Why I wrote this novel

This project began over twenty years ago when I became interested in restoring antique furniture and doing woodworking. At that time, I learned that there were two kinds of furniture: handmade and manufactured. The old handmade pieces had tool marks everywhere. When I examined them carefully, I could feel the presence of the craftsman. Each saw cut or chisel mark brought his handwork to life right before my eyes.

So, being a literary person,  I wrote and essay entitled “The Future of A Handmade Cabinet”. The thesis was simple. Handmade cabinets seem crude to the uninformed, but  precious to the devotee. The discussion at Reed’s Inn came directly from this essay.

As for the rest of the story, it is based on the timeless struggle between entrophy and evolution. Everyday, our bodies are being destroyed and reborn. Everyday, we  are driven to extend our lives another day, another year, another decade. Castatrophic events, such as the Lakeview School fire of 1908, frighten all of us. But we cannot let them drag history down. We must move on.

Most of the writing on that fire focuses on the horror of the moment. I wanted to examine the consciousness of the survivors. I just thought the horror was overdone on this subject. So from there, the plot kind of fell together. While writing, I remembered a phrase from some mediaeval writer that warned of  “our little sister death”.  I remember it from years ago. It showed up  in Faulkner’s writing, which I have always loved.

Entrophy, rightly understood, makes us become responsible for the moment. It teaches us how to love children, animals, flowers, life, and oddly enough, handmade cabinets which frequently get burned up because people do not understand them.

That’s the story in a nutshell.

 

The Earth Walker’s Trail

 

The Black Trail

Click on the image and go to Flickr to see my  Autumn 08 photos.

“Faces” is a unique novel filled with Fictional Memoir. The location is Northeastern Ohio. Most of the action takes place in Lake County along the beautiful Chagrin River Valley where the author grew up.

          The tragic Lakeview School Fire of March 1908 serves as a backdrop for the story. The main character, Ebb Collard, was not only at the school on the day of the fire, but he also rebuilt the infamous rear door in 1907. Shortly after the fire, Ebb fled with his family to Lake County.

         On the outskirts of Kirtland, Ebb meets a small community of farmers and wannabe pioneers, remotely affiliated with the Mormons.When they extend a helping hand to a fiercely independent Ebb, he at first rebuffs them. Soon, this relationship becomes more involved.

          “Faces” has many elements of A Greek Tragedy. At the beinning,  the

traumatic action has already been completed. A chorus of ordinary folks echoes the protagonist’s need for courage. A dark curse hovers over Ebb and his family. Their personal struggle purges the reader’s deepest fears. Moreover, one blind sage known as Uncle Henry ferrets out what truly happened on that terrible day.

      The elaborate imagery is drawn from the author’s childhood memories of  country life in Lake County. The novel includes references to several religious communities, but it is not endorsed or supported by any formal religion. It is everyman’s story retold in the context of regional history. Many readers from Lake County have recognized dozens of familiar places. This website includes photos and commentary on  some of them.

 

   This bicycle path (shown above) is paved with black top as opposed to the unpaved dirt trails for horses. Both trail systems, found  in the North Chagrin Reservation in Northeastern Ohio, accomodate walkers and joggers. I’m an Earth walker.  I spend a good deal of time wandering all these trails as I ponder ideas for all my writing projects.

Informatin on “Faces”, my novel, is found on this site. You can purchase the book now through Amazon.com just search “books”  and “faces by sakach”. Or visit my Profile, and my Listmania.

My latest project, better known as “BIG BANG RELOADED’, is found at my Cosmological website: www.backgroundvoices.com I find my projects to be  stimulating and challenging tasks. As Robert Frost would say, “You come too.”

Faces reading      Click here for sound bite from the Christmas Dinner at the Willoughby Hills United Methodist Church.

This  inspiring Christmas Reading was rendered on December 13, 2008. Although kind of rough like a handmade cabinet, after stumbling around a bit, I did launch into my poetic voice, and we shared a good time reaching out for the core meaning of the Holiday itself.

New releases are planned for 2009. This year, I will be looking into Fictional Memoirs as a genre.

 

Press Release!!!

Coming this Holiday Season, Dan will read passages from his novel “Faces” on November 5, 2009 at a meeting of the Blue Stocking Society of Lake County. This is Dan’s first novel, published in April 2008. It has been slowly finding its way into the hearts and minds of readers over the internet.

Set in Lake County,  the novel has two parallel stories. The first is a contemporary mystery involving a group of antique collectors who are examining an old handmade secretary. A controversy has arisen regarding the date this piece was made. Was it an American Colonial piece? Or a more recent forgery?

The second setting takes the reader back to March 4, 1908, the date of Lakeview School fire. What actually happened at the rear door of that old wooden school house? What could it possibly do with a special Christmas party? And how could all this be connected with this secretary desk?

Join the fun, learn some history, listen to some poetry, meet the author, who is himself a  cabinetmaker!

For more informatin contact the Lake County Histoical Society, 415 Riverside Drive, Painesville Township, Ohio 44077 or contact Barbara Whidden, Adult Education, 440-639-2945.

 

The Saw Mill at the Kirtland Historical Sites

The Saw Mill at The Historic Sites

 

The saw mill at the Kirtland Historical Sites of LDS Church is a replicate of one that stood on this same spot when The Mormon Temple was built in the 1830’s. Beneath the mill, there is a ten foot round mill wheel that is driven by water from a pond.

 

The Restored Vertical Saw Blade At Kirtland

An interesting feature of the mill is the vertical blade. Before water power was used to drive saw mills, vertical blades were hand driven. One man stood on a high ramp, the other on the ground under the log or board.

In the eighteen century, the water driven mill with a vertical blade was introduced. By the eighteen forties, the vertical blade was replaced by the more familar circular blade such as we know today. This circular blade was driven by steam, or later by electrical and gasoline power, and was much faster and easier to maintain. The new blade made a hideous noise, but it also left an arc shaped cut that dated the boards.

For further information contact: Historic Kirtland Visitor’s Center, 7800 Kirtland-Chardon Road, Kirtland, Ohio 44094. Telephone: 1-440-256-2692; or visit the website at www.lds.org/placestovisit/.

Please note the following: “The Faces Book” blog  and the novel “Faces” are not affliated or endorsed by any organized religion or church. Any opinions expressed on this blog or in the novel are solely those of the author, Dan Sakach. 

A further note on the Saw Mill at Kirtland.

Somtimes, I can still see my characters, Ebb Collard and Abner Steele, arguing as they position logs in front of that vertical blade. Part of the charm of the old vertical mill was the sound. The water ran through the sleuce driving the wheel with a gentle splash and flow. As the gears drove the blade up and down, there were many gentle pounding and clicking sounds. The blade itself made  a quiet swish and sawing sound without any high pitched scream. The deck floor seemed to vibrate as if shaken by a faint and distant earthquake.

While I was writing the novel, I had the distinct pleasure of standing on the mill floor shown above when the saw was operating. There was a gentle yet a firm sense of power. It carried me (and others around me) back into a time, long forgotten. For me, it symbolized man in harmony with nature. Unfortunately they no longer engage the blade when visitors are nearby today. Too much liability!   Sometimes, I think they should at least play a recording of those old, clunky sounds!

 

The Mill Wheel

 

Water driven mIlls, similar to this one, were still running as late as 1913. To my knowledge, this replica may be the only one standing in the Midwest today. One of the last running water mills on the Chagrin River was Dodd’s Mill. At that time, it had a veritcal blade and a mill house somewhat like the one seen here. But the drive wheel was smaller. During the famous flood of 1913, the dam broke and it was never again restored.

This turning mill wheel remains as a symbol of all those wheels that gave the pioneers power over the forces of nature.

 

Notes on Various Versions

“Faces” has offically  moved to the third version. Please note the following :

Version 1.0 “The Prelease” test version, of which about fifty copies were sold, was rushed into print in April 2008.

Version 1.1 The first so called “First Edition” of which certain parts of the text were altered. First appeared July 08.

Version 1.2 Now, thanks to certain readers request, more typos and grammar problems have been corrected. Still technically, this is “A First Edition”. Effective October 15, 2008, Verson 1.2 has been released and is available through your local book stores.

However, if you have a signed or not signed copy of V 1.0 or 1.1, you now own a collector’s item because we will never revert to those versions!! Those templates(PDF files) have been erased forever. So your precious copy is now more precious . The changes were primarily limited to editorial, grammatical, and spelling errors. The story itself remains intact.

As sales continue to grow, we are anticipating  a wider exposure to bookstores. We continue to believe that “Faces” has a powerful future even though it is a humble, self published novel by an obscure poet and mystical philosopher, better known as the author of “The Elevator Poems”. We are also interested in developing a movie  or TV version since many non readers are waiting for the DVD to come out.

Also we have a new header made from a carefully studied shot by the author on the shores of Lake Erie just this week(09/08/08). I waited then jumped over the embankment just to catch that image. That was truly a kolobdari moment!

 

Realism And The Human Face

 

The Whittlesey Carving 1000-1600 A.D.

The image on the cover of the book was carved on a rock summit over the Chagrin River in Lake County, Ohio. As far as I know, it was discovered by my uncle probably in the 1920’s. It has been dated as a Whittlesey carving, very rare. Visitors to this site have seen unusual symbolic meanings in that face. Some have seen similarities to Mayan art work.  Some have seen work similar to Erie Indian pipes. It has one eye shaped like a monacle, a nose flat, and lips thin as if poised not to speak at all. On its chin, an obscure ring seems to be a piece of jewelry. Those who dare to describe it somehow bare their own souls. We need more interpretations, and also a name for this face. If you have a suggestion, let us know.

What do you see in that stone face?

What would you name this face?

For more information onthe Whittlesey focus and Erie Indians contact:  Indian Museum of Lake County, Ohio, Technical Center, P. O. Box 883, 25 Public Square, Willoughby, OH 44096-0883. A copy of my novel is available at the museum.