Closing the Book

OF MIGHT AND MANACLE

…The Ties That Bind

by Joseph Tornatore

I am proud to announce that I have finished penning a fictional novel called Of Might and Manacle. The plot evolves around a psychologist, Dr. Dexter Margold, who accepts a post at a turbulent cottage at a state institution called Nova Egypt Developmental Center. Located in the flat pinelands of New Jersey during 1989, the novel transports the reader through the insane normalcy of institutionalization. It is a graphic portrayal of 21 dually diagnosed clients and the motley crew staff responsible for their care.

While the original draft gathered only dust on a bookshelf much of the time, in the end it took me six long years to write this 387 page novel over a span of twenty years. It took me away from my family and it took a part of my soul. In my forty four years on this planet, writing this book was the hardest thing that I have ever done and with any literary luck it may turn out to be my greatest accomplishment.

The 75 book characters that I created are as real to me as any I have ever met in my social work career. Each character seemingly visited my imagination. They shot ideas to the forefront of my mind as if they wanted more air time or character development. They became a part of me in some strange way. While figments of my imagination, my characters are now equally hard to leave behind on the flat copy. Nevertheless, it is time to close the book on this chapter of my life. It is time to turn Of Might and Manacle over to trusted proofreaders, the US copyright office, and the search for a viable publisher...even if its publication takes me another twenty years.