This was my first novel, and, like most first novels, I like it but I hate it. It's an expansive work, involving nearly 70 characters and a 14-year timeline. The book is somewhat episodic, too, with smaller moments leading to a larger outcome, organized into three distinct sections.

It's the story of Wyatt Ward, a chronic liar and coward, who is given three chances to redeem himself. All the elements of epic fiction are here: an unrequited romance, political intrigue, even a civil war. If you would like to read more crazy plot details, you can click here.

Although the book is quite weighty, both in size and in subject, it's probably one of the best-liked of all my writings. It's the only one that was built as a "page-turner," each chapter ending in a cliffhanger. I also tried to make the characters very sympathetic. Wyatt, and most of the people he encounters, all try their best, but they are always foiled by their own human shortcomings. Only in Part Three do we meet a truly evil man, and his presence is what Wyatt needs to break his patterns of selfish behavior.

"Hours" is also a document of my religious studies and interests. It is not a piece identifiable as one particular faith, but includes many of the values, teachings, and viewpoints which I find important. Clearism, the fictional religious group that Wyatt eventually heads up, was not meant to be anything other than a shell. If I wanted to start my own religion, I would have written a book about Clearism. But this is a novel, and the religious subtext was merely flavoring. I wanted to show that religion mixing with politics, even with open-minded, inclusive agendas, can still have disastrous results. The story is an illustration of this. The book is not meant to be "preachy." After all, I'm not expecting to change anyone's beliefs.

The book actually grew from three sources:

First, at the time I wrote this, I was working at a company which hired 90% conservative Christians. These were good people with strong faiths, but, not being "born again," I was constantly getting into the position of defending myself and my choices. These conversations have materialized in many chapters of "Hours."

The second source was my mother, who is a church organist, holds a doctorate in education, and has traveled to almost every country in the world. Through her exposing me to different people and ideas, I've always strived to find the common links in our faiths, rather than the semantic, ceremonial, or imposed differences. The idea of a "common ground" religion is probably the source of Clearism, and the reason I give for this religion's worldwide popularity.

Thirdly, the plot itself is a combination of three distinct story ideas I was tossing around. I had a story about a schemer who infiltrates Philadelphia society, and becomes engaged to a debutante. I had the story of an American Civil War growing out of religious instability around the end of the century. Lastly, I had a story of a South American thug who forces his victims to bury themselves. I realized all these pieces could be linked if I made the protagonists all the same man-Wyatt Ward. Finally, I would have a story that could fill a novel…

As I said earlier, I think the book has flaws. I look back on the language, the characters, and the dialog and I want to improve them, if I only had the time. Most of the action is quick and dirty, with a nod to the Elmore Leonard-style of dialog to move the plot, instead of action. However, I couldn't be happier with this story as my building block. I still think it's a good read.