This is number 143 in the blog series, “My Writing Life.” I encourage you to join my Patreon community to support my writing.
I NEVER ANTICIPATED that I would ever write a book that could be classified as ‘Family Drama.’ Maybe some of my books could be, if you tried hard enough, but certainly none would be.
Then, while drafting a simple time travel story about a man sent back in time to plant a genetic code in descendants, I ended up uncovering an exceptional amount of family drama.
I guess, some of it is my own, though you wouldn’t recognize it.
And today, the drama gets shared on StoriesOnline with the launch of the serial The Inheritance Paradox!
I didn’t have a close relationship with my father, who died of cancer when I was 27, all the way back in 1976. In fact, we occasionally had a what I considered irreconcilable differences. Like the time he tried to teach me to drive a stick shift. When I got that old Ford Falcon station wagon home after an hour of him screaming in my ear, I took off running as hard as I could, never thinking of going back.
I did, of course. But I didn’t want to talk to him—not that I could have after running as hard as I could for two miles, all while screaming at the top of my lungs.
I was in my senior year of college and working as the designer and technical director on our production of King Lear when my father showed up on the stage. I dreaded it, because all through my life, he’d been a domineering person who took control of every project I’d ever worked on. He was strapping his tool belt on as he strode across the stage toward me.
“What do you need me to do?” was all he said. I gave him the project of cutting plywood and building a throne into what would become a rocky wall. I gave him a student assistant, and I was amazed to see how patient he was with the guy. It was the first time I ever felt my father respected me or what I was doing.
He passed away four years later after a long battle with cancer while I was in my first year of grad school.
Fathers and sons. It can be a difficult relationship.
When I have written about fathers in my novels, they are normally patterned after what I wished my father had been to me. My older sister, rest her soul, read my Nathan Everett novel The Volunteer right after it was released in 2013. Her immediate response was, “We must have had different fathers. The father in this book was nothing like mine.”
I had to tell her he was really nothing like mine, either. There was a lot of healing involved in writing about a father I admired, loved, and respected.
The Inheritance Paradox is a tale that blends time travel, historical intrigue, and heartfelt family drama. The story follows Nathaniel Holbrook, a technical writer, as he uncovers the enigmatic past of his father, Eugene, a former minister turned time traveler. Eugene’s journeys across centuries reveal profound connections, moral dilemmas, and a mission to save humanity. These actions ripple through time, leaving behind descendants who unknowingly hold the key to humanity’s survival.
As Nathaniel delves deeper into his father’s secrets, he discovers startling connections to his own life and family, challenging his understanding of identity, morality, and reality. Alongside his sister Megan, a geneticist on the brink of a groundbreaking discovery, Nathaniel pieces together the extraordinary legacy of their family.
Set against vivid historical backdrops like the founding of the Continental Marines and the Great Chicago Fire, the novel explores themes of redemption, love, guilt, and the enduring bonds of family. With a rich tapestry of characters and a narrative that seamlessly weaves past, present, and future, The Inheritance Paradox invites readers to reflect on how the choices of those who came before us shape our lives—and how we, in turn, shape the lives of those who come after.
A thought-provoking journey through time and generations, this novel will resonate deeply with readers, leaving them pondering the profound impact of legacy and love long after the final page.
I have in mind a post on ingrained prejudice and hatred and how it comes out in literature and language. It’s still a little raw, but I think I’ll be ready in a couple of weeks.