Cover via Barnes & Noble
Devin Murphy remembers the exact moment when he was told his novel, The Boat Runner something hed been working on for eight years was going to be published.
I was teaching a night class at Bradley I got a call a few minutes before I got into my class from my agent telling me, Hey, this thing youve worked on your whole life is coming through. Congratulations, Murphy, a creative writing professor in the English department, said. I hung up and was rattling with excitement through the class. On our break, I called up my wife, because shes been with me the whole time I think we were both kind of giddy.
That moment turned one lifelong dream into reality, Murphy said.
The Boat Runner, which hit bookstore shelves across the world Sept. 5, chronicles the life of a young Dutch man living under Nazi occupation during World War II. Murphy said the novel was inspired by his grandfathers story.
He lived in the Netherlands, and it was taken over by Germany, and he had to go into hiding, Murphy said. I had that in the back of my head, imagining what life under occupation would be like. I think its strangely relevant to the world today.
Although Murphy spent about eight years working on The Boat Runner, he said hes been writing for much longer than that.
Ive always known I wanted to write novels I wrote [short stories] for a long time until one of them kept going and going and going. I started researching for it and that sort of evolved into a novel, he said. I kind of had to figure out how the structure of that worked, how to make it engaging and polish it. In reality, Ive been writing for about 20 years trying to get better.
For the last 18 months, Murphy said he has been navigating the world in publishing.
Thats a long time, but theres all these different stages, he said. Youve got to edit the manuscript and polish it, youve got to have a copy editor look at it and read it. Then theres the sales and marketing component, and international component My life is getting pretty crazy.
Robert Prescott, associate professor of English and assistant dean of undergraduate studies, was given a pre-publication copy of The Boat Runner to read months before the book came out.
I could not put down the book, he said. I read the last part of the novel on a plane, and I could not stop reading through a very turbulent landing at OHare.I finished the novel deeply moved by the ending and severely motion sick.
Prescott said the chance to support a fellow Bradley professor in achieving a lifelong dream is mind-boggling.
I feel deeply privileged to be present to literary history unfolding, Prescott said. All of us at Bradley get to witness Devin Murphy emerging to a new stature as a writer Its inspirational.
Though Murphy said he has learned to balance his personal life, teaching at Bradley and the non-stop work that goes into publishing a manuscript, he will always find time to write fiction.
The reality of it is, I cant control the business side of things. This could be a great success or a total flop, Murphy said. I can put my efforts out there. Beyond that the only thing I can do is just keep writing. Its part of my day-to-day life.
The Boat Runner is published by HarperCollins and can be purchased online or in bookstores around the world.
