Shadow of the Storm’s Path to Publication

Shadow of the Storm has weathered a long, uncertain journey from idea to publication with a few casualties along the way, the kind that could make a person who believes in fate or luck a bit apprehensive or superstitiously fatalistic. I’d love to blame the puppet-string theory from time to time, but I understand unexpected failures are simply happenstance, that the only way something can be achieved is to keep pushing. 

Rob’s confidence in the Wolfshadow story proved indestructible. Based on my publishing experience, I’d sometimes caution him about being over-enthusiastic and optimistic. He’d chuckle and tell me he hadn’t felt such excitement for a project since his days playing football or with his band, The Penthouse Five, “and you see how good all that turned out.” I’d grunt, “Uh-huh,” and we’d get back to the novel.

When he began sending me first draft chapters, I got onboard with his enthusiasm. The story wasn’t run-of-the-mill science fiction, but a blend of SF, dark fantasy (my genre specialty), and spirituality—an unusual combination, certainly, but one that worked beautifully well. Every few weeks, I’d receive one to three first-draft chapters in the mail. I’d revise them—reduce the word count, ensure continuity, embellish or enhance plot characters, improve flow—and send them back to him for the next revision. (Those edited first draft chapters vanished with the first drafts of the final chapters, discussed in an earlier post.)

Rob’s style allowed story action to dictate each chapter’s point of view, much like a movie or series script, providing the reader with information from disparate locations and viewpoints that increasingly narrowed to the climax. It’s a technique as old as fiction writing itself, but some insist point of view must at all times remain with one character—“no head jumping!” It’s a good rule if you understand the difference between head jumping and alternate points of view dictated by scenes and chapters. Even occasional head jumping is fine if done correctly, and many authors have done it quite well, from Asimov to Christie to King to O’Connor to Carver to Vonnegut to you-name-them. Every “rule” in writing, however, can be violated if you know how. And most experienced authors know how. Despite one editor’s accusing and demeaning rejection tirade, head jumping isn’t utilized in Shadow. Points of view between scenes or chapters change, but each scene or chapter remains steadfast in the particular point of view.

Another editor took issue with how the two Cheyenne protagonists are portrayed, calling them “stereotypical”—specifically, how Sarah Little Bird Boone sets up a meeting with Nattech scientists that involves native flute music, peyote, and a bit of mystical ritual. The editor insisted the scene used “stereotypes.” Apparently, she skipped over the passage in which the characters themselves address stereotyping:

“Stereotypical, cliché settings and getting stoned are not research or reality,” Landrum said.

“No, they’re not,” Russell said, “but stereotypes arise out of reality, and clichés become clichés because they’re utilized repeatedly and are what people come to expect. They make people comfortable. Anything different can cause confusion or obstinance. Certain drugs, meanwhile, are essential to exploring expansive concepts—especially if something encompasses new and bizarre ideas.”

As mentioned, the original first draft’s final chapters were lost, so Rob had to write a new ending, leaving the recreation of missing chapters to me, drawing the storyline to Rob’s new ending—which, by the way, is quite poignant. I finished revisions about two years after Rob passed and then began the arduous task of submitting to publishers.

As it was with my first novel, Big Daddy’s Fast-Past Gadget, publisher response for Shadow proved mixed—most kicking it back with the “go away” form letter, some praising it, some trashing it, yet none offering to publish. With Big Daddy’s, a few editors, including the editor for TSR, publisher of Dungeons & Dragons, wanted to publish, but couldn’t for various reasons. In the case of TSR, the line for which it was suited had been eliminated. Both Big Daddy’s and Shadow of the Storm, however, were eventually accepted by several publishers (three for Big Daddy’s; four for Shadow), but each of them either went out of business before publication or were consumed by larger publishers that eliminated the lines—all of which consumed long periods of time. Both novels waited months and, in some cases, years for publication after acceptance only to be kicked back, unpublished—time wasted that could’ve been used in submitting to other potential publishers. 

Eventually, both novels landed in houses where editors liked the stories enough to offer a contract, houses that were stable and eager to publish rather than wait indefinitely. And for that, I’m deeply grateful to Foolscap & Quill for making Rob’s dream of becoming a published author a reality. Seventeen years after his passing, Shadow of the Storm is a fitting and well-deserved memorial to a talented writer and wonderful human being, Robert Edward Graham. I suspect he’s strolling his imagined Elysian Fields, grinning with pride.

Shadow of the Storm will be published October 15, available from Foolscap & Quill at https://tinyurl.com/4db6bkju and Amazon at https://tinyurl.com/yc8z26ht, as well as other bookstores. Dystopian science fiction at its best. Read more about its development and characters at https://csfuqua.com/blog.