This is the story of how Lemon Hill came to be. It’s pretty interesting so you may want to stop what you’re doing and indulge me for a moment.
One thing about me that those who know me are very aware of is in a post-apocalyptic situation, I’m the friend who will be ready and willing to ensure the safety of everyone else. Seriously. There are so many times when I’ll say randomly, “In a post-apocalyptic world, you would have to…” or “Wouldn’t be able to XYZ in a post-apocalyptic situation.”
To be honest, I’m not 100% serious when I say these things. I mean, it used to be fully a joke but looking at the world today, not so sure.
On an evening last August, my husband and I were walking along the Schuylkill River Trail in Philadelphia. As we reached the end, I noticed scaffolding on the other side of the gate which led to an old piece of a railroad track. The piece had a line and hook hanging from the end for lifting things out of construction boats from the river. There is also an old refinery a few yards away.
Without any thought or suggestion from my husband, I say, “You know, in a post-apocalyptic situation, you could go through the refinery, come out the back, climb the scaffolding, crawl across the track to the hook to get onto this trail. If there is a boat like there is now, it’ll make it a little easier.” And then I smile.
My husband turned to look me in the eye. “You know what,” he says, “You’re always talking about the post-apocalypse. Why don’t you write the damn book?!”
I laughed and as we walked back along the trail I threw around some concepts with him. However, I didn’t initially take it seriously.
The next day, as I sat in the park, I thought to myself what a book about a post-apocalyptic Philadelphia would look like. I had never written a novel such as this considering the amount of effort which goes into ensuring no plot holes. However, when I started to flesh the idea out, something amazing happened.
Lemon Hill took on a life of its own. From that moment forward, the book would write itself even when I didn’t have a pen in my hand. Constantly, I came up with concepts, characters, and situations all of which seemed to develop without much coaxing from me. It has grown from a few ideas to an epic tale.
I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember and made it my career in 2009. I can assure you, I’ve never been so excited and driven with any writing project I’ve ever worked on until now. It threw me for a loop. Never had I ever written a book with such ease.
Also, when mentioning certain ideas I have for the book with my inner circle, they received them with enthusiasm. To the point, I am asked multiple times a week, “How’s the book coming?”
While I don’t mind, they don’t seem to understand stories such as these are the hardest to write because of the necessity of NO PLOT HOLES. The post-apocalyptic fans will rip the story to shreds if there is even one hole and I’m very aware of it.
This is why I created the Lemon Hill Consulting Group for this stage of the project. By garnering support from the public, it allows me to include them in the creation process. In this way, I will be testing out the project’s characters and concepts, in real-time before the release of the book.
Also, it would nice to share with folk who won’t tell me anything because they love me. While it doesn’t feel like the case in this situation and everyone genuinely seems to be excited about the project. One of the cardinal rules when writing a book is NOT to depend on the opinions of friends and family.
There’s another piece of the story of how Lemon Hill came to be, however, you would have to be part of the Lemon Hill Consulting Group to find out exactly what that is.
Well, I can’t tell you now, it would spoil the book. 😉
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