For an author, getting a book published is the “happiest day of your life,” said Scott, 62, a 1981 Hamilton High School graduate. “Nothing is more challenging than that.”
He remembers trying to get one of his early books published, “King of Peru,” and receiving 25 to 30 rejection letters, enough to wallpaper his bathroom so he’d be “faced with my failure over and over,” he said with a laugh.
Scott, who first wrote a book with a buddy when he was 15, recently released “Free Will,” the conclusion of his unique Day in the Life series that traces the tumultuous story of Jack and Aria, two would-be lovers haunted by the guilt of past failures, who are brought together through extraordinary circumstances.
“Free Will” follows Jack and Aria over the next eight hours in the 24-hour trilogy, as they dive deep into their individual histories of loss, grief and guilt between catnaps, snowy hikes for food and being stalked by a reporter determined to find out what really happened to them the night before.
The entire book takes place in Jack’s Over-the-Rhine condo in Cincinnati.
The first book in the three-part series, “Drunk Log,” gives readers a front-row stool as Jack aims to bounce from bar to bar trying to forget his past.
The idea for the first book came during a conversation Scott had with a female friend while they were climbing Pike’s Peak.
The woman, a heavy drinker, kept a record how she felt after every alcoholic beverage. Scott told her that would be a “great idea” for a book and she gave him permission.
Once Jack got “hammered” after hours of drinking, he and Aria, a waitress who followed Jack to make sure he was okay, both ended up in the freezing Ohio River, and survived.
That led into the second book, “First Date,” that takes readers on a wild eight-hour ride where Jack and Aria climb out of the river near Paycor Stadium, are transported to a local hospital, have their mental status evaluated and they steal drugs out of the pharmacy.
Scott said he “hates” hospitals so he took great joy in making light of some medical protocols.
After high school, Scott served four years in the Navy as a sailor aboard the U.S.S. Mount Whitney. He wrote a newsletter that was not sanctioned by the Navy, and since he “made fun of the command structure,” the newsletter was halted.
That didn’t stop him from writing.
While studying at Miami University, he completed “King of Peru” in 1992, and “Bogey Man” in 1994.
Then Scott had a family, and some 15 years went by without writing. When his marriage ended, he leaned on his love of writing that created his debut novel “Burning Buildings.”
He said Speaking Volumes Publishing has plans to reproduce “Burning Buildings” and work on publishing an updated “King of Peru.”
His writer’s group, the Queen City Fiction Writers, helps him improve as an author, he said. His advice to someone wanting published: Write a good book and hire a publicist who believes in you.
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