The Sun Chaser by Blanche Colton Williams — Read

STARTING POINT. "You ask about the germinal idea of ‘The Sun Chaser. ' How can I tell you, for how do I know, what the germinal idea of my story is! I can recognize it after the story is written. But that makes it all the more difficult to say with certainty that the ‘idea' is germinal. What Ambrose seeks is what every one of us in the world -- even a Sun Chaser -- wants: HAPPINESS. And the more ill-balanced or crippled a nature is, the more importunate is this demand for happiness....

"It is easier to tell you how I came to write ‘The Sun Chaser' than to tell you anything about it.... Early one morning in October I was sitting at my writing table in my little log cabin up in the Maine wilderness. It was about half past five, and I had started my fire and had my cup of cocoa and my crust of bread and was ready for work. But I sat there watching the dawn. Ahead of me I had one of the endless pot-boilers to do by means of which I provided bread and butter and met my responsibilities. The very thought of doing another of these ‘things' made me feel ill and tired. Suddenly up over the field before my cabin with the dawn I saw the fleeing figure of the SUN CHASER running towards me. More I cannot tell you except that it was like listening to wonderful music as I sat there seeing the story unfold. I did nothing that morning except ‘listen. ' And for the next month I did no pot-boilers, but work on this story.... January first of that year I took up college lecturing and since then I have written no pot-boilers.... " -- _Jeannette Marks._