Norm Park is well-known locally for a journalism career that spanned more than 50 years. The majority of his career was spent with the Estevan Mercury.
But after retiring from his job as the Mercury鈥檚 editor in mid-February, Park was looking for a new opportunity for his creative energies. It didn鈥檛 take long for something to emerge.
Park鈥檚 first work of fiction, Tamaras: Where a Diamond Rules Supreme, was released on Amazon on May 29. The novel, which is through Wahba Publishing, will initially be available through an electronic format.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a little bit of romance and intrigue, and a little bit of character development and a little bit of conflict, and a little bit of murder,鈥� said Park in an interview with the Mercury.
Tamaras was conceived just a few months ago. Park was speaking with Andrew Wahba, a former Estevan resident now residing in Regina who heads up Wahba Publishing, at a concert by another former Estevan resident, Chad Armstrong.
鈥淲e started talking about what he was up to, and I was being the reporter type, and asking him what he was doing, and he was talking about this marketing of authors,鈥� said Park. 鈥淚t sort of ding-dinged into us at the same time that I鈥檓 going to be free to do this pretty quickly, so why don鈥檛 we collaborate?鈥�
Tamaras is a small, fictional village on the Prairies, he said.
鈥淎uthors should be writing about what they know,鈥� said Park. 鈥淚 grew up in small town Saskatchewan, so I know what a little bit of what small town Saskatchewan is about.鈥�
The online version is about 240 pages long and in large fonts, so Park said it would translate to about 140 pages in a normal novel.
Online novels don鈥檛 fit in as 600-page or 900-page epic novels, he said. Rather, Park said they鈥檙e best-suited to being short stories or mid-length stories that are 35,000 or 40,000 words in length.
There are different approaches authors can take with online publishing, he said, including self-publishing, getting paid per page, or getting paid up front by the publishing company.
A physical copy of Tamaras could be released, but Park said Wahba wants to see the response for the novel.
Park admits he was surprised with how quickly it came together, but Wahba was very helpful with getting the novel to the finished stage.
鈥淚f I was going to do it, it would have probably taken a lot longer, but he knows his way around the cyber world a lot better and a lot more efficiently than I do,鈥� said Park.
Park said he has never written fiction before, other than when he attended a writer鈥檚 retreat several years ago. He always wanted to dabble in the medium, but never knew if it would materialize into something.
鈥淚鈥檓 kind of addicted to the keyboard, so I鈥檒l try this style,鈥� said Park. 鈥淚鈥檝e done biographies, I鈥檝e done features, I鈥檝e done stories, I鈥檝e done columns, I鈥檝e done editorials, so why not try fiction?
鈥淎nd it is kind of fun, being able to make stuff up. But I also found out that you still have to be cohesive, you still have to get the storyline done and through, and make some sense of it all. I came to that realization when I got about a third into the book, and said 鈥業 have to put this stuff together.鈥欌��
Park is happy with his first novel. There are some flaws, but he believes it must be pretty good, because Wahba is already floating the idea of a sequel. Park, though, wants to see whether people enjoy it before committing to Tamaras Part 2.
鈥淚鈥檝e already got some plot development if there is a followup, with the same group of characters,鈥� said Park.
Tamaras can be downloaded by visiting听听.
