One of the great surprises of recording The Boat at the End of Lover’s Lane was realizing how many people listen to the books. I use these first four books as tools to help me learn to write better. Publishing on Substack has helped me to edit myself better, as has listening and recording the works. However, more people listen to the chapters than read them. Which is great. I will take an audience where ever it is. I will re-record all of the works now and publish them in their own podcasts. This work, Windmill, comes after The Girl Who Ran the Polpis Road.. Every writer (I read) writes four bad novels at the beginning and these are mine. The Boy who Climbed the Windmill is a novel, in the sense that it has multiple plots, a detailed world, and a theme that wraps itself through the plot. This novel is my oldest and my most worked over, but might be the most successful one. The side plots are tied pretty tightly to the main plot, and the main plot drives. I have been experimenting with writing much more direct works that are better for the digital moment. When I was twenty five, The Boy Who Climbed the Windmill was the work I wanted to write. Now that I am sixty and am aware that my novels will not appear in airports, the form of this work is a little out of date. However, it may work better as a spoken text. I am hoping so. If you enjoy listening, please like, restack, and comment. If you feel particularly moved, you can subscribe for free or you can send me some money. Feedback, on substack, comes rarely, but I enjoy having comments, even if they take me to task for grammar or pronoun reference errors. “Windmill” picks up almost three months after “Polpis Road.” The previous novel isn’t necessary, but it might be helpful. Also, I have written several novellas that bracket both Polpis Road and Windmill. None of them are necessary, but they take the characters into logical spots. The Inn on Brant Point: Right before Windmill: Billy Trotter Love Letters From a Cancelled Future: After Polpis Road: Elvis and Dionis The Fisher King: After Polpis Road: Simon The story… In THE BOY WHO CLIMBED THE WINDMILL, high school sophomore Maria DeSalvo learns how small the island is after she falls in love with a Brazilian boy named Julian. The two of them cross paths with a local group of high school bullies, The Rangers. Julian disappears, but Maria gets sexually assaulted, photographed, and inscribed in Sharpie with the world “Remember.” A picture and the mortification fly through the small community. But an island that will judge what it sees will also forget what it doesn’t. Henry Coffin, the only Quaker on the island police force, pushes for some sort of justice. The truth, like many secrets, sits in plain sight but unacknowledged. Thanks for your support. It means the world to me. My polished work is on a new website…. The blog has the “One Good Thing” essays, Come to Coffin’s Nantucket…click on the picture for all of my writing Barr’d For Life is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to The Boy Who Climbed the Windmill at thboywhoclimbedthewindmill.substack.com/subscribe