Evergreen: Trace Contact, page 22
But what the hell.
Of course, a challenge like that made me think of other challenges I’ve put myself to, when it comes to writing.
In early days, my first few books were written over spans of years. The first Citadel novel took a little over a year to complete. And the other two books in that series took two years to complete, respectively. Mostly because it took the biggest chunk of that time to even start. As disciplined as I am about daily writing today, I was at the polar opposite of that spectrum back then. Writing, which I have always loved, felt like a chore and a weight on my chest, in those early days.
The tide turned for me when I challenged myself to write that third Citadel book in just 30 days.
I reasoned, “I have a start of it. And I know I want it to be around 60,000 words, minimum. So all I have to do is sit down every day, write 2,000 words each day, and at the end of the month I’ll have it.”
Simple math. Complex emotions. Challenging discipline. But I did it.
And once it was done, I did it again. And then again.
It’s a bit like the four-minute mile. Everyone thought it was impossible, everyone said the human heart would explode if someone even attempted it. But then someone did it, and within the year a handful of other people repeated the accomplishment.
We humans—we tend to assume our limits and then live down to them. But if we ever once realize that the cage bars are made of glass, we smash our way out and we never look back.
You just watch us fly.
Having done that, written a book in 30 days, I wondered, “Can I do it in fifteen days?” And yes, I could do it in fifteen days. Heck, that wasn’t even that hard. More math, more butt in seat, that’s all.
And then, “Can I do it in a week?” And yes, turns out, I could do it in a week. Turns out, in fact, that if you know your goal, and the timeline in which you want to reach it, you can do the math to figure out how much needs to be done, every single day, to get you there.
It’s true in writing. It’s true in life.
So inevitably, there came that moment—a glorious, heady, ill-advised moment—when I asked myself, “Can I do it in a single day?”
And just you mull that one over for a minute. Because writing a book in a week is challenging. I mean, do that math—if I’m aiming for that 60,000 word minimum (and most of my books average out to around 80,000 words), and my goal is to have those words all on the page by the end of seven days, then I’m committing to writing 8,571 words per day.
For perspective, a typical short story is only around 10,000 words long. So that’s me committing to writing a short story per day, for seven days straight.
Which, by the way, I’ve done before—writing a short story a day for 30 days. Those were good days, and everyone seemed to love it. Maybe I’ll try that again some time.
But if you want to write 60,000 words in one day, that’s actually the simplest math there is. I don’t even need a calculator. I may need a shrink, but we’ll let history decide.
Actually… what I needed was the right day.
It turned out I needed to be in Manhattan, spending a week in the city with family, celebrating the US Thanksgiving holiday. I needed the inspiration of the city to get my brain turning in a particular direction. And I needed a snowy day, with my wife and her family out doing their own thing while I stayed behind in the hotel’s bar. I needed a wait staff who were bribed with tips and intrigued by the idea of someone doing a grueling thing in their presence that just seemed impossible to do. And I needed that same staff to keep me plied with coffee and sandwiches, and to watch my laptop when I ran to take a pee.
I needed that day, to pull this off. And I got it. And by the time I turned in for the evening, bleary eyed and brain fried and over caffeinated… I had Evergreen.
Now, I might have written it in one day, but that didn’t mean it was ready for prime time. I took most of the following month to edit it and do some rewrites. So for the purists among you, this is your opportunity to point and say, “I KNEW IT!”
Yes, you’re right… the book did not emerge fully formed, like Athena from the head of Zeus. But I defy any living author, even Stephen King himself, to write a draft in one day and have it turn out half as good. And I will read that book, Mr. King, and probably love it. Also, call me. We should collaborate on something.
So when Nick challenged me to write a book per week, and I had to come up with the first in that series of Herculean tasks, my brain went straight to Evergreen. Because, frankly, I had been promising to write a sequel to that book since it was first released. I just… I could never think of a way to honor it. I couldn’t write just any story, after all. It had to align with the spirit of that first book, both on and off the page.
Well, what better way to honor a novel written in a single day than to write something under similar circumstances?
I have written books within a week’s time before. But what I’ve never done, to date, is commit to producing a book per week for fifteen weeks. That’s a daunting challenge. And I’m right here at the front of it, wondering what I’ve gotten myself into, and whether I can really make it happen.
Maybe. Maybe not.
As for what I’ve gotten myself into, I think that’s obvious—it’s magic.
What I do, the things I create, the work that sears me from the inside if I don’t let it out, that’s magic of the highest order. It’s the spreading out of my soul. It’s tapping into a universal mind, a grid of power that underlies all of creation, a physics so spooky even Einstein shied away from it.
This work… this more than just what I do.
It’s who I am.
I have determined, after much soul searching, after some denying, after making some mistakes repeatedly and coming to some realizations more than once, that I can be summed up pretty succinctly: I am the Novelist.
It’s a crazy, temperamental word that means a lot of things to a lot of different people. But it fits me like a bespoke suit. It shapes itself to my contours, in the most flattering way. I do not look fat in these pants.
I am the Novelist. This crazy book-a-week plan is perfect for me, even if I fail at it. And it was the perfect excuse to bring back Jaylin Rowlin and his entourage, and to try to recapture some of the magic of that first book—the one that was so powerful a story, I had to write it in a single, snowy day in Manhattan.
Challenges, especially the seemingly impossible ones, can be a wonderful way to test our limits. Or our perceived limits, anyway.
This is why people run marathons, or climb mountains, or sail around the world. It’s why we go to the moon, or start planning a trip to Mars. It’s why we build telescopes that can see further than we’ve ever seen before. We are pushing our limits, so that we can redefine them. We are finding the outer edges of our boxes so we can burst through them.
And that’s what I’m doing with this challenge, as well.
I really hope you enjoyed this story. And yes, I know that it’s a bit different from most of my other books. And that’s also part of why I wrote it. I was able to explore some things in this story that I’ve learned over the years, as well as some ideas and theories I’ve had for some time. But mostly, I was able to have some fun. Which, in the end, is why we’re all here anyway.
Stories can be wonderful for informing and inspiring, educating and entertaining. But above all, always above all, they should be fun.
A good story creates a new reality within the reader. My hope is that I’ve made it a good one, and that you can live in it for years to come.
* * *
Kevin Tumlinson
Liberty Hill, Texas
18 August 2022
HERE’S HOW TO HELP ME REACH MORE READERS
If you loved this book, you can help me reach more readers with just a few easy acts of kindness.
(1) REVIEW THIS BOOK
Leaving a review for this book is a great way to help other readers find it. Just go to the site where you bought the book, search for the title, and leave a review. It really helps, and I really appreciate it.
(2) SUBSCRIBE TO MY EMAIL LIST
I regularly write a special email to the people on my list, just keeping everyone up to date on what I’m working on. When I announce new book releases, giveaways, or anything else, the people on my list hear about it first. Sometimes, there are special deals I’ll only give to my list, so it’s worth being a part of the crowd.
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(3) TELL YOUR FRIENDS
Word of mouth is still the best marketing there is, so I would greatly appreciate it if you’d tell your friends and family about this book, and the others I’ve written.
You can find a comprehensive list of all of my books at http://kevintumlinson.com/books.
* * *
Thanks so much for your help. And thanks for reading.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kevin Tumlinson is an award-winning and bestselling novelist, living in Texas and working in random coffee shops, cafés, and hotel lobbies worldwide. His debut thriller, The Coelho Medallion, was a 2016 Shelf Notable Indie award winner.
Kevin grew up in Wild Peach, Texas, where he was raised by his grandparents and given a healthy respect for story telling. He often found himself in trouble in school for writing stories instead of doing his actual assignments.
Kevin’s love for history, archaeology, and science has been a tremendous source of material for his writing, feeding his fiction and giving him just the excuse he needs to read the next article, biography, or research paper.
Connect with Kevin:
kevintumlinson.com
kevin@tumlinson.net
ALSO BY KEVIN TUMLINSON
DAN KOTLER
The Coelho Medallion
The Atlantis Riddle
The Devil's Interval
The Girl in the Mayan Tomb
The Antarctic Forgery
The Stepping Maze
The God Extinction
The Spanish Papers
The Hidden Persuaders
The Sleeper’s War
The God Resurrection
The Demon Core
DAN KOTLER SHORT FICTION
The Brass Hall - A Dan Kotler Story
The Jani Sigil - FREE short story from BookHip.com/DBXDHP
DAN KOTLER BOX SETS
The Book of Lost Things: Dan Kotler, Books 1-3
The Book of Betrayals: Dan Kotler, Books 4-6
The Book of Gods and Kings: Dan Kotler, Books 7-9
QUAKE RUNNER: ALEX KAYNE
Shaken
Triggered
Compromised
HISTORIC CRIMES CROSSOVERS
The Man Below
EVERGREEN
Evergreen: Book 1
Evergreen: Trace Contact
JIM RYKER THRILLERS - CO-AUTHORED WITH NICK THACKER
The Backup Plan
CITADEL
Citadel: First Colony
Citadel: Paths in Darkness
Citadel: Children of Light
Citadel: The Value of War
Colony Girl: A Citadel Universe Story
SAWYER JACKSON
Sawyer Jackson and the Long Land
Sawyer Jackson and the Shadow Strait
Sawyer Jackson and the White Room
THINK TANK
Karner Blue
Zero Tolerance
Nomad
THE LUCID — CO-AUTHORED WITH NICK THACKER
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
SHORTS & NOVELLAS
Getting Gone
Teresa's Monster
The Three Reasons to Avoid Being Punched in the Face
Tin Man
Two Blocks East
Edge
Zero
COLLECTIONS & ANTHOLOGIES
Citadel: Omnibus
Uncanny Divide — With Nick Thacker & Will Flora
Light Years — The Complete Science Fiction Library
Dead of Winter: A Christmas Anthology — With Nick Thacker, Jim Heskett, David Berens, M.P. MacDougall, R.A. McGee, Dusty Sharp & Steven Moore
YA & MIDDLE GRADE
Secret of the Diamond Sword — An Alex Kotler Mystery
WORDSLINGER (NON-FICTION)
30-Day Author: Develop a Daily Writing Habit and Write Your Book In 30 Days (Or Less)
* * *
Watch for more at kevintumlinson.com/books
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Connecting independent readers to independent writers.
Did you love Evergreen: Trace Contact? Then you should read The Coelho Medallion by Kevin Tumlinson!
"Imagine a writer that combines the best aspects of Cussler, Rollins, Berry, and Brown all into one. That's Kevin Tumlinson."
— Ernest Dempsey, Author of The Forbidden Temple
AN ANCIENT VIKING CITY IN NORTH AMERICA MAY MEAN THE END OF THE MODERN WORLD
Hidden in a newly discovered cave in Pueblo, Colorado, archaeologists and researchers have found evidence of a Viking presence, alongside early Native American cultures. Even more intriguing, the evidence points to the fabled "city of gold," known as El Dorado.
The proof is the Coelho medallion is the Rosetta stone of the discovery. And when it's stolen, it sets off a chain reaction of intrigue and danger.
MEET DR. DAN KOTLER—ARCHAEOLOGIST, POLYMATH, OCCASIONAL FBI CONSULTANT
PRETTY MUCH ALWAYS IN TROUBLE
Dr. Dan Kotler has the sort of enviable career that most archaeologists dream of—world travel, speaking engagements, television appearances, even invitations to A-list parties. But when his ex-girlfriend is abducted, following the theft of the Coelho medallion, Kotler finds himself embroiled in an ever-evolving terrorist plot that could end in the deaths of millions.
Partnering with FBI Agent Roland Denzel, Kotler must rush to solve the riddle of the Coelho medallion before this ancient Viking settlement isn't the only thing lost to history.
THE COELHO MEDALLION IS THE FIRST BOOK IN KEVIN TUMLINSON'S DAN KOTLER ARCHAEOLOGICAL THRILLERS
Find more thrills at HIstoricCrimes.com
Read more at Kevin Tumlinson’s site.
Kevin Tumlinson, Evergreen: Trace Contact
