Writing Novel Fulfills Dream For Columnist

Almost my entire career in journalism, I have written for the business pages of the Spokane daily newspapers.

For 35 years, subscribers have read my work as a business reporter, editor and columnist. Among those who remember the name, surely it is etched in their minds right alongside business news.

But, for me, business writing has not been altogether fulfilling. The most tantalizing aspects of the day’s news events, or the opinions that I most wanted to impart to readers, so often lay just beyond my reach as a writer of business and financial information.

Thirsting for greater freedom, I turned to creating fiction late at night and in the wee hours of the morning, for release and to expand my horizons as a writer.

Most newspaper reporters, at some time in their careers, harbor aspirations of writing the great American novel. Few ever actually make a serious attempt. Fewer still publish.

I was fortunate. In my early years as a newspaperman, I acquired a wealth of creative writing experience. For years, when I was the old Spokane Chronicle’s primary business writer, I had the assignment of reporting not only all of the business news of Spokane but also of creating a daily People & Business profile - actually a short story in itself.

Over a span of several years, I wrote thousands of these short stories about men and women of the greater Spokane business community. It was a rare opportunity for creative writing at that time in the pages of the Spokane newspapers.

In those days, there was little “interpretive” reporting, as we know it today.

Through the years, of course, newspapering has undergone revolutionary change. Whereas once it was unprofessional and unacceptable for a reporter to write anything but the unadorned essential facts, today’s “interpretive” reporting not only allows but encourages more creative approaches.

Writing a novel at night, while working full time as a newswriter and editor by day, is not easy. The book took several years to complete.

World That Never War is about the cultural revolution in America during the second half of this century.

In 1953, at the end of the Korean War, 21 young American prisoners of war refused repatriation. It was the first time this has happened in the nation’s history and it was symptomatic of a cultural miscarriage that foreshadowed impending inter-generational upheaval.

My novel is about one of the Korean War turncoats who returns home, a mysterious figure. Patriot? Prophet? Traitor? Which is he? It is a novel about murder, political intrigue, love and romance.

I am pleased with World That Never Was. But is it what I had hoped - the great American novel of the 1990s? That is for readers to decide.

In recent weeks, I have read excerpts from the novel and signed autographs in cities around the Northwest. Audiences have been very receptive. In the coming months, I will appear at stores throughout Spokane and the region.

My next scheduled reading and signing are this Friday, Nov. 21, at the Java on Sherman coffee house in downtown Coeur d’Alene. The event was arranged by The Bookseller, just across the street. Java is at 324 E. Sherman.

On Saturday, Nov. 22, I will be at Auntie’s Bookstore in downtown Spokane, for a reading and signing at 7:30 p.m. Auntie’s is at Main and Washington.

World That Never Was is available at bookstores in Spokane and around the region. If you don’t find my novel at your favorite bookstore, they can order it for you.

Retail price is $10. The order number is (ISBN) 1-56002-731-2. The publisher is Aegina Press, Huntington, W.Va. Baker and Taylor Books is the distributor.

If you have any problems or any comments, give me a call or drop me a line.

, DataTimes MEMO: Associate Editor Frank Bartel writes on retirement issues each Sunday. He can be reached with ideas for future columns at 459-5467 or fax 459-5482.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Frank Bartel The Spokesman-Review