FEINT of Heart

I HAD TO BE REMINDED about meeting the late attorney, and now author, Michael G. Sullivan. They tell me we talked writing, maybe five or ten minutes. They say I encouraged him best I could; they say a special dream of his had been to see a novel make its way into print, a long-held ambition.

Not long after that casual conversation, however, Michael met an untimely end.

It wasn’t a typical car crash. The accident happened while he blazed around a track enjoying motorcycle racing, a subject about which he had also written and loved as much or more, we suspect, than either lawyering or writing.

It was pretty bad. Michael, a tough hombre who had seen combat in Vietnam, hung on for a time, but recovered neither to race nor write again. And with his book manuscript over which he toiled with diligence—like any good writer should—sitting fallow in a drawer, it seemed he missed his chance to add Author to his long career.

But, wait—now, almost six years later? Yep. His novel is about to come out.

That’s right. It’s magic; the dead speak. And seems evidence that sometimes miracles happen for real, especially with love in the equation.

Little did I know a chance, random meeting would lead to one of the most affectionate acts of service anyone could perform for a dead writer who never lived to see his pages take flight—and I don’t mean the editorial and design work I did to see Michael’s legal procedural Feint come to publication next month via my imprint, Mind Harvest Press. Nope. I’m talking about his faithful friends who banded together to see someone else’s last dream come true.

The manuscript hadn’t simply been left behind. It had been read and commented upon by a few of his confidants. All it really needed, they said, was a professional edit. And someone like me, who had a personal connection (albeit one lost to my memory) as well as the skill set necessary to pull off such a feat, could do just that for their departed friend Michael.

In the writing trade, aspiring authors often seek the sort of gentle, initial critique borne with the tides of safe harbors: this is called seeking the wise counsel of ‘beta readers.’ These initial readers, often close friends or family, are expected to render opinions, find typos, and help the novice author refine his craft. You can’t buy the kind of service these readers offer. Check out my rates under the Editorial Services tab. No question—beta readers are invaluable. I could name a few dozen who helped me along the way to get my work into shape, either for submission or indie publication. Bless you all.

And Michael had his own, these beta readers, who in a flash of inspiration graduated into the realm of true reader-angels. As though writers themselves, they asked the one most next question:

What if.

As in, what if Michael’s book, complete and revised through several drafts, could, despite his absence, find publication? What if Michael’s dream might still come to fruition?

Well, Edgewater County fans, the day has arrived. Not technically—the book is officially released to all markets via IngramSpark on 2-20-2020, but the Amazon version, both print and Kindle, is available now for the next wave of advance readers—only this time of the book its author never lived to see. And something about this whole process has been fulfilling for this writer, editor and teacher in a manner like few other professional achievements. Instead of the one I chased for so many decades, this work feels like true service to another soul’s dreamy ideal of authorhood. This work feels good.

But please, one last proviso—nobody need thank me. I can already feel Michael’s gratitude from the Great Beyond, or wherever our sacred spirits go following the dropping of the corporeal body. Besides, it is to him, and his benefactors, that I direct my gratitude and thanks. What an opportunity—almost like a dream come true, you might say, one I never even knew I had.