Coincidence or something more? The dreams that made up the novel

13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird began as a nightmare 10 years ago and popped up as a recurring nightmare over the years. The story was structurally the same from the very first nightmare. A young man is told by a stranger in front of him that the plane that they are o, the one that just took off, is going to crash. The catch is that he is NOT to prevent it from happening because he is one of four survivors. It becomes clear that the survivors are sitting behind him, the pretty Brazilian girl and the couple behind her. I woke up right when it was getting too scary.

Subsequent dreams included the scene where the Being attacks him in the bathroom in the person of the old woman. At first the "Why didn't you obey?" rant didn't make sense to me. After failing to come up with an alternative encounter, I wrote it out as I saw it in my dream. The next day I was on I-95 listening to a sermon on Genesis 3 and how it nailed the very problem of mankind. "Why didn't we obey?" the preacher asked. As he went on I was fascinated that the old woman/Being was talking about our war against God's will. It was actually what my whole story was about! The revelation put me in such deep thought that I almost wandered of the road. Amazing. A vision that at first did not make sense defined my whole work and then gave me the solid ground I needed for my finale.

Another dream was the scene in the Pub where the passengers and crew are holding a twentieth-anniversary reunion of Flight 1220. Paul sees a vision of a Pub in the middle of the dessert that's holding this reunion and he finds that the owner of the Pub is an older version of himself. Older Paul's quote to the younger, "I am you, but you..are not yet me" came verbatim from my dream. This scene served to expose Paul's ulterior motive in preventing the crash as his own fear of going through such a terrible ordeal.

The scariest nightmare probably was the one that became the scene where the Being attacks Paul through the person of the bubble-headed blond stewardess. When she/It revealed that Paul's intervention will cost everyone on board their lives and the lives of everyone on board the plane they're about to hit, and she/It ended with "It's all your fault!", I woke up in a cold sweat.

Yesterday another detail snuck up on me as I remembered why Paul was on that flight. His parents had gotten him the tickets. How fitting for the metaphor of the plane ride as a life that is doomed to end one day. Flight 1220 represents our physical life; we've taken off and the final destination is death. Our parents put us here, just as Paul's parents gave him the vacation. The odd thing is that I really hadn't thought about that until now, 4 months after publication.

Press Release for "13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird"

Local Writer Weaves a Nail-Biter



Fort Lauderdale, June 19, 2009



“13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” started as a nightmare ten years ago and evolved into a tightly wound thriller. Jim Jordan used a 9-month hiatus from his restaurant career to finish the story. Writing has always been his passion but a two-decade stint as restaurant manager and owner consumed most of his time.



“13 Ways” uses Wallace Stevens’ Pulitzer Prize winning classic as the lead-in to each of its 13 chapters. Stevens’s mysterious poem about the fear of death even plays a role in the storyline, which begins promptly upon takeoff. A stranger turns to young travel-writer Paul Thurber as the 767 rises over Miami Beach en route to Rio and tells him in an authoritative voice that the plane will crash but that Paul is one of the four survivors IF he stays in his seat buckled in and does nothing to stop it. When Paul pressures the man for more information, the man remembers nothing of the conversation, nor do the people surrounding them. Paul begins to see visions of the crash investigation hearings and receives details about each of the passengers that cross his path. After the events Paul predicts start to happen, the pilots and crew are faced with a grave dilemma, do they listen to this incipient psychic?



Most people would respond the way Paul does and try to save the plane at all costs. It is then that everything spirals out of control, leaving open a possibility that Paul never considered; he may have made matters worse (i.e. no survivors!). There are a number of mysteries running through the story, such as why Paul is receiving this knowledge, what is the significance of the shadow that crosses his visions, the glowing flags at the crash investigation hearings, and the nature of the God-like Being who keeps warning him through the other passengers.



While the premise sounds fantastical, each person finds themselves in the same situation, on a plane that they cannot get off of…called life. Each life is going to crash sooner or later, and we live in the shadow of that knowledge. Metaphors abound in the plot. In Paul Thurber’s case, he experiences a spiritual awakening along the wild ride and even meets the love of his life. Fellow “survivor” Sonia Petra is a beautiful community college professor sitting behind Paul on the flight. She is the first to believe his predictions and provides the encouragement he needs to make his stand. Unlike any woman he has ever met, in Sonia Paul finds his true love and, along the way, he finds his true self.



Bill and June Montoya are a loquacious, bon vivant couple who also are supposed to survive. They provide some comic relief on the bumpy flight. Tim Beautifort Jr. is the heroic co-pilot who sees it as irrational to ignore Paul’s predictions once the first has come true. The pilot, salty veteran Joe Strawsen, refuses to believe Paul regardless. Adding to the mystery, Tim’s father, Beautifort, Sr., co-chairs the crash investigation hearings in the dreary future that Paul sees. Can Paul stop it from happening?



Paul is an unlikely hero; shy, awkward, and ordinary. He is a great everyman through which the readers can best experience the story. “13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” is an artfully crafted philosophical thriller that plants the reader in the center of the mystery, making it a page-turning read that delivers a powerful ending. It’s on sale now at http://www.amazon.com/13-Ways-Looking-at-Blackbird/dp/1439227993/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244475944&sr=8-1. The author’s blog is 13waysoflookingatablackbird.com

Conversations on 13 Ways - What would you do?

The bad news is that the plane you're on is going to crash. The good news is that you are one of four survivors. As a white-knuckle flyer who also hates roller coasters, I don't think the good news is all that good here. Paul Thurber is a white knuckle flyer, too, and if you want to know exactly what I'd do in that situation, read the book. Paul's reaction of trying to save the plane is logical even in light of his disobedience to the Being, the thinly disguised God character who speaks randomly through the other passengers and crew. No, Paul wants the plane to land safely and securely and nothing less. Only he overlooks the possibility that he could cause the additional deaths of the four survivors if his intervention goes awry. To see what happens there, you'll have to read the book.

Back to the question, "What would you do in Paul Thurber's situation?" What I would do is try to save the plane. I would not trust God - the Being - for my survival...wait a second. That doesn't sound logical either, does it? Paul is really in a bad situation. The bad news is that we all are in the same situation, people on a plane we can't get off of; a plane called life that's doomed to crash. How do we survive the crash? Feel free to opine.

Publication Update

13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird is now available on Amazon.com here. The trailer reads:

What would you do if you knew the plane you are in is going to crash? And you knew in advance how it will happen? Upon take-off, travel writer Paul Thurber suddenly finds himself receiving revelations about the destiny of his Miami-Rio flight, facts about the other people on the plane, as well as warnings from a mysterious Being who speaks sporadically through the other passengers. Paul finds himself in the hottest seat imaginable, having to choose between being seen as a liar, or a lunatic, or the one person who can save the passengers and crew of flight 1220. As his predictions start to come true, a response is demanded from the pilots and crew. Their reaction opens up a whole new danger; Paul may have made matters worse. The result is a perilous, unpredictable, and surprisingly spiritual roller-coaster ride through the stormy skies over Brazil.