I want to tell you the story of the Little Book That Could--and Couldn't.
When THE PRISONER was originally published, in order to meet the publishing house’s strict word count guidelines, it had to be cut nearly in half. Those “lost” chapters were put away and literally forgotten. But a couple of months ago, quite by accident, I found them again, FIVE boxes of hard copy draft and revised and re-revised chapters, and I’ve worked many long hours since then turning that massive body of work into a coherent “rest of the story” as it was meant to be in the first place. You know that thing about optimistic people relentlessly shoveling a pile of manure because they know there is a pony in there somewhere? That would be me.
It took me thirteen years to get the “halved” version of The Prisoner initially published. THIRTEEN. Basically, it was “too literary for the genre," and I didn't know how to "un-literary" it. I guess you could say I just had to wait for the romance genre to catch up. This book is a "love story," not precisely a romance, and it has been recommended by writer Diana Gabaldon. (OUTLANDER)
It was a hard thing, having to butcher it as was required at that time. BUT, I did it, because I had to, because you have to give to get. That version of the book and its stand-alone sequel have won awards, so there’s that.
THE PRISONER is now in its complete form in Kindle format--with the 13 chapter, plus epilogue, addendum included at the lowest price Amazon would allow. This would be the final, complete story, as it were, of "Captain John Howe" and "Amanda Douglas," and I hope you'll check it out.
