| Eric Myerholtz displays copies of his novels “Faith and Energy” and “The Liberty Group.” (Photo: Enoch Wu/Sentinel-Tribune) |
For local novelist Eric Myerholtz, it all started with a challenge: could he do it?
"That was a much as almost: can I do this? Do I try?" the Bowling Green
native and CPA said.
The author of two self-published works, 2010’s "The Liberty Group" and
"Faith and Energy," released this year, Myerholtz likes to employ
local color to help tell his tales.
"Can I write a plot that makes sense, that flows, that people enjoy reading,
that might also have a point or two to say about what I think, anyhow, about our
country from a political standpoint?" Myerholtz said of his initial
mindset.
"As I’ve aged in my adult life, I’ve become more interested in the overall
political scene on the national level, and this (writing) was a way to maybe
express some views to weave some opinion into a plot that hopefully some people
might read and provoke" thought.
Myerholtz’s main character in the novels is Mitch Bartter, a conservative newspaper
columnist living in Phoenix, Ariz., who finds himself in dangerous situations
and is able to escape with the help of his old buddies, former roommates from
his days at Bowling Green State University.
"I was born in Bowling Green, I live in Waterville, I grew up in
Waterville," said Myerholtz, but he went to college in Bowling Green and
ended up staying in the city, and wanted to link the city into his plot.
"I tried to tie as much things as I could, I mentioned different locales that
either are in existence" or that used to be in the city but are no longer.
"A lot of stories in the first one, several of them, are what happened in
college or what happened personally with relationships. They’re sometimes
loosely based on the truth in there."
"I started both of these with just a little notebook, if you will, where I just
jotted down an idea or two" as things came to mind, he said of his process.
As the ideas slowly evolved into book form, Myerholtz began to think about
characters and what kind of background they should have.
While some authors employ an outline, that wasn’t a process that Myerholtz decided to
use.
"I didn’t have it charted or diagrammed out at that level. I had a general
overall idea of: something’s going to happen, and this is going to happen, and
this is where we’ll conclude. And how we’ll conclude I’ll figure out when I get
there."
After some initial difficulty attracting a publisher, Myerholtz investigated the
increasingly popular world of self-publishing, and decided on AuthorHouse.
"It is a self-publishing entity online that helps you with all the
details," he explained.
While the books are available in print, he has also made them available digitally, on
websites such as Amazon.com, for download to e-readers.
"The Liberty Group" is also available for purchase at Grounds for Thought,
and can be checked out at the Wood County District Public Library.
