I wrote my first book in 1981, but it took nearly 45 years to get it published. It was about a murder trial I was covering in Halifax where I was a reporter at the local CTV news affiliate. By day, I sat in the courtroom furiously making notes on the day’s proceedings; by night, I retreated to our basement where I worked until the wee hours of the morning pounding out the manuscript on an old manual typewriter.
It took a year to write it, but early on a cold spring morning in 1982, I typed “the End” on the manuscript. It was a glorious feeling, as if I had climbed Mount Everest. I basked in that for a few days; then, after some editing and polishing, I began to look for a publisher. It would be 6 or 8 weeks, sometimes even months, before there was a response, often with a letter of rejection.
So I rewrote the book and my dutiful wife, a touch typist and a firm believer in the story, cleaned up the manuscript. Each time I pitched the book, it came back with a rejection note, “A swing and a miss,” as my late father would say. While all this rejection was happening, I sat on the sidelines and watched enviously as a whole new stack of Canadian murder stories were published and made the bestseller lists.
During this long period of rejection, I never lost faith in the story. I endured the heartbreak of rejection, the stress of multiple rewrites, and many sleepless nights trying to determine what was wrong with the manuscript. Years passed and I shelved the manuscript and tried to write romance novels. I wrote two (both rejected) but my murder story was never very far from my mind.
After 40 years I attempted another book. Published in 2016, it was about a 1940s shipwreck. But I still hoped that the murder story would be published. At the time of the shipwreck book, I was asked if I had written anything else. With my hopes resurrected, I submitted that first book. It was again rejected: “…too dark …” the publisher stated. The sting of rejection was overcome by the elation I enjoyed over publication of my first book.
The shipwreck tale was my fourth book. When I submitted the manuscript for a fifth one, the publisher asked if I still had “…that murder story.” Again, I submitted the story, reining in my hopes that maybe, just maybe, it would be published. A couple of weeks later it came back-- still too dark. I sulked over this briefly, then stubbornly searched for a publisher. I found Dundurn, wrote them a strong pitch letter and sent it off. Shortly afterward, the acquisitions editor asked to see more of the book, so in August 2024 I sent a description and two chapters.
On my seventy-eighth birthday Sept 19, 2024, I received an offer of publication. No Memory For Murder will be published by Dundurn Press on May 12, 2026 ….44 years after it was written!