Finally -  The Culprit Is Unveiled

    I had urged him to write, and after we had finished the memoir, he was glued to the chair in front of his computer.   He was now zeroed in on writing which kept him interested in living.   During the six months that it took to get Foreign Service Family Style published, he was busy on a second book, a thriller novel.

     The story just seemed to flow out of the tips of his fingers, and now, he was lost in the book.  It seemed to me that this was just another way for him to hide, but in some ways, it was working.  As I edited what he had written, I recognized much of the action.  I had heard it before when he would entertain friends with his “War Stories,” as he called them.   The genre of this book could be classified as semiautobiographical if there was such a thing.  Many of the actions portrayed were things he had done, observed or had heard from other field agents.

     The odd thing was, he made no outline, nor did he have any idea of how the book would end because he just made up the story as he went along. To add to the oddity, he named his protagonist Joe Garner which had been his undercover name. It appeared to me that he was just reliving many of the things he had experienced.

                                       He was finally putting them on paper.  

     As the story developed, the locations of the action changed, and he began to search the web for information on different cities, states and countries.  He was beginning to live outside of himself, and during happy hour he talked about all the information he had found and how he was going to use it in the storyline.  I was relieved to see him so enthused about something instead of just sitting around or reading a book.

     Steady writing appeared to ease some of the tension, and I again began to delve into the reason for his depression. He was very hesitant to say anything but finally told me a bit about a shootout in Mexico. I did not push him to talk about it but did encourage him to get back to his computer and let his fingers tell the story.  It took him a month to put the story on paper.    

     I have read articles about people who have symptoms of PTSD and how life threading activities could leave lasting effects on them.  As I read his story, I now understood what may have caused his depression, panic attacks, and nightmares.   The best side of this exercise was his remark when he had finished.  

 

     “You know what.  I feel so much better.  I wish I had done this years ago.”

 

      We worked together to edit the story, and since he did not wish to share this story with the world, we printed a few copies to share with our children and a few trusted friends. Then he went on and completed the novel named Taurus, Taurus, Taurus.  It was published in 2016 and is available on Amazon.