Back in the late 1980's, I began a novel that mixed the supernatural, horror, and Christianity
It included murder, possession, Native American elements, Swedenborgian ideas, demons, a practicing witch, an evil government-sponsored agency seeking to control and use the supernatural, a rite of exorcism, and a character based on C. S. Lewis (!).
Some of it was inspired by the horror and supernatural fiction I had been reading since adolescence.
Some of it also made use of events and interests from my own life.
I did meet a practicing witch who tried to draw me into her world, and with whom I had a very weird supernatural experience. A character loosely based on her and that experience are in the book.
I had a friend who was heavily into the beliefs of the mystic Emmanuel Swedenborg - he called himself a Swedenborgian - and some of Swedenborg's ideas were incorporated into the novel. Indeed, one of the file titles for the novel was "Swedenborg."
I worked part-time at a public radio station, so I made one of the characters a radio reporter and talk show host.
I had gone to grad school, so the story is set at a university with the main character taking classes there.
A couple of the characters were based on people I knew, one an ally of the protagonist, the other, one of chief villains.
The protagonist was from the Finger Lakes region of New York where I had grown up and where I had come into contact with some Native American legends. I modified one of those legends for the story.
I was a big fan of C. S. Lewis at the time, and his science fiction trilogy was a big influence. So it was natural to have a character based on him.
I scribbled away at that novel for a couple of years, but as a reporter at the time I had to do so in between all the writing I had to do for my newspaper. Plus, I was working a second job to help support my young family, and was actively involved in caring for three young children.
The novel was progressing well, and I began thinking about what would help to make it marketable, so I began to read some contemporary horror/supernatural/fiction for trends and ideas. Mind you, my previous reading and viewing had been classic supernatural/science fiction/horror literature and movies.
I began to be influenced by the contemporary fiction, but after a while it began to make me uneasy. I began to sense it was too dark, graphic, and twisted. Moreover, I began to see some elements of it creeping into my story.
Just about that time, I found my focus shifting to a different writing genre. I had always told my daughters bedtime stories, including making up an ongoing tale that included them. At the same time, storytelling was popular, and I began to perform as a professional storyteller. I started adapting stories, and writing some original ones. I even briefly became a storytelling character on a local cable television program!
To improve my storytelling, I began to act in local community theater. And along with that, I began writing plays. One about a local civil war hero actually got performed by our local professional theater as part of a regional playwrights festival. When I left journalism to return to teaching I began writing plays for my students to perform. And I also began blogging.
With all that, the novel remained on the back burner.
After neglecting it for years, I finally looked at it again. I began to remove or revise some of the troublesome sections. I began writing some new material, and adding characters, one of whom was based on G. K. Chesterton as I had become active in local Chesterton circles.
And then ... I became a Secular Franciscan. I wondered if writing a supernatural/horror story was really in keeping with being a Franciscan. So once again I stopped.
Around 2020, I began working on it again. I took out the last of the really dark material. I also realized I had too many characters and cut back on them. One of the things I also tried to do was to update it. The world of 2020 was very different from the world of 2020 - such as with the use of computers and cell phones. But as I did so I found it was altering the story too much. So I stopped again.
Sigh.
What I decided in the end was to set the story in the 1980's. But that will mean going back and revising my revisions!
So where is that unfinished novel now? (Besides being kind of family joke.)
I'm 30 chapter and 40,000 word in. About half of how long I suspect it will be if I do finish it.
Will I?
I don't know yet.
I hate leaving things unfinished.
But I've always felt more comfortable with writing shorter pieces. Hence I tend to write clerihews and haiku, short stories, one-act plays, short essays, and blog posts. Heck, even in conversations I tend to get to the point quickly, and I get frustrated when other people don't.
But I hate leaving things unfinished.
It's a curse.
Like an unfinished novel malingering in the back of my mind.
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