Introductions - Meet Dr. Nigel Eastwick

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"Dr. Nigel Eastwick left this world on a cool summer evening; a well man, his only misfortune was death." 


   I submitted the above sentence for a one sentence hook contest. My sentence didn't win but it did bring my attention back to a manuscript I had abandoned back in college. I remember the experience of writing those first 10 pages. Characters I hardly knew just seemed to pour out onto the page. It's been well over 10 years since last we spoke to one another. I'm having fun getting reacquainted with them once again. Here's a rough cut of the intro.

  
Excerpt "Saving Catherine" by Nancy Sima

   Dr. Nigel Eastwick left this world on a cool summer evening; a well man, his only misfortune was death.

   His life was one of many graces – love, family, profession – ‘a respectable life’ it was said. His one indulgence was a personal enjoyment in writing. Privately, he had amassed a collection of notebooks on daily musings. Some entries were trivial, even mundane but altogether their beauty was a keen observation of the ordinary. On the eve of his passing, Dr. Eastwick would take to writing once more. Words upon words, they were to be his last.
     Did he invite death that night? He seemed to jot down his thoughts like so many times before. And yet, there was the odd manner in which he chose to sign his name, on a scrawled line at the end, binding himself in contract to his words. Was he taking ownership of them or relinquishing ownership of something greater?