July 2007 - Now that the summer has finally arrived, I am hard at work on the second book of the trilogy Redemption, Civil Blood. A sequel to The Endeavor’s Compass, Civil Blood continues the story of Thomas Witan and explores further into his family’s past. Currently, I have finished a little more than a third of the rough draft and am very excited (and hope that you are too) about how the story is unfolding. Writing everyday, usually around three hours (though not all at one time because that would be hell), I have settled in to that familiar groove of working on a novel. It is not easy work, nor is it particularly fun, but it is the work I love. After all, writing is about ambition, persistence, and passion, which is a noble way of saying that I have to work even when I’m really tired and don’t feel like it. Literary fatigue aside, I am having an excellent summer and hope that you all are, too. If you’ve managed to read this far, I have faith that you can certainly handle shooting through The Endeavor’s Compass and, coming soon (once it’s finished), Civil Blood.
April 2007 - Call me Ishmael. Or David. Whichever. Either way, I’m seventeen years old and a junior at St. Louis University High School (SLUH). Currently, I’m looking (or at least pretending to look) at colleges—WashingtonUniversity in St. Louis, Duke, maybe Stanford as a safety school. Right now I’m working as an editor for my school’s literary magazine—Sisyphus (a character from Greek Mythology, not a venereal disease). I am also the head writer for SLUH’s newly formed sketch comedy/acting improv club tentatively titled Osric’s Army. The Endeavor’s Compass is my first published novel, the first book of the trilogy Redemption, which covers the life of Thomas Witan and the dark history of his family’s shipping business. The novel’s setting ranges from the late 1700’s to the mid 1800’s, from the busy streets of London to the sweltering jungles of Africa. The book focuses on the legacy of the Witan family and the role of Thomas as slave or savior of that legacy. This summer I will continue writing and hopefully finish Civil Blood, the second book of Redemption. The story will flesh out the shady history of both Thomas and his grandfather and explore the nature and root of evil. I hope you enjoyed (or will enjoy) The Endeavor’s Compass, and I look forward to you reading the second part of the trilogy.
Feedback from readers is always welcome. I prefer e-mail: david@davidjspitz.com
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