I just received a new engineering job testing large scale communications solutions with a major player in the technology realm. I had to pack up my things in Arizona and move 2000+ miles away to the Research Triangle Park in NC.
I was searching for a new place to stay while I in-processed at my new company. I found a nice home on acre of land nearly 30 miles away from my job. It was a two story Victorian style home, hardy-plank siding done in white, burgundy colored shutters, and it was tall like the pines trees that surrounded the structure. Inside there was the front foyer with beautiful hardwood, the dinning room, the front living room with a gas fire place, french doors in the rear that opened up to a wooden deck which revealed a beautiful mix of forested soft pines and hardwood trees.
The upstairs included the master bedroom with walk-in closets, two other smaller bedrooms, and a bonus room which I promptly deemed to be my home gym.
It was a lot of home for the two of us but we were hoping children would soon follow.
After I closed on the house I promptly moved out of the apartment the company had me staying and into my new home. There was no furniture, no television, no cable, no internet. Nothing but myself, my clothes and a book I brought by Clive Cussler called Shock Wave.
I was not an avid reader of fiction, not since my teen years. I use to read a lot when I was younger and enjoyed Dragon Lance and D&D, along with other similar fantasy books. I put the books down and opted for social activities with other teens in places we shouldn’t have been and doing things we shouldn’t have been doing. I laugh now..not so then. When I settled down I read books for information, to educate myself.
Home alone after a long day figuring out how to get my computer software installed for my work was when I found myself introduced to Dirk Pitt – the main protagonist known as a renowned adventurer in the book I brought.
I truly enjoyed this character and couldn’t get enough. I would read in the morning before I left home to drive my 30 miles which didn’t bother me at the time, arrive just before 7:00 AM, start work, did my time and drove back home to read some more.
I found each day was like this..the suspense building after I read in the evening and some in the morning. The morning was like a cup of coffee and the evening was like a glass of wine. I was living high on life through this Dirk Pitt and it all started with a book, a world Clive Cussler created.
As I read, I found in me this spark that I never noticed before. The thought came to my mind that I can write stories like this one, I can do what Clive Cussler is doing. I truly never felt that way before, not actually thinking I could write.
This spark happened to me back in April 2000. Then a period of nearly six or seven years, a drought, passed me by without me lifting a finger to write.
Image Credit: Steel Wool Spark on the Beach by Evan
Copyright ©2014 DW Rigsby All Rights Reserved.