River Town

I currently live in a river town and it is interesting to observe how the river connects us. It is more powerful than any of us combined. It softens, soothes and often takes our soul, literally, as at least three swimmers a year lose their life to its torrents. It is impossible to out fox or out maneuver its strength.

It floods here in our river town and after a flood we always remember who is the ruler of our domain, for all we can do is pray and sandbag. It binds us together in its reining disaster and spews its wrath upon us. Silt, garbage and debris, as if to say, “You drop this in me, now take it back, tenfold.”

The smell after a flood never leaves your body, it is a visceral memory and is comforting in an odd sort of way. The smell reminds you that man is not nature, man cannot ever hope to be nature or emulate nature, man must cultivate and respect nature, guard it with our very life force.

And so my book is set in a river town, because I have seen its power and its effect on us. I know what it is like to submerge oneself in its beauty and wash oneself clean in its purity. And so my characters are irresistibly drawn to the water and find themselves captive in the small river town.