The Focus Puller
by Marcos E. González
“The Focus Puller” was written during an year-long road trip in 2021. The enjoyable, rolling adventure included an extended stay in Santa Fe, NM, where I spent 6 months docked, on and off, in front of my brother's house. Rich in culture and imbued with Spanish history, the capital ciy of New Mexico served as the inspiration for the novel. I wrote away on my laptop, huddled inside my RV during, from what I was told, a mild Santa Fe winter. The first draft was completed in about four weeks, with the first sentence written on December 14th according to my calendar.
I have have done extensive rewrites since. I'm still rewriting. Sometimes for long periods, sometimes for short periods. There have been numerous occasions where I have put the novel aside for extended periods (months).
The Focus Puller falls within the “postmodern” and "experimental" classifications of literature (according to me, that is).
It is not for everyone.
It jumps in time, from the present to the past, and back again. It has many characters; eccentric, banal, time-travelers, street people, ordinary people, professionals, foreigners, and of course, space travelers. Risqué, stuff, too. Lots.
As noted, present day Santa Fe, and long ago Laredo, Texas (the 1960s), provide the milieu. The protagonist is Rio Zapata, an eccentric, impulsive young man with a nagging past. He begins and ends the book, appearing frequently throughout the novel, providing a loose narrative link in the book's fluctuating story.
The book takes place during a single day. Many of the characters in The Focus Puller appear only once, sprinkled throughout the book, appearing in small and long passages (including the folks in the sample audio link located in Chapter 26, Tennessee, Hildy and Sandy).
The novel has been lightly edited (like these two website pages), and still contains numerous GSP errors here and there. It is presently 294 pages in length.
Thank You for checking out “The Focus Puller”!
