|
Night Work
Rush Williams
|
|
|
Once I wrote a poem about a Seeing-Eye dog. A reviewer
termed it highly original. He said he had never before
seen a poem about a Seeing-Eye dog.
To me, however, the poem was simply a statement
of an observation. It goes: |
| |
| |
They are noble,
people say,
and they are too
in what they do
guide the blind on their way.
|
But have you ever
known
a Seeing-Eye dog
that didn't slog
along, depressed, head down?
|
So you who turn to
admire
think too how great
the old wolf's forfeit
to eat leftovers, sleep by the fire.
|
|
| |
Regardless of the poem's value as a poem (I don't usually
write in rhyme), I think it has value as an example of a
principle I try to keep in mind in all my writing: look for
and emphasize the unusual.
Just as in the poem, I emphasized the unusual when
writing my novel Night Work. Lots of people run
into some bad luck, especially in midlife, as Curt
Mellam, protagonist of Night Work did.
Most survive, and a few come out ahead of where they
were when bad luck struck. But seldom do such people
experience the profound personal growth that Curt Mellam
does in Night Work. After years as a
straight-laced, toe-the-line executive, Curt, in his new
gritty sensual life, becomes a new man and a new father.
He likes his new being and vows never to return to the life
of an organization man.
Rush Williams
|
|
|
Rush Williams is
eminently qualified to write about work. He has been a
sailor, a taxi driver, a counselor, a chaplain, a nuclear
scientist, a textile chemist, and an executive. A
graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, he has now returned to North
Carolina Sandhills, to Pinehurst, the land of golf courses
and peach orchards, near where he grew up and where he now
enjoys working at his first love, writing fiction and
poetry. |
|
In January, Curt Mellam, executive,
widower, and for five years a single parent, prices an
imported sports car (MGX) as a high school graduation
present for Karen, his beloved only child, expecting her to
drive it to Georgetown University in the coming fall. He
never completes the purchase. Instead, by September he is
dodging bullets as a moonlighter and wondering how he will
ever be able to pay next semester’s tuition for Karen.
The story is told first person with self-effacing humor
despite the violence (murder, corrupt inner city police,
drug dealing) Curt encounters. |
|
 |
|
Night Work
Fiction / Literary /
Mystery
Trade Paperback
Price: $16.95
Size: 6 x 9
Author: Rush Williams
ISBN: 0-595-32758-3
262 Pages |
|
| What readers say: |
"Once I got into
reading Night Work I couldn't get mush else done,"
E. Oliver, Chair., Sandhills Writers Group, Pinehurst, NC.
|
"I always know
when I am reading a good book because I don't want to put it
down," L. Roberts, Psych. Nurse, Raleigh, NC. |
"This mystery is
brought to life by its robust characters and vivid
scenery...Remarkably well written." S Stark, Stockbroker,
Los Angeles, CA. |
"All the women of
our family enjoyed the book very much," G. Birch, Nurse
(Ret.), Pittsfield, MA. |
|
|
|
|