NEWFANE — When Castle Freeman Jr. recently held an open reading and discussion of his new book, All That I Have, at the Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro, he read the first three chapters in a quiet, measured tone that allowed for much of the humor in the story to show through, leaving the audience laughing out loud at several points.
The wry narration of his fourth novel came through mostly in the character of Lucian Wing, a local sheriff in the midst of a highly puzzling case involving Russians, town troublemakers, and unexplained acts of vandalism.
“All That I Have is not set in Ambrose (the fictional home of Lucian Wing) like past stories,” clarified Freeman. Neither does it have the same Arthurian elements as Go With Me, though the character of Morgan Endor, named for the legendary Arthurian witch and a Biblical witch, does appear in the story.
“Writing a story in first person is subject to very stringent limitations. Staying within the limits and seeing what you can [still] get across is fun. It was an interesting way to tell this rather hackneyed story,” Freeman said.
Freeman claims that he had no need to immerse himself in the character of Sheriff Wing. “I made up a little about his background, but I'm not interested in making up résumés for nonexistent characters. I tried to listen and hear what he said, and make it funny.”
Freeman writes “mostly in the morning," and when he's working on a project like All That I Have, "I do it every day," he says.
“I've had [an idea] for a long time about a thief who steals something that he doesn't understand, and that puts him in far more danger than [just with] the law," Freeman says. "It had been done and seemed boring, but then it occurred to me to write it as a first person narrative. [Then] the sheriff's mind and predicament came to the fore.”
All That I Have came together quickly, after the author "sort of meditated the basic idea in first person. I was able to really sit down and do it.”
Despite success and critical acclaim he has enjoyed in the past two years, including starred reviews from Publisher's Weekly and stellar ratings from major newspapers and People magazine, he doubts that his current yield of “a book a year" is going to last.
“I hope maybe [an audio book] can happen someday, [but] I don't think I'd want to do it. I'm already running out of steam. [Brattleboro] is my next-to-last stop plugging my book.”
Fictional worlds
While Freeman has not directly based any of his fictional characters on real people, he has incorporated characteristics from real people into some of his characters.
“In a couple of cases I have made up people who, in my mind, bore some physical resemblance to real people known to me, but only casually - a matter of looks, voice, etc. I think I'm more likely to take notes on fictional places or fictional history than on fictional people. The last pretty much just turn up.”
Asked if he had a favorite character, Freeman responded, “I guess mainly they're equal. I do admit today to a real affection for Sheriff Wing, despite his many flaws. But that may be only because he's most recent.”
Freeman, a writer of both fiction and nonfiction - he has been a regular contributor to The Old Farmer's Almanac since 1982 and a contributor to Vermont Life magazine - so far has only been inspired by real life in one of his books, describing his second novel, My Life and Adventures as "a kind of fictionalized Walden, by Thoreau."
Like all writers, Freeman has to deal with the occasional bout of writer's block. He offered his advice for moving past it.
“It can be helpful to set yourself to writing a very short (1-2 page), simple, clear narrative about pretty much anything. Go slowly, try to make it well written, and keep it simple. Pretend nobody has ever made up a story before; you're the first one," he says.
"Nobody knows how to do it; you have to find your own way," Freeman advises. "That can be a helpful exercise."