A Novel Idea

I'm in my 11th month of writing my first book, a thriller, The Nubian Codex. Actually, I've been writing about seven months (took a little hiatus at the end of the year). I don't know how I got started on it. I've been a journalist for 20 years and chose that career in preparation for writing a novel. I also always figured I'd start writing it at about this time in my life. I wasn't inspired by anything in particular. I'd had false starts - or maybe not -- on a chick lit book and a young adult book. None of these, including the thriller, are anything I read or would really be interested in writing. But I'm nothing if not practical. I firmly believe there is no sense in writing anything that won't be read. And I also believe there's a way to accommodate my needs as a writer within the market's need.

So one night last May, I was watching a program on the National Geographic Channel. It was either on ancient Mesoamerica or ancient Egypt (I've slept since then). I'm leaning toward Mesoamerica, though, because the thought that crossed my mind was one that had occurred to me many times before: there are a lot of similarities between Mesoamerican and ancient Egyptian cultures. I thought it would be interesting to explore that in a book. But what type? Well, thrillers were awfully popular. And that genre relieved me of trying to develop a plot complication. Murder, after all, is the ultimate complication.

Though I'd determined I would start on this ambitious project, I had nothing. I knew little about the processes of archaeology, the mechanics of comparative linguistics or even the country I was destined to highlight. But that's what the Internet is for. And that's part of the importance my background as a journalist plays.

My first task was to find out whether anyone else had ever had mulled over this possibility. Surely, I thought, I was not THAT original. The result was mixed. I found They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America by Rutgers University linguist and anthropologist Ivan van Sertima. I also found a great body of linguistic work by Dr. Clyde Winters that picks up where van Sertima left off. Sure, there are other sites that address some of these issues, but the reality is that these two men are the only ones who have made any significant contributions to the development of this idea over the last three decades. Still, I am extremely grateful because there is no way I could have constructed my tale without the background compiled especially by van Sertima.

However, my research has taken me far beyond the obvious. I've researched curanderas or witches of the Tuxtla region in Veracruz, the intricacies of Mesoamerican codices and ancient Egyptian papyruses, and the MS-13 gang. I've explored the backgrounds of my characters, investigated the the architecture, foods and cultures of Mexico and spent hours weaving it into the dialogue.

I'm about 80 percent done with the project and will be off to New York later this week to see whether I can persuade an editor to take a look at it. The first half of the manuscript has been professionally edited. I figure I can finish up in the next two months. I'm also starting to spend time developing marketing plans and databases. I want to be ready to hit the ground running.