Introduction to Bad Water
Another isolated desert story. It seems to be in my blood. Along with several other writers, I was enlisted by the production staff of a Canadian animated television series to write a story based on the manifestations of primal beliefs. With their broad and general guidelines, any imaginative writer could tell an interesting story.
For many years, I made an annual pilgrimage out to Death Valley and spent time there hiking and writing in the desolate canyons and dunes. The stark emptiness of the place, as well as the spooky history of the native Shoshone people, seemed just the right ingredients. Those experiences seeped into my writing.
I actually dictated this story into my digital recorder while driving across the Mojave Desert, on my way to Joshua Tree National Monument. I finished it on the drive, and that night, after I checked into a fleabag motel, I transcribed it into my laptop as I sat at the rickety laminate desktop.
I think it all adds to the veracity of the story.