Book Excerpt

The Life and Times of Halycon Sage: The Last Book Ever Published

pg 91

     Halycon Sage did not want to write Boo Radley Goes Hawaiian. After

his initial enthusiasm, the idea bored him. And he realized that, given the

complexity of the material, it would have to be about five times as long

as anything he had previously written. This thought plunged him into an

agony of writer’s block.

     He did not want to go into town either, after writing the detestable book,

to find an internet café, check his emails and send in his draft. Kathryn,

his editor, would be hopping up and down, scolding him electronically

for his lack of diligence and demanding to know his whereabouts. Though

generally a reasonable person, she became unreasonable on the subject of

deadlines.

     Halycon Sage, sitting beside a shining stream, shaded by purple

mountains and warmed by a perfect milk-pour of yellow sun, picked up

his pen and wrote:

          “Boo Radley sat…”

          “Boo Radley stood…”

          “Boo Radley waited…”

Breathing in sagebrush, eucalyptus and the special smell of wet willow

trees along the water, the special, beloved smell of the West, he wrote:

          “Nobody had expected Boo Radley to…” and

          “‘Hawaii!’ thought Boo Radley.”

It was no good. He hated the thing. He wanted to get back to his real work,

the novel that was currently struggling to be born out of his sensitive artist’s

unconscious: The Land Before Time Forgot Itself.