Guest Post and Giveaway: Godspeed: A Love Story by Dan Chabot

Finding A Story Idea

Sometimes the elements of a good story are right under your nose.

Readers often ask where I get the idea for a story.  In the case of Godspeed, I took a real-life incident, embellished it considerably, added some interesting characters patterned after people I knew in the newspaper business, and created a story that I hope will inspire others who might be battered by life’s unending struggles and setbacks.

I was a young newspaperman when a good friend wound up in the situation that confronts Derry in my novel.  My friend was engaged to a lovely young woman who was struck down without warning by cervical cancer.  She had no family to speak of, so it was left to him to make funeral arrangements.  In his grief and the daze induced by tranquilizers, he watched helplessly as a shabby funeral home staged an embarrassing service.  The rent-a-minister mispronounced her name, fumbled her biographical details, and in general presided over an ignominious travesty.  All of us there felt so badly for him. As we left the service, I overhead another friend whisper in his wife's ear, "Don't ever let that happen to me."

That incident stayed with me for years, and as I turned it over and over in my head, speculating on what somebody could ever do to recover from a situation like that, eventually a novel was born.

Because of the serious theme, I had to leaven the story with some doses of humor.  Much of it was provided by Derry’s stable of eccentric newspaper colleagues.   One of them sometimes cruises the inner city, windows down, playing tapes of his favorite 1950s crooners at deafening levels, in retaliation for the young guys who boom rock music from their car radios on the street outside the newspaper offices. Another friend recalls that as a little girl, when she asked her father why people walked so jerkily in those old movies, she believed him when he told her it was because that’s the way people walked in those days.  In another incident, when Derry invites Amedee up to his apartment, she makes friends immediately with his dog, who is scratching furiously at an ear.  “Oh, now I get it,” she says. “You lured me up here, an innocent maiden, to see your itchings.” And Derry’s confrontation with an earthy, profane, inner-city minister also adds some lighter moments and some counterbalance to the overall message.

In the end, I hope I have created an inspiring, sentimental message about holding on to a faith in tomorrow.  So look around you.  You might have a story waiting to be told, too!

See my Review Here.
Learn more about the Author and this book here: www.godspeed-lovestory.com.

Thank you to Mr. Chabot for offering Books for Giveaway!
TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for PRINT COPY to US and eBook to International.

ENTRY FORM HERE

For 3 Extra Bonus entries Comment with an answer to this question from author Chabot:

Derry did something that not many of us have the chance to do --to try to make amends for a situation that went terribly awry.  How about you?  Have you ever thought, too late, of something comforting you could have said to a friend or family member, or wished you could retrieve some harsh words said in anger or frustration? 

* This contest is open US OR INTERNATIONALLY.
* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on January 18, 2013.
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries.
WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED on January 19, 2013.
Winners will have 72 hours to respond by email or the winners form linked in the announcement.