Short development history of the novel Saguaro En Troupé: Story Time

The novel Saguaro En Troupé: Story Time results from about 45 years of on-and-off work. It began in 1979, when the author was in the Navy stationed at the Naval Training Center (NTC) in San Diego, awaiting a specific “C” school for a missile fire control system in Vallejo, CA. During this period, his preferred means of expression were drawing and painting. However, due to a continuous stream of ‘interesting’ roommates in the staff barracks, not much got done except to jot down various ideas for future drawings and paintings. Besides, in his office job lasting a year and a half, he discovered these wonderful people who knew how to type called secretaries. Near the end of his terms at NTC, one typed up what had evolved into a short story titled “The Desert”. He also created a cover drawing for it, which is now part of the book's front cover (and also on the back cover). Only two people read it, with one summarizing the review as “I liked the ending”. The other provided no feedback. So, there it remained for many years.

However, he was still accumulating notes and musings from his experiences, from daily life as a new family man and excursions with friends on his ship to exotic countries and experiences without them. Mostly, these musings were kept in manila folders and tucked away in an old steamer trunk whenever he could.

After over three years on the ship, he and his family were stationed at a naval base in Oxnard, California. There. he worked primarily with civil service mathematicians, scientists, and engineers. This experience influenced his decision to pursue an electrical engineering degree instead of repeating shipboard duty, likely as a Chief Petty Officer.

So, returning to his hometown of Tucson, AZ (as far as a radius the Navy would pay for), he first enrolled at a junior college, received an associate degree in engineering, and then went to the University of Arizona to complete his bachelor’s (EE). This took quite a while as a non-traditional student also having to work all but one year (which he needed to complete the degree). He failed the mandatory Junior-level essay exam, requiring a summer writing class, which consisted almost entirely of engineering students (those English majors…). After graduating, he went into design engineering to make a buck while also starting to draw and create a few paintings again. But The Desert manuscript remained in mind.

Many years later, after retiring from engineering, he recommenced writing and spent one and a half years on Saguaro En Troupé. The original intent was to make it a short story collection, but then a beta reader encouraged me to combine them into a short novella. This is the reason for the introductions in each chapter – what better way to connect things? Another beta reader convinced him to expand character development, increase precision and detail, and make it a ‘regular length’ novel. Why not? How difficult could it be? Well, to do such, everything else, for the most part, got put on hold while he mentally lived in the world he’d created for the most part. It was as if he’d tapped into another existence that took upon itself ‘life’, and was evolving without any of his input – his writing at that point was merely observations. 

Coming down the home stretch (after growing tired of proofing and revising almost three hundred- and fifty pages multiple times), quite a bit was dropped from the manuscript, and loose ends were resolved. The first four chapters were made much more palatable to most readers (later on, he learned that most successful novels these days are written at the fourth-grade reading level, while he was in the twelfth range, oops). Then there was the cover to create, initially designed by friend and high school art mentor Lawrence W. Lee, and start to learn the ‘new author’ marketing skills, familiarize himself with the MacIntosh OS (his Windows PC crapped out), learn Photoshop, still deal with the frustration nuances of Microsoft Word formatting (finally discovering Vellum for formatting on his new Mac), try to understand the vagaries of copyright stuff, website creation, etc. For example, the back cover blurb went through sixty-four revisions. Then, to link everything together, he started a promotion company that featured the book, his art, and that of Lawrence, a professional artist and author. Other amateur artists and another new author were initially interested but found it difficult to ‘put it all out there.’ This website is what you are now reading.

So, in a nutshell, that’s the chronological development of the book. It must be noted that AI was tried out a few times but caused more problems than it solved, so the particular product was used only for spelling and grammar checking, along with offering other paragraph structure approaches. The author found the state of AI devious – it could not maintain context as if it ‘had a better idea.’ This equated to time waste. Though AI will improve going forward, in 2023, it couldn’t handle contractions and continuously tried not to offend anybody, such as using the term “old man.” After exploring the usefulness of AI for a couple of months, the author suspected what was happening was a room full of English Lit PhDs in a sweatshop in some Asian country working and ‘moral policing’ their customer’s endeavors instead of it being a 100% programmatic tool. The author turned off the program when it asked him a question. So, that’s that. It beat the Microsoft Word grammar and spell checker overall but even missed some things the Word utility caught. So, in the end, the Beta Readers were the most helpful.

Answers to questions the author has been asked, whether via this website, email, or in conversations with others:

1. Which Authors or novels and writings influenced the novel?

A few other written works influenced the author’s writing. The first is probably “Be Here Now” by Baba Ram Das. Though in the early seventies, the author could barely get through all the intellectual theories in the book (never reading the entire thing), some ideas were retained. Next was “Journey to the East” by Herman Hesse and “Wanderer of the Wasteland” by Zane Grey. In both books, what struck the author was one man’s journey through hardship that resulted in significant personal change (though in a different context and trial with a twist – with Hesse taking the cake). Next the “The Electric Kool-aid Acid Test” by Tom Wolfe. The author read this right before his childhood journey to Mexico and was especially struck by the book’s flow and some incredible word inventions. Next was the “Don Juan” books by Carlos Castenada; also before Mexico. Quite a few people were really into his stuff in the 70s, including several of the author’s father’s friends (primarily psychologists, psychiatrists, other M.D. types, and social services people). This series introduced the idea of a teacher into the metaphysical realm. Next was “Downward to the Earth” by Robert Silverberg. Not knowing about “Heart of Darkness”, this took its place. It seemed similar to “Wanderer of the Wasteland” and remains a favorite. Next was the Foundation series by Asimov and all its intricacies. The “Dune” series by Frank Herbert was undoubtedly an influence, though that wasn’t where the passing of one mind to another came from (perhaps that was from Star Trek). Finally, almost everything written by Richard Brautigan was introduced to the author in the late 70s. The author and a friend even made a pilgrimage of sorts in 1979 (from San Diego) to seek out the building on the cover of “The Abortion”. They were successful on the last day. Oddly, though it’s been compared to “Alice in Wonderland” and writings by Hunter S. Thompson, they had no direct influence on the book. However, perhaps an exception is similarities to Lewis Carrol’s writing style. Simplistic, some say.

2. Was any research required for the book?

Considerable. Aesthetics is an underlying theme, so the author read about Kant’s aesthetics and then a book about Kant’s aesthetics, along with what is today known or suspected of the areas of the human brain responsible for human aesthetic appreciation. Additionally, in an imagined world where electricity no longer behaved as it does now caused problems with the genetic theme, particularly regarding testing. The author’s daughter, a neuroscientist, helped to reasonably ensure that what was written was plausible. She also made the author aware that GreyDevil is the embodiment of some “future shaman” in this newly envisioned Earth (the author perhaps subconsciously made him such, but certainly not on purpose).

3. Where did the name GreyDevil come from?

This name came about during a long multi-day backpacking trip, briefly glimpsing a Mexican Gray Wolf in the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson, AZ. It followed the author and a couple of high school friends for two days, being spotted only three times. It seemed to appear and disappear when it wanted to.

4. Why isn’t the protagonist directly named in the book?

The book is entirely a memoir of one “person”: Gracie-Hannah, who is far in the future and has all her past GreyDevils inside her. She provides the epigraph at the beginning and end of the book, along with those found at the start of each chapter. One of the GreyDevil’s inside of her provides the main story in the first-person present tense as the “main” protagonist (though male).

5. Why the horrific experiences on trains?

The trains were an extension of the ill effects of the monopole. The author also came across an article about the condition very few people have that causes them to view other people's faces as misshapen demons (Prosopometamorphopsia or 'PTO').

6. Why did it take so long to decide on specific genres to place the book?

Because so many genres are included. The author finally decided the most appropriate place was “post-apocalyptic” (though not dystopian, as enough time had passed, “Steampunk” since most forms of power sources were no more, and steam power was the norm, aside from horses, walking, and monopole-based trains, for transportation. Natural gas is also used for lighting (but produces no heat). Lastly, the Gaia-based ideas come into play throughout the novel, with a mysterious “The Being” existing who represents the Earth itself.

7. Why did the cover art change after the first publication?

The author felt too much potential reader emphasis was being placed on Lawrence W. Lee’s “Story Time” painting (which the author obtained rights to use). Also, one of the fonts used had in the fine print that it could only be used for specific purposes. Promotion, yes; sales, no. The last change was to emphasize the author’s name. Beforehand, he was told he was not a famous author; thus, why emphasize his name? The author changed his mind after reading an online article about another author wanting his name to “stand out like a billboard”. In addition, the selected font inferred more of a Sci-fi feel.

8. Did the main manuscript change at all after the initial publication using Amazon?

Yes, but the changes were very minor. For one, trademarked words were removed from the book unless they were public domain or the owner didn't seem to care. This was in preparation for going to another print-on-demand service that emphasized this. Also, the author regrets that the half cover page is part of the manuscript – any font changes to the cover mean changes to the manuscript. Future books will not have half-covers, or the author may delete it and add a blank page at the end of the book to keep the page count, thus cover sizes the same. 

9. What was the author’s most satisfying experience with the novel?

Finally having the time to work on it. Coming to the point where he knew it was time to publish. In a way, it’s a legacy. Perhaps someone will read it many generations from now and catch a glimpse of who he was. Or at least a portion of him.

10. What was the author’s most frustrating experience with the novel?

Spending hundreds of hours proofing and rewriting (and seeking the best format to do it– on the computer, printed 8-1/2 x 11 or actual sized, white or cream paper…). Also, sifting through the recommendations of the Beta Readers and typing up loose ends.

11. What future value does the author believe the book will have?

The paperback version’s cover is currently being redone to meet the requirements of another print-on-demand service, which has significant brick-and-mortar bookstores and libraries as clients. As people seem so pressed for time, creating an audio edition is also under consideration.

12. Why is Lake Chapala in Mexico mentioned?

The author lived for a couple of months in an old gold mill on the banks of Lake Chapala (in Ajijic). At night, odd sounds could be heard from the lake when there was no wind, but the author never found out what they were.

13. Why such an aversion to plastics?

The author believes we have much to learn about plastics' effects on the environment, including ourselves. Muting the ability to appreciate natural beauty is one of them, entirely fabricated by the author and has no scientific basis/

14. Why was the location “Foley’s Grove” in Upstate New York State used in the book?

The author spent a couple of childhood summers at his paternal grandparents’ place. Across the street and down a dirt road with overgrown trees was the location of what looked to be an abandoned electric company. Oddly, an old rotting piano was left there, slowly being consumed by the woods. It was later learned that Foley’s Grove had once been quite the happening place among adults in the ’40s and ’50s, with clam bakes, beer, polka music, and dancing, sometimes drawing in a hundred cars.

15. Will there be a follow-on book?

The author has already considered doing this, even creating a rough outline and extending the existing timeline. The author has not yet determined if it should be rewritten into two shorter books, perhaps at a lower grade level of reading, with a third or fourth to complete. Or it might be left as-is. Events in the author’s life will likely determine whether another book occurs.

16. Will this book ever go to a second edition?

Only if a significant rewrite occurs, or with somebody besides Amazon as print-on-demand. 

17. Does the author consider the book successful?

From a financial perspective, no. However, even though the book’s copyright is registered, the author believes its ideas will appear in future books of others, developed independently, or an expansion of the ideas. The author thinks it’s rare for true originality to occur in almost anything.

18. Why didn’t all animals become metacognitive?

Because the author likes to eat certain types of meat, especially beef and fish.

19. What was the location of Saguaro En Troup modeled after?

Partly Cal-Tech in Pasadena, where the author attended a few seminars put together by Cal-tech and MIT. Lunch was always impressionable in one of the small faculty dining rooms directly below where Albert Einstein once worked (after being relocated after too many students ate up his time at his cottage, according to what the author was told). The other place loosely modeled after was the musician Linda Ronstadt’s grandparents’ house in Tucson, AZ. It was a beautiful property with a green lawn (needing mowing) and trees, with the in-ground swimming pool needing maintenance every visit. The author was acquainted with one of her nephews and visited the house several times, once meeting Linda when she was a member of The Stone Ponies there. Though the author never heard her sing in person, she asked him his opinion (when he was in sixth grade) about an album cover soon to be put out. He doesn’t recall his response; perhaps a shrug. She seemed very nice.