I wrote a first draft of my debut novel, For Ephiy, by chance based on a Stephen King prompt I found in his wonderful book, On Writing. The prompt was this: take the estranged-husband-beats-up-or-murders-ex-wife story and change the sexes. Make the ex-wife the stalker; the husband the victim. Don’t plan or plot—let the situation and unexpected inversion carry you along. 

King’s point was that plot is like a fossil. The writer uncovers the fossil while writing. King doesn’t plan out his stories. He figures if he doesn’t know what’s going to happen next, then the reader certainly won’t.

I wrote a few pages based on the prompt. Then a few pages grew. Every day for months, I got up early and revealed the story, like a fossil. Eight months later, it was a short novel. I called it The Trip.

Soon after, I began Humber’s Creative Writing graduate certificate program. I was assigned David Bergen, Canadian Giller-prize-winning novelist, as my mentor. For eight months, David coached me through The Trip. 

David was stringent about point of view, narrator voice, dialogue, antecedents, foreshadowing. Mostly, he wanted character interiority.

He challenged me to stay literary, not go procedural, which I had done, in the original story ending. It was a nudge to mine the fossil more deeply and more honestly. 

David also recommended I have a therapist review the psychological bits. How would I manage that? I didn’t have connections. (But I soon would.) 

At the end of our time together, I had a solid new draft of my novel. And, I changed the title from The Trip to Remember. David signed off by saying: “There are a lot of good writers out there. But only the tenacious ones manage to publish.” He shared how much re-work is involved and added: “Re-work is enjoyable, isn’t it.” I loved how he talked to me like a fellow writer. 

I knew my novel needed something more. 

But what? 

Three things led to answers: 

I attended The New Quarterly’s 2023 Wild Writers Literary Festival. I heard from some great Canadian writers. My story needed more layers. 

Next, I attended Infinite Mind’s Healing Together 2024 conference on dissociation, the subject of For Ephiy. I met many very kind people, including Andrea S, a therapist.

Then, I went to the San Miguel de Allende’s Writers Conference and Literary Festival where I learned about psychic distance, thanks to writer Tim Weed’s workshop. 

These three experiences incited me to add Ephiy, a new central character and narrator. Ephiy gave me the layers I was seeking. Knowing about psychic distance meant I could be intentional about exposing character interiority.

And Andrea became my partner in crime, my guide. Andrea read my pages and advised me in the psychological and therapeutic aspects of the story. I am infinitely thankful to her.

So far, my reviewers like Ephiy’s sass. And thanks to my sister, Jan, who line edits my work, I’ve changed the title of the novel to For Ephiy. An editor friend said: “Yes, I imagine walking into a book store, seeing For Ephiy in the display and being intrigued.” 

It turns out, my novel has nothing to do with Stephen King’s prompt; still everything to do with uncovering the fossil.