A world impossibly gone

Through website reviews, social media, email, handwritten notes, and telephone calls, I hear from a lot of people who have read all or part of my books. I appreciate everyone's feedback and I appreciate the questions - either about the book content or independent publishing.

Regardless of the feedback, there's a theme that sort of wiggles its way to the top of many conversations, especially from those of us growing up in the 1960s and 1970s. It's a theme of gratitude, which honestly has caught me by surprise.

"Thank you, Scott, for taking me back to a simpler time."

In all honesty, no time is ever really simple. As you will read in the next book, Hickory Trail, the backdrop is a time of post-Vietnam culture shock, Watergate, the rise of the drug culture, and the national oil crisis and recession . . . all happening at the same time. It was not so simple.

But, if you think of it as a time without all the screens - no computers, no mobile telephones, only a handful of television channels, very few microwave ovens, family time, pickup baseball, community spirit, and the church as a place of community, well, it was a simpler time compared to our today.

And, it's gone.

In this week's email inbox, I received two long-anticipated reviews of Elm Street. These reviews are from Writer's Digest. Writer's Digest was established in 1920 to help writers. The parent company also publishes the annual Writer's Market, which is a guide to how writers can get published. In my opinion, Writer's Digest is one of those companies at the top of the professional writing food chain.

I want you to read the two reviews of Elm Street. Note the references to the past kept alive.

No. 1: "The best things about Scott Douglas Vaughan’s ELM STREET is its strong evocation of a time and a place. The late 1960s and early 1970s come vividly to life (Vaughan is just a little bit older than me, but I can attest to the truthfulness of most of his details), and the book is at its best when it presents the reader with a world that seems impossibly long gone. This is meant as a compliment: there’s something almost Stephen King-ish in Vaughan’s evocation of childhood. These characters would be at home in one of his novels since they’re so beautifully drawn. The prose is uniformly elegant throughout, and the dialogue is strong and believable. The book is clearly autobiographical—the blurb on the back cover tells us so—and that might account for the only problem that I have with the book: while it’s a lovely picture of a time and a place, as I’ve said, I feel that there’s a lack of incident, a lack of drama. As a character study, it’s superb, however. So perhaps this is a small complaint about a book that I otherwise enjoy very much. Vaughan should be applauded for so authentically mining his own past." 

No. 2: "This story of a small town childhood, primarily in the 1960s, is a personal portrait of a much different time. The author uses a semiautobiographical character in order to more freely fictionalize the narrative, perhaps altering the timeline or protect real people. That choice makes it more possible to craft a smooth, well-paced narrative, but at times the author still is a bit precious with the details, clinging too tightly to his childhood nostalgia. While the narrative shows negative aspects of small-town life during that era, it is an overall happy book of memories, occasionally reaching into sentimentality. The narrative uses a good balance of exposition and dialogue, both elements being used in a simple yet effective manner. Overall, the perspective feels accurate to the age of the character as he grows from child to teen. As with real life, the ending feels more like an end of an era than a full conclusion. The book has a very strong sense of place and time—one that many readers can relate to—and the cover photo aptly captures that feeling. The book focuses on conveying the era just as much as it does conveying the specific character; this dual nature is effective, but at times makes both the character and the time feel a little flat because of the divide focus."

I didn't set out to write these books as a way to put time in a bottle, but there's no doubt that I am accomplishing just that. And, I'm okay with it.

*****
HOLIDAY SPECIAL: You can purchase both Brookwood Road and Elm Street at a 25 percent savings plus free shipping through Dec. 15, 2017. Online orders only. Books will be personalized to you or another, and both will be autographed. Click here to order. All credit cards accepted.

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