The Deep Six?

This is the story behind the creation of “The Deep Six."  It all started in early 2010 with the title that I wanted to use for my first ever NANO attempt. November is national novel writing month, and although I’d known about the challenge for some years, I’d never managed to remember to start my project at the time when I needed to. That is to say, that usually around November tenth or so I remembered the challenge. Too late for me to start a fifty thousand word project which is the minimum necessary to have a document considered a novel. So while the event was taking place in 2009, I made a vow not to miss the next challenge. Once my account was set up, and my title submitted, I waited for the glorious day when the writing would begin.

If you’d like to learn more about NANO or join in the fun, you can visit: www.nanowrimo.org

The idea behind the title was to tell a story about a mine accident from the perspective of the families above ground rather than of the miners below ground. Having grown up with the term the deep six, which to me meant something buried under the ground, I thought it was an apropos name for a book provided I had six miners trapped during the accident.

You can see the definition of deep six here: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/deep six

However, during the months before the challenge began, I pondered the idea for the story. That’s when I realized the loved ones I’d be writing about were experiencing their own struggle. Not only would they need to deal with the terror of what happened underground; they'd have to deal with the situations in their own lives, which had trapped or buried them. These people had let the muck of life smother them. How would they ever be able to survive this additional trial? They needed someone to help them and lead them out of the darkness. They needed someone each could trust and believe in. They needed someone in tune with a higher power. This person turned out to be Joyce Pennington.

So that is how “The Deep Six” came to be. If you’d like to read part of the book, you can click on the book's cover image, and you’ll go to Amazon.com where you can enjoy the beginning.

Until next time, I hope you have a great day.