- About the Novel -
I have two purposes for including “About the Novel”. I provide a quick background for my novel, and—if you have ever considered writing a novel—I take this opportunity to encourage you to begin. Don’t wait for a great idea before you start writing. Great ideas rarely lead to writing a novel, but writing a novel will lead to great ideas. (Many of my favorite moments were unplanned and unexpected, so had I not written the story up to that point, those thoughts never would have been triggered.)
The title Laying Autumn’s Dust comes from Shakespeare’s King Lear. I had chosen the title a few years before starting the original short story, which I expanded into the novel—over fifteen years later.
When I started writing the original short story “Laying Autumn’s Dust”, I did not have a plot, characters, or anything specific in mind. All I had was an opening sentence. (Even though the story evolved as I wrote the novel, I was able to preserve the original opening line, which now begins Book II.) So I sat at my computer one evening and typed the first sentence and followed it with a second line, then simply allowed the characters and story to lead me.
I don’t recall how long it took to write the original short story (narrated by Jesse), but it was ~10,000 words. Somewhere along the way, I thought it would be the prologue to a larger work, and I considered the possibility of leveraging three narrators: Jesse, Abigail, and Donny. But Colorado life (work, trail running, and other interests) occupied my time, and I didn’t revisit this idea until returning home in December of 2016.
While I had written a handful of short stories in Colorado, I hadn’t dedicated large blocks of time to writing. So when I returned to Alabama, my plan was to 1.) work part-time as an English instructor so I could spend time with my father and 2.) write the novel that had always eluded me.
I will share more about the evolution of the novel, the work involved, and my writing style later, but here is the nutshell version. Characters emerged from thin air, and events unfolded as I watched—and over which I had no control. Other developments surprised me, such as how some pieces fell perfectly into place while others took much effort to connect. Also, as I found my voice(s) and better understood the characters and story, I realized much of the original short story was no longer the quality of work I had come to expect from myself, so I cut about 80% of the material. But the short story had served an important purpose: My primary characters had been created, and the story’s foundation had been laid.
Of course, during the five-year journey of writing the novel, I experienced ups and downs along the way, but throughout the entire writing process, I had an absolute blast! I hope you enjoy reading my novel as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Cheers!
-Mark L. Brooks
About the Author
Mark grew up in northeast Alabama on Puddin’ Ridge. After earning an M.A. in English from The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, he lived in Colorado for several years, then returned home in 2016. For personal interests, he enjoys reading, creative writing, breweries, college football, scuba diving, rock climbing, snow skiing, trout fishing, and—foremost—trail running. He has instructed writing and literature courses for a handful of colleges.
Laying Autumn’s Dust is his debut novel.
Prologue and Audio Excerpts
If you are interested in a few teasers, please visit the Read the Prologue and Audio Excerpts links. For audio, I read a few excerpts from my novel. I hope you enjoy them!