Getting Stuck Passing On

I sat in my friend’s kitchen, cup of coffee in hand, as we talked about death. I suppose that wasn’t unusual given my fascination with the afterlife, but that day our conversation hit closer to home. We had discovered that both of our fathers had passed away within three weeks of each other. As we talked about the experience of loss and bereavement, we shared the frustration of no longer being able to communicate with a deceased loved one. It’s not like there’s a forwarding address. You can’t flip open your cell phone and call, or send an e-mail.

I said to my friend, “Wouldn’t it be great if there were a postal service in the afterlife that would deliver letters to and from Earth?” Of course, the comment was tongue-in-cheek, but the thought stayed with me as I drove home. And then it hit me. Why can’t there be such a postal service? Maybe not in real life, but in fiction, anything can happen, right? This was the birthing of the concept for Stuck Down.

Over the next three weeks, every night I dreamt portions of what would later become the beginning scenes of Stuck Down. I’d wake and write down my dreams, which I later incorporated into my book notes. For some strange reason, the main character showed up in my dreams as a bumbling, middle-aged adult named Rodney. I’ve no doubt that therapists and dream analysts would say that character represented myself, but enough about me. The book was for teens, so Rodney was fired from the set and teenage Kevin was hired in his place.

After plotting the basic skeleton of the book, as I embarked on writing the first few chapters, surprises popped up — delightful interruptions from my muse, if you will. It seemed the book had a mind of its own. I had no choice but to follow its lead. The biggest surprise was a new character whom I hadn’t originally worked into the plot. Morty, an Earth-bound ghost known as a “Dweller” in Stuck Down, became an integral character who creates havoc for Kevin. Besides adding challenges for the book’s hero, Morty has allowed me to weave my own quirky humor throughout the book’s pages. Morty is by far one of the most fun characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of creating.

Despite the humorous overtones of Stuck Down, it explores the more serious theme of the father/son relationship. I’ve always felt that relationships are the primary vehicle used by the Universe to allow for our growth. In exploring Kevin’s estrangement from his dad, and ultimately bringing healing to that relationship, my hope is that Kevin and his dad will serve as a fictional model for working through relationship difficulties and ultimately exercising forgiveness.

I’m thrilled to have written a book that will serve as an introduction to the concept of an afterlife. It’s a subject I love and of which I’ve read widely. In particular, I’ve been influenced by Dr. Michael Newton’s excellent books, Journey of Souls and Destiny of Souls. Both of them have provided not only stimulating reading material, but their influence has surely helped to shape Nirvanaville, the fictional afterlife in Stuck Down.

Portions of Stuck Down take place in the courtroom. Having worked for many years in a law office, I was able to draw from real-life experience and observation in addition to my own research, all of which have given the courtroom scenes in Stuck Down an air of authenticity. While it’s true that the book takes a nose-dive into the absurd in a way that could only be a work of fiction, even the fantastic and the ridiculous need to be grounded in reality. In this way, the reader is able to suspend disbelief. The realistic components are the tools that make the scene ring true, even in its absurdity. For that, I’m grateful to my mundane background and knowledge, which helped me to create a not-so-mundane book.

My mother recently read the manuscript and loved it so much that she stayed up reading it until 3:00 a.m. two nights in a row. I know what you’re thinking. She’s your mother. Of course she loved it. And that’s exactly what I said to her. My mother replied, “Eileen, I would never say that if it wasn’t true. And to prove to you that I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it, I read your short stories and articles and didn’t like any of them.” Well, there you have it, straight from my mother’s mouth. If that’s not an endorsement, I don’t know what is.