl who works as a car hop. When the drive-in’s owner sells Mish to a dirty old man, Ryan and his friends awaken to the injustice around them. Despite the danger, they decide to help Mish escape. Will they succeed?

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EXCERPT

The referee blows her whistle and points to the Joseph Johnston High School goal. It’s a foul, just outside the penalty area. Hastily, several defenders form a wall. Liam Larsen, the goalkeeper, shouts directions.

“Block that kick, block that kick,” the Johnston cheerleaders yell.

Melanie Montgomery, wearing her purple and gold cheerleader outfit, catches the eye of one of the boys on the squad. He nods as she runs toward him and then leaps, placing her foot into his waiting hands. Melanie’s world dissolves into a swirl of color. She comes to earth with a thud.

“Nice landing,” the boy says.

“Thanks.” Melanie glances at the scoreboard and sees that despite their efforts, another goal has been added to the visitor’s tally. “I hate these German schools,” she pouts.

“Yeah, they act like they invented the game,” one of the other cheerleaders exclaims.

There’s no injury time added in high school soccer, so the match comes to a screeching halt when the clock winds down and the buzzer goes off. Most players line up to shake hands, but three of the Germans laugh and walk off. Their coach gives a Hitler salute to the Johnston stands. A chorus of boos greets his gesture.

“Everyone on the line,” Sam Gorman, the Johnston soccer coach, shouts. He crosses his arms and glares at his players threateningly until the whole team is on the touchline. “All right, Ryan,” he says to the team captain, “cool down.”

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Topic: Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reins of the story? Explain.

For: Kenyan Poet

By: William A. Glass, Author

The question of who drives the narrative, whether the author or his characters, is astute. It recognizes that once a novel writer kicks things off, he relies on momentum to keep the words pouring onto the written page.

Some authors have the plot diagrammed out in detail before starting. Others, like me, only have a general idea. Either way, plans can change. Like Mike Tyson said, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched.” For writers, getting punched means being hit by inspiration on where to go next in the story. That inspiration often comes from the characters and how they’ve developed and what they’re likely to do next, considering the situation.

Another quote on this topic comes to mind. “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” What did Yogi Berra mean? Who knows? But in a novel, there are many forks in the road, decisions to be made, and actions that follow. Just like in real life for each of us. Our days are filled with decisions: some large, some small. Our fate is tied up in the cumulative effect of these decisions. So it is with the characters in a novel. To be engaging to readers, characters must be real. That means the things they say, the decisions they make, and the actions that follow must be true to their personalities.

So, at many critical junctures, authors rely on the characters to tell them where the story goes next. This was a revelation to me when writing Crossing Day. My first two novels, As Good As Can Be and Off Broadway, were autobiographical. I always knew where the story was going because I lived it. But with Crossing Day, the narrative had to come out of the ether. Writing it required that I go back and forth from other daily responsibilities. What amazed me is that I could be working on the book, then go and do something work-related, and half an hour later come back and pick up where I left off in the story. Each time, it was like walking through a portal into another world. Once there, I was immediately in tune with my characters, and while I may not have let them make all the decisions, I certainly made sure that they would approve.

Thanks for inviting me to be on the Kenyan Poet!

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Bill is a retired business executive who now lives in a small southern town with his wife, Bettina. She’s a retired high school German teacher. Bill coaches soccer at a small college. Often, Bettina, who has a commercial driver’s license, pilots the soccer team bus to away games.

Bettina and Bill have three sons, Alex, Robert, and Gordon who have all graduated from college and moved away to pursue careers. Instead of having an empty nest, Bettina and Bill now host three rescue dogs. They enjoy finding promising hiking trails to explore with their dogs.

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