This article was written by Kristin Wilson of the Herald Mail in Hagerstown, Md.

 

Hagerstown resident Lew Duffey kept asking the question ‘what if?’ while writing his first book.

The question applied not only to his evolving plot but to the entire process of writing a book. What if he actually could write a book and what if he could get it published?

"I decided to write this book basically to prove to myself that I could," says Duffey, whose first book, "Immaculate White Smoke" just finished its first printing. "It’s also an attempt to talk about the battle that goes on in us all, the battle of good and evil.

"Immaculate White Smoke" chronicles how a young married couple come to know Arty and Andorra, two souls trapped between the spirit world and the living world. Arty and Andorra must reconcile their sins before moving on to the next life.

PublishAmerica ­ based in Frederick, Md. ­ categorized the book as an inspirational novel, though Duffey says he set out to write a comedy.

As he was writing the book and started connecting with his characters, Duffey decided to change the direction of his story.

"I found myself getting into the characters," he says. "I found Myself thinking"let’s not be so light hearted that we forget that there is more to life.

Arty and Andorra lived 150 years in the past in the old west. Arty was a wild gunslinger and Andorra was a bar girl who fell in love with the haphazard cowboy. The two died young in an accident when their buggy was driven off a cliff. Now they "haunt" the home of the newlyweds as the spirits learn to overcome evil forces.

The whole idea was that in the eyes of our creator all time is like walking from one room to another," Duffey says. "How lives can touch over the centuries without even knowing that they touch."

"Immaculate White Smoke" is available as a paperback through online book retailers like www.barnesandnovel.com and www. Amazon.com. Books can also be ordered through Duffey’s web site, http://videosgraphicsgalore.com . Depending on the web site the book ranges in price from $16.95 to $19.95.or Paste your work here...