The modern definition of 'pimping' is "changing something to make it in style or better". For sure, this also applies to writing a novel. Changing it to tell your story better. But first, what elements have to gel in the mind of an author to produce a novel so you can get to the pimping stage? For me, with 'Stained River' it was a number of things that fell into place. I didn't work from a carefully scripted plot that tied all the pieces together in advance. I did have a general idea in mind with several pieces swimming around in my head. I just had to make them come together into a quick paced and readable story. It also had to be believable. Unusual but believable. Here is how Stained River came about.

 First, my fascination with commercial aviation. I guess a lot of us would like to be another John Travolta who flies his own Boeing 707 and is checked out as a captain with Qantas Airlines. That's cool. If I had it to do it over, my aviation career would extend a little further than Microsoft 'Flight'. Going hand in hand with that is the fear of flying that a lot of people have. Sitting inside an aluminum tube at 38,000 feet that is traveling at 500 mph can be intimidating to many. There is always that palpable fear that 'what if ...?' I could capitalize on that since there are so many who identify with it.

 So, what if I married the two concepts? I get to fly a 767 (in my mind) and, at the same time, create every frequent flyer's nightmare of their plane crashing. It seemed like a great way to begin a novel. Except, initially, I didn't begin it that way. The opening chapter, I originally set in the jungles of Brazil. It later became chapter five. There were two reasons; it weakened the book by introducing the secondary character, first, and the airliner scenario had a more thrilling aspect to it. The book was completed, but had to be re written. It had to be pimped, so to speak. The re write involved moving large segments of the manuscript around. That can be rewarding.  Story flow and pace can be improved. However, there is a danger as I found to my surprise. A character I had eliminated in the shuffle showed up alive and well in a later chapter as the second version neared completion. Careful editing is essential, needless to say.

 But questions remained unanswered. Where would the plane be going and where would it crash? That led me to the great Amazon rain forest and into its deepest, darkest part. Vale do Javari in western Brazil. Thank you Internet. You can't have a sole survivor be stranded in just any old place. No, it has to be exotic, frightening and, above all, dangerous.

 And what could be more dangerous than the second item which fascinated me and became an important part of the novel. The fact that in this day and age, there are undiscovered peoples living in this world. Tribes that have not seen civilization. And they do exist. Right there in Vale do Javari, as I learned. And they are unique, with strange rituals and customs, like head hunting. Here was a great subject for some research. What could I learn about them? What could I learn from them? And what would happen when a man from modern culture clashed with men from the Bronze Age? It was beginning to come together. When that happens you can write for hours, days.

 So I had the place. But who would be the lone survivor, the main character? He had to be manly, Hollywood good looks, a man of interest, well educated. The first guy  that came to mind was the  actor Sean Connery, one of my favorites, the original James Bond. And so I would name the main character Connery but make his first name Terrence. It sounded sufficiently  sophisticated. Here was a man who could overcome obstacles. Here was a man who turned women's heads. Here was a man who was also flawed, and here was a man who would have an epiphany in the jungle. He would change radically because of unforeseen circumstances.

 Now I had the opening, the main character and the place. But there had to be some sinister reason why Connery was on the ill fated flight that took him to the jungles of Brazil. Well, let's see. He is a business man, rather high up in the corporate world. He owns a hedge fund, Hawthorne Capital, earns scads of money and has influence. He also has fears. His business is about to collapse. He's being audited by the SEC for securities fraud. He's about to become another Bernie Madoff and he doesn't know why, doesn't know he is being set up.

 Enter the Brazilian underworld and Estevo Castelo Branco who sees opportunity in controlling the billions that Connery has in his hedge fund. He initiates a devious plot to get Connery to Brazil where he will be eliminated, the first step in seizing control of Hawthorne Capital.

 The underworld kingpin operates from a position of power through several large corporations, many of which are fronts for laundering money. One in particular is a large construction company that illegally mines gold from Amazonian rivers and destroys the rain forest environment in the process.

 I had to make him a real villain and that gave me the fourth area of interest. The environment, the destruction of the Amazon rain forest, the pollution of its rivers from Mercury oxide and arsenic used in river mining. There is a tie in here as 'bad civilization' begins to affect the undiscovered tribes of Vale do Javeri. They are being murdered and exploited by greedy men like Castelo Branco.

 The fifth element was the fall of Enron in 2000. In particular, a book I had read on the subject, "the Smartest Guys in the Room" by Bethany McClean and Peter Elkind, had a good deal of influence on me. Here was the blueprint for turning a large corporation into a money laundering pit. Perfect for Castelo Branco's operation. 

 The last element was the way Connery chose to bring down Castelo Branco's empire. This relates to my fondness for computers and software and how easy it can be to breach security and gain access to company files, remotely. It was easy to create ex patriot characters like Conrad the techie guru enlisted by Connery to bring down Castelo Branco. Also, hacking operations and security breaches are mainstream in today's headlines. It has a timely aspect.

 So, these six elements came together, through a series of linking ideas, pimping (in the modern sense), flashbacks and other writing techniques to form a story. Hopefully, one with a message about preserving the environment. I believe Stained River is that book. I further believe that if you identify the things that interest you, ideas can be linked to produce a novel.Pimp it to make it a better novel. It's just a matter of time and perseverance.

David Faxon