How I Write Adventure Novels...

Writing about an adventure is not nearly as hard as actually going on one. For one thing, the temperatures are more stable. You don't freeze to death should you happen to fall into frigid arctic seas, or die of thirst should you get lost in a jungle. Nor do you feel  an ounce of guilt if you happen to leave one of your characters stranded in such a situation while you make a trip to the refrigerator, or maybe take a whole weekend off before you get back to them, again. You don't even lose much sleep wondering how you will get them out of the fix. 

On the other hand, even waking up with rain pouring into your tent on a family campout can be a major catastrophe. Or having more grounds than coffee in your cup of a morning, because some enthusiastic camp cook wanted to make it "the old fashioned way." I know about these things. Because I have been on a lot of adventures over the years. To tell you the truth, I happen to be on one, right now. A big one. 

I have even had some thoughts that I might not make it home, again, this time.

I wish I could say I was on some quest for the Holy Grail, but I'm not. I'm out here for my health. More specifically, I don't want to die of gold fever without ever having found any gold. However, I have learned something very important, already. The reason gold is so valuable is because it takes an amazing amount of work to extract even a little of it out of the earth. That is, unless you get lucky and find yourself a nugget. I say lucky because I equate the pull of such thoughts akin to gambling. Just a chance at it has the power to send you places you would never even consider while in your right mind. Mostly under horrid conditions, too. The fact that it has a giddy sort of contentment attached to it is a paradox.

I can talk about this objectively, right now, because I am on a temporary break from high mountain elevations, deserted mines, and wilderness streams running swift with snow-melt. I am in one of the most beautiful places in the country: the Pacific Northwest. Rocky islands with forests that reach right down to the sea. So many of them, you could hop from one to the other (if you had a good boat) all the way up to Alaska. Our next stop. There is gold in every river up there, and I have heard of a particular one that is showing lots of "color" this year. Of course, it will take quite the long time to get there that way.

Which is perfect for writing adventure fiction.

Here's a peek at the book cover of my next inspirational adventure novel. It's called THE PANDORA BOX, and has to do with the hazards of treasure hunting. Four friends, who think it will be so easy when they first start off. Except for a few strings they don't even know are attached, yet. But -- hey -- not many people are looking behind them on an adventure like this…

Ask me how I know.

Gold Fever... Could Happen to Anybody

I'm not that fond of jewelry, or even driven to accumulate mountains of wealth for myself. I am quite happy as long as my needs (and some of my wants) are met, and there is a bit of extra left over for adventuring. All-in-all, a pretty average citizen, except for one thing. I have a very chronic case of Gold Fever.

It has gone on for so long, I'm not sure when it actually started. However, after many hours of contemplation on the matter, I can trace the earliest origins of it back to the fact that my father had a subscription to Westways Magazine during my very impressionable growing up years. Yes, I am sure that's where it all started. I don't know what the magazine is about these days (it has been published continually for over  a hundred years). But back then, it highlighted unusual places one could travel to, by car, on a weekend from Los Angeles. 

Our first trip was out into the southern California desert (hotter than blazes out there, too) to dig up shark's teeth. Rumor had it that there was some huge inland sea thousands of years ago (leftover from some world-wide flood?) and there was a veritable hoard of ancient teeth that could be dug up with a mere hand-shovel and a piece of screen. And we found some! I dug them up myself, out there in that dry cactus-strewn wasteland of sagebrush and tumbleweeds. What an amazing thing-- and what fun! 

You might wonder what shark's teeth have to do with gold, but I have thought about that, too. And perhaps if we hadn't found any that day, I would have gone on to grow up into an entirely different person altogether. But the experience of searching for a peculiar treasure -- and finding it -- has an amazingly strong pull attached. Especially for a child. Besides that, there was the digging.

Digging has some kind of pull all its own. And I have found that if you are to successfully avoid Gold Fever, you should avoid the pleasures of digging at all costs. Because it almost always leads to the the onset of Gold Fever. Even people who dig in gardens have been known to accidentally dig up treasures (or even valuables) from the past. Before you know it, you're hooked. Well, that's what happened to me back then, at that innocent age, when I wasn't aware of the dangers. 

But a person can accommodate an inordinate pleasure of digging. A lot of people do, and they still lead fairly normal lives. It was the second thing we added  that actually knocked us over the edge. But we didn't see that coming, either. In fact, we had such a good time on that little shark tooth expedition, we decided to go for another. We were prime targets by then, but blissfully ignorant, and I happily looked forward to whatever my dad might pick out for us next.

It was a trip to "Fat Hill."

A place you should avoid at all costs if you are to escape the perils of Gold Fever. But don't worry, I will tell you how. Next time. After I tell you what happened to us, there. Meanwhile, be careful if you find yourself having to dig, for some reason. Because at this point, it could still take you unaware. 

And it could happen to anybody.