The Writing of One Novel
The Great Detective at the Crucible of Life;
Or, The Adventure of the Rose of Fire
Copyright © 2012 by Thos. Kent Miller
All rights reserved
[Note: These posts are sequential, each building on the previous.]
 |
| From "Silver Blaze" —Sidney Paget |
 |
| From She and Allan —Maurice Greiffenhagen |
Some Thoughts on the Front Matter
Amongst the original real Front Matter (as opposed to faux Front Matter . . . of which there is a great deal indeed) of the manuscript of The Great Detective at the Crucible of Life; Or, The Adventure of the Rose of Fire, there was a secondary separate Disclaimer Page as follows:
This statement, while true, was meant to serve a similar function as a similar device used by Arthur C. Clarke in the Front Matter of Childhood's End:
"The opinions expressed in this
book are not those of the author."
Both the novel itself and the 1953 paperback cover art (above) by Richard Powers turned my life on end at the impressionable age of twelve, and, frankly, for good or ill, I am who I am largely as a result.
However, due to the vicissitudes of publishing, my Childhood's End tribute disclaimer got tacked to the end of the more formal disclaimer (which by the way was, in its own right, unlike any standard disclaimer), which I had every reason to expect nobody would ever read.
In a similar fashion, my formal dedication moved from its own separate page to the top of the Copyright page thus:
It is my experience that most people pay little, if any, attention to the Copyright Page. (Of course, the page is chock full of information of a bibliographic sort, and there are in fact some readers who study—even enjoy—that information with relish. But I won't bore you with a discussion of copyright pages generally.) That meant that few people would ever see the book's formal dedication:
"Also, for Jayne and Douglas, this new service, this new hymn."
The words "also" and "new" are operative, naturally. In order to understand this dedication, it would be useful to know that the prior book, Sherlock Holmes on the Roof of the World; Or, The Adventure of the Wayfaring God, bore the following dedication on page v:
"For the Joy
and the Miracle
of N.L.M.
this service
this hymn"
Without exception, readers who note these words of ROOF's dedication assume that the book is dedicated to N.L.M., whoever that might be. But that wouldn't be right. In fact, I intentionally left out a few words, words that could properly and easily be understood if readers took a moment to think about it. However, I knew full well that nobody would bother. Thus the dedication was a sort of secret between me and the recipient of the dedication, perhaps as many dedications are, I suppose. After all, it does not say "For N.L.M." or "To N.L.M.", it says "For the Joy and the Miracle of N.L.M." Therefore the book is being dedicated to someone who is not specified, someone who is implied or understood, someone who provided the "Joy and Miracle of N.L.M." and to whom I am offering the reciprocal "this service, this hymn."
Think about it. Who doles out miracles and receives hymns?
The book was dedicated . . . to God . . . for the Joy and Miracle of N.L.M. . . . and to whom I reciprocated with a service and a hymn . . . that happened to be the book Sherlock Holmes on the Roof of the World; Or, The Adventure of the Wayfaring God. (Those who know Arthur C. Clarke know that these kinds of sentiments would have been anathema to him on every conceivable level. But that really isn't at issue here.)
ROOF was four years in the making, even though it is a slim novel, and the story of N.L.M. began and mainly ended during its composition. However, as you may gather as you read further, such a story can never really end....
ROOF was four years in the making, even though it is a slim novel, and the story of N.L.M. began and mainly ended during its composition. However, as you may gather as you read further, such a story can never really end....
Who then is N.L.M.? He was Nicholas Lawrence Miller, my first son. He would have been 27 years old last April. His claim to fame was that he was the third small child, the first toddler in all the world, who had a heart transplant. For those who are interested, his story can be summed up by the following 1986 Los Angeles Times and New York Times news items. I apologize in advance for the newspapers' tacky advertisements!
[ALERT: Please be advised that these news items may be too "heavy" for some readers, of which I've encountered a couple. Though it wasn't my intent when I started this blog about writing one novel just a few days ago, it is clear to me now that it may also include some reflection on my spiritual journey . . . and therefore I'm choosing to share the story of Nicholas, who is central to that journey.]
Thus, CRUCIBLE's dedication is likewise a dedication to God to whom I offered this new service and hymn The Great Detective at the Crucible of Life; Or, The Adventure of the Rose of Fire.
A full-length version of Nicholas' story is available at various online used book dealers, starting at about $1.00, including Amazon Marketplace http://www.amazon.com/Baby-James-Legacy-Family-Courage/dp/006250584X.
Blog No. 5 will offer background on some of the epigraphs.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Detective-Crucible-Life/dp/0809500507
No comments:
Post a Comment