Ben
Ames, a man who makes his living by selling carvings at an Albuquerque flea
market on the State Fairgrounds, recognizes the teen-aged Wilam’s carvings have
progressed far beyond his usual goods. Despite the fact he will likely lose his
best-selling craftsman, he sends Wilam down the street to an Indian goods
trader named Horace Gresham.
Mr.
Gresham (and he’s always Mr. Gresham
to Wilam) takes the talented young whittler under his wing. He’s shrewd enough
to see the future potential, ambition, and determination in the youngster. Our
hero has already cut ten years off his career path by having a mentor to sell
his product and push him into trying new mediums and aspire to greater things.
The
Indian trader also recognizes when the young sculptor has progressed beyond Gresham’s
usual merchandize and arranges for him to meet Ellis Greenby, an old
acquaintance who is a renowned New York art dealer. Due to Gresham’s strong
recommendation, Ellis takes on the artist, cutting another ten years from his
career path.
The
second criticism the reviewer had was to question whether Wilam would have has
such a grand affair with New York Socialite Diane Leighton. If he was truly
gay, would this have actually happened?
I
based this upon two individuals I have known in my life, neither of which ever
met the other. The man claimed to be bisexual, and indeed, had intimate
relationships with both sexes. As I got to know him better, he confessed that
while he got something from intimacy with women, he had to work at it harder.
Gay relationships came more naturally to him.
This insight helped me write
Diane into the novel to accomplish two things. Her widely publicized affair
with the young artist brought people into Greenby’s gallery who might not have
been interested in Wiliam otherwise. She also paid record prices for some of
his work in a deliberate and successful attempt to put her young lover “on the
map.” The torrid and public nature of the affair also caused Joseph to question
where his relationship (strictly business at this point) was heading. It put
some suspense in the book. Based upon the woman I knew and modeled Diane after,
the end of their affair was no surprise and caused no regret over helping him.
He was the spice her life needed at the time.
In
addition to this, Wiliam is an intriguing mix of the naïve and the world-wise.
His horrible childhood caused him to grow up fast. In in a sense, he had
no childhood. As a youngster, he regularly assumed responsibility for his two
younger sisters. He fought, out-maneuvered, and outsmarted his drunken, brutal father.
In all but physical development, he was a man by the age of twelve or thirteen.
Anyway,
that’s my story…and I’m sticking to it. A shout-out to the professor, who said
kind things about the book, to others who’ve posted comments on Amazon, and to
everyone who’s read The Victor and the
Vanquished.
My
undying thanks to all of you.
Note: New posts are published
around the first of every month.
Comments are welcome, not
only on this post, but also about any relevant subject the reader wishes to
discuss.
Very nice post, Don. I appreciate the behind-the-scenes look at what went into the making of your character.
ReplyDeleteThanks. It's amazing what goes into building a book, isn't it?
ReplyDelete