After a lifetime of writing for a living, one local man found writing for himself to be one of his most rewarding experiences.
Niskayuna resident Craig Stevens released his first fiction novel “Legacies of Cherry Ridge” in mid-October after a story scratching away in his head late at night had to come out. After his wife, Rita, noticed his sleeplessness she told him if he couldn’t sleep he might as well write down his thoughts for the brewing tale. Craig Stevens, 65, then started writing down what the characters from his now book implored him to record.
“I would be lying in bed at night and [the characters] would say have me say this, have me do this,”
Stevens said “I would get up and write what they have gotten into … I wrote most of it at night. I tend to write after dark.”
As light jazz from a Toronto radio station played in the background, he started writing “Legacies of Cherry Ridge” as just another short story. Up until releasing his book, he had only written short fiction, but this one kept developing.
“The story was going to be a short story as a throwback to the classic diner,” Stevens said. “The first line I wrote had to do with having the lead character take his dog into an old fashioned diner.”
Stevens is co-owner and publisher of Capital Region Building magazine, which recently celebrated its 15th anniversary, but he formerly was a college professor and has written academic pieces. He also has ghostwritten many articles and has written under his own name for a local newspaper and other publications. He did co-author a book on management, too
“I have been writing since I was a kid one way or another. I have made my living more or less from writing,” he said. “I went to school for political science, but I probably should have went for literature.”
He said he basically wanted to prove to himself he could write something more creative and out of his traditional non-fiction, academic style.
“I said, ‘It is time to see if I am as creative as I think I am,’” he said. “I had never done something that involved connecting page 6 with 166.”
Once he sat down to write, the characters started to come alive, he said, leading to 212 pages of mystery, murder, romance and social commentary, with a side of humor.
Even though Stevens chooses to classify the book as a mystery novel for retail sale, the full spectrum appears more broad than a “who done it” prescribed formula. He wanted readers to be contemplating more than the mystery.
“I don’t like one-dimensional books,” he said. “The page turners are great if you are on a train and don’t want to think over much. … I didn’t want to waste my time or reader’s time.”
He tried to give a human side to the book, he said, which lead to characters having every day concerns about issues such as crime and religion. The protagonist, Christopher St. James, is close to 40 years old and his dog, who is similar to Steven’s dog Gretchen, lead readers along as he struggles with his love-hate relationship with his small hometown. James starts out in Albany, but eventually moves back to the small-town politics and dilemmas of his hometown.
“Legacies of Cherry Ridge” is inspired by Stevens’ experience growing in a small upstate New York town, but he has lived in Niskayuna for 20 years now, too. Throughout the book there is an array of small-town characters, which he said would probably seem familiar to readers from a similar area.
So far, Stevens said he’s received a favorable response to his book.
“I am getting pretty good feedback from people who have read it,” he said.
Despite what readers might think of it, Stevens said writing “Cherry Ridge” was one of the most enjoyable experiences in his life.
“Outside of the first two weeks when I met my wife, it was probably the most satisfying time of my life getting into this book,” he said. “Getting into this book and realizing I had a story and I could take it to completion really gave me a great sense of personal accomplishment whether anybody read it or not.”
He isn’t planning on stopping anytime soon, though.
“I’m 40,000 words into the sequel,” he said. “I feel more creative and more energized about writing, and I suppose life in general, than I have in a very long time. It gave me that outlet I was missing.”
“Legacies of Cherry Ridge” is published by and available through Booklocker.com, which also has a free PDF excerpt. It is also available through Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com, or it can be purchased through the author’s company, RCS Publications Ltd., which can be reached by emailing [email protected].
