1891: A Novel about Stanford University

I'm going to try to update my blog on Saturdays. I consider the workweek time to move my second novel, 1892, along. I had worked on it about two or three years ago, prior to going through the publishing process with 1891. I learned a lot from that which I have applied to the latest book. It is going along good. So far, 27 chapters have been completed. This is equivalent to 100 pages, a third of the book. I have printed up ten copies and put them in the hands of people who helped me out with the first book. So far, good results. I've got three reactions, all good. Like I said I can't help but feel that the more I write, the better I get. The next step will be to try, again, to get a publisher and/or an agent. I don't want to go through the self-publishing, again, but, I must admit that if you do it that way, the best way is iUniverse. I have no complaints. If the book did not catch on. It is not their fault. I certainly had the exposure. Now, since it is the second book, I think it will get better acceptance. I hope publishers and agents will think: Yes, he is going to write a tetralogy about Stanford University. There is a market for this. He's not the greatest writer in the world but he has interesting characters that may have legs.

I just finished a chapter about Andrew White, early president of Cornell University. He was offered the presidency of Stanford, but turned it down. After reviewing White's history, I came to an interesting conclusion. White was probably homosexual. I'm not sure how Cornell people will take this. If they are like Stanford, they will ignore the whole thing, but it does make an interesting turn of events in the book.

Also, I am about to get into the details of the first Big Game, also interesting.

Stay tuned. jerry

To: Readers of this Blog  For Immediate Release 

 

Fledgling Novelist Takes on Daunting Subject: Stanford University  Jerry Franks, the novelist, seventy-nine years old, Stanford class of ’50, resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, is old enough that he should know better. When asked why he had decided to make the behemoth institution the setting for his first novel, Mr. Franks replied, “I saw a picture of the Memorial Church with a spire that fell during the 1906 earthquake and realized how little I knew about Stanford. Trips to the Green and Palo Alto Libraries convinced me there was material for a series of novels. I was hooked.”

Just published last month, 1891: A Novel about Stanford University is an ambitious retelling of the trials and tribulations faced in the early months by pioneering students, faculty, and administration.  Points of view are shared by Stanford’s first registrar, Orrin Leslie Elliott, and his wife, Ellen; a Jewish student; an ex-Army Captain who fought in the Indian Wars; and a young woman whose father was killed by agents of the Southern Pacific Railroad.

As to the potential popularity of the book, Mr. Franks was equivocal.  “Of course, I like it and love the characters. Friends and relatives tell me they enjoyed it. One Stanford fellow, a fact checker, said he could hardly wait for the sequel and the movie. He might have been kidding. The closest thing to an objective, critical evaluation was that the iUniverse evaluator, a Stanford alumna, thought it was fascinating. That’s not a word I would use, but I’ll take it.” Neither success nor failure will diminish Mr. Franks’ determination to complete the writing of his saga.  “I can’t let my characters down,” Mr. Franks said. “Their stories deserve to be told, particularly when I found out an African-American, Ernest Johnson, was a member of the Class of 1895. Can you imagine Ernest Johnson and President Herbert Hoover were members of the same class? I wonder if they knew one another. Even the thought of it, excites me.”

1891: A Novel about Stanford University is available at your local bookstore, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon.com.

For more information you may contact Jerry Franks at jerryfranks@earthlink.net,  More information about 1891 and the author is available at http://home.earthlink.net/~jerryfranks or http://anovelaboutstanforduniversity.blog.com