Not Winning Nanowrimo

I'm not sure it is possible to lose Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month), but I'm not one of the thousands of people who managed to write 50,000 words in the month of November. I started doing Nanowrimo in 2005. I have never won the event. My best effort was slightly over 27,000 words. This time, I started out the month behind the pack and struggled with each day. By the end of the first week things looked bleak. My word count hardly made a tiny little blue speck at the tip of the long empty bar marking my progress. I had to fight the urge to give the pep talks the finger (I was reading them at the office and it doesn't look good to flip off the computer there.)

Time was still on my side. I wasn't going to let a little thing like being further behind than I had ever been stop me. No excuses. Never mind that my month began at Magna Cum Murder where I was promoting my novel. That wasn't an excuse. I could catch up, really. It was early November and I could write on the weekend...who needs clean laundry, groceries, or clean dishes. We ordered take-out and kept working. That blue bar didn't budge much, but it budged. I was feeling better about myself when I went back to work on Monday.

Then came the weekend of the 12th and 13th and the Kentucky Book Fair. I'm not a good multitasker. I've never come up with a way to talk to large numbers of people about my book and work on the next one at the same time. Never mind that my phone sat on the table beside the stack of books as I waited for the call telling me my dear friend Dr. Haydon was gone. Never mind that I was at the hospital every evening in those final days. In this situation, what did it matter that it was the middle of the month and I was about 20,000 words behind? The long Thanksgiving weekend was ahead, and I would write.

Now it is December. Nanowrimo for 2010 is a memory. Mixed with that memory is the loss of a dear friend. His funeral was the day before Thanksgiving. I didn't write a lot the last two weeks of November. There were days when I didn't write at all, and others where I managed to eke out 200-400 words. Through it all I continued to write. I gave it my best shot, and kept writing right up to 11:59 PM on November 30th. I didn't win Nanowrimo, but day by day I will win the battle to finish this book. In the end it doesn't matter if I finish it next month or the one after. It matters that I keep writing, editing, and working to make it better than the last book.

Doc Haydon and the Fayette County Medical Examiner of 1879

The Fayette County Medical Examiner's Office no longer exists as an independent agency, but in 1877, when the office was founded, the medical examiner did not fall under the county coroner's office and there was no state medical examiner's office.

All we know about the office of medical examiner is that the county set aside the sum of $1000 as an annual payment for his services. The records of the board of commissioners states that the position would be filled by a trained physician who was a resident of the city of Lexington. The medical examiner was to investigate all unexplained deaths in the county and report his findings to the county coroner.

To me, the most interesting part of the commissioners' record was the authority given to the medical examiner. In the investigation of death the medical examiner was afforded the same dignity, respect, and immunity from suit given any judge in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. In essence, the county created a position that was free to investigate without fear of legal reprisals.

I have no idea of who held the job, nor do I know whether the actual medical examiner was as forward thinking as Dr. Haydon. When I started writing the Fayette County Medical Examiner I didn't even call him Dr. Haydon. The fictional Dr. Haydon was created because my boss and dear friend Dr. Richard Haydon wanted to be the doctor in my book. Even explaining that the character I was writing drank heavily, loved to gamble, and was going to cut someone's throat before the end of the book did not deter him from wanting to be a part of my fictional world.

Gradually, the fictional character took on some of the traits of the real Dr. Richard Haydon. He is a man of science, someone who is pushing the city of Lexington toward the future. Like his 21st century counterpart, Doc Haydon loves the latest technology. Although there is no computer or electricity in his office, the modern fountain pens, typewriters, and cameras are his technological wonders.

Doc Haydon subscribes to the American Journal of Forensic Medicine, and most of the other top journals of his day. His office is a mess, but his mind is organized and focused on his work. He is fascinated by advances in science and engineering, and strives to incorporate the latest skills into his work. Doc Haydon doesn't assign blame, but chafes at the corruption in town, particularly the graft inside the police department. He yearns to see Lexington get the telephone and lobbies for a water company. Most of all, Doc Haydon delights in sharing his passion for learning with others. In this way he is most like his namesake.

The real Dr. Haydon lost his long battle with cancer on Sunday. In a few minutes I am going to be leaving to say good-bye to my dear friend. In the last few months of his life, he got a great deal of pleasure in showing Circle of Dishonor to his friends. I don't think he ever read the book. It didn't really matter. He was just happy to live on in my imagination. I am just happy to have had the chance to know him and work with him for more than a decade. Dr. Haydon was a wonderful teacher, a brilliant doctor, and a great friend. I miss him more than I say.