The Last Line

I finished writing the first draft of Devil's Lair on March 31, 2006. It took me two years and felt like it would never end. My characters weren't the only ones going through hell. But surprisingly, it does end. There's light at the end of the Inferno.

When I finished the first draft, I was exhausted and exhilarated, anxious and proud.

It felt like graduation day.

When I'm writing, I have to imagine the end of the story before I start, and Devil's Lair was no exception. From the beginning I had the very last line of the book in mind.

But when I finally wrote that last line, it didn't work. Something wasn't right.

Panic set in. I began to doubt everything that came before. This was the line I had been writing towards for two years, and now it just lay there like a dead rat. Maybe the line was just too familiar to me now, and didn't have the same kick as I'd imagined way back when.

Then another thought occurred to me: the novel had evolved in the writing; the last line had not. Was it the wrong line? Or the wrong novel?

Oh, God.

I paced around the room for maybe ten minutes before the solution hit me.

An even better line.

No, the perfect line.

It fit the novel I'd just written, it resolved plot and theme and character, and it added a kind of grace note.

I jumped back into my desk chair, wrote the new last line in a blind flurry, hit save, and shouted to no one listening:

"Yes!"

Am I going to tell you my last line?

Hell, no.

You're going to have to get through the whole novel to find it.

Just like I did.

Barnes & Noble Writer's Group

I've been reading chapters from Devil's Lair at a local writer's group that meets at Barnes & Noble. The book store has a reading room where the employees set up tables for us, and the manager comes to our defense when patrons complain about the noise (at least I hope they're complaining about the noise — it couldn't be the words).

We convene every Thursday night come hell or high water.

Of course, I bring the hell.

Last week I read Chapters 17 and 18. My medieval pilgrims haven't reached the gates of hell yet, but we may get to that next week. Can't wait to hear the group's reaction. Everyone's been liking the book so far, but once my heroes enter hell, that's where the real fun begins.

Last week we had a guest for the holidays: Pete, who was visiting his sister Barbara Jo, who runs the group. Pete's writing his own fantasy novel, and told me a little about it, and I encouraged him to keep plugging away at it. He lost the first seven chapters in a computer crash (ouch!), and now he's re-writing it from the beginning.

Now that's what I call a writer.

Pete had a nice comment about a horse chase scene in my book. He compared it favorably to Louis L'Amour. Now, I've never actually read Louis L'Amour, and everything I know of horses comes from research, but I'll take that as a compliment.

Thanks, Pete.

More sample chapters from Devil's Lair

I've posted two more chapters from Devil's Lair. You can read them here:

Devil's Lair - Chapter 2

Devil's Lair - Chapter 3

Let me know what you think.

- David

Devil's Lair - Chapter 1 Is Now Online

I've posted Chapter 1 of Devil's Lair on my website.

If you like it, tell your friends.

Thanks!