The Reluctant Healer

by Andrew D. Himmel

  Q: The descriptions of The Rider’s Workshop and Will’s two-day motorcycle ride through the northern Appalachian back roads and southeastern Ohio are so vivid. Readers can see that this journey is an important one for Will. Do you ride a motorcycle? Have you done a rider’s workshop like this in real life? What types of meaning do you personally attach to motorcycle riding?

  A: I began riding motorcycles fifteen years ago, around the same time that Michele was being invited into the metaphysical world. Michele believes that my interest in motorcycling coincided with the opening and sealing of my chakras.

  I found the mastery of a single-track vehicle to be challenging and thrilling. Motorcycling for me was part science, part art, part game. In time, just like Will, I recognized that I needed instruction to reach the next level. I took numerous classes with The Rider’s Workshop over Appalachian back roads with Jim Ford, a real-life instructor who makes a brief appearance in the novel. These journeys count among my most treasured memories. The lessons I learned in these workshops (focusing on the vanishing point, looking to the solution, and not fixating on the problem) found application in other areas of my life as well.

  Q: Do you think Will might leave his career as an attorney? Did you know how this book would end when you started to write it? Or did the ending come to you as you were working on the book?

  A: I did not know, and perhaps I still do not know, if Will plans to leave his career as an attorney. The novel ends more on a transitional note than in a concluding moment. I feel in my gut that his story needs to go forward. The last chapter concludes with the quote from Learned Hand, who warned against certainty and found that the spirit of liberty is in part the spirit “which is not too sure that it is right.” This can be contrasted with the observation made by Yann Martel in The Life of Pi: “To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.” Somewhere in the space between these two sentiments lies Will’s future, a story which I believe needs to be completed or at least continued.

  Q: What do you hope readers take away from this book?

  A: Good question. As I hope is apparent, The Reluctant Healer is not a work of explicit advocacy. The novel does not seek to recruit or to promote. Instead, I intended to convey, at least in part, the value of disruption. Let’s assume, as I do not, that all notions of energetic healing and spiritual intervention are without foundation. Even so, these notions, much like a blunt instrument, can still function as a liberating force, challenging one to reconsider life choices and conventional wisdom. The instrument may not be appealing, but the application of its force might lead to intriguing results.

  In addition, I hope in broad strokes that the novel can prompt readers to at least consider the confluence of science and spirituality, of intention and healing, even without subscribing to any particular dogma or view.

  Q: Would you tell us about a particular person or author who has had a fundamental influence on your writing or your philosophy of life and what it is?

  A: The great legal jurist Learned Hand, and in particular his 1944 Spirit of Liberty Speech, has had an important impact on my philosophy of life. This speech lasted but a few minutes and was presented to an audience of over 500,000 people in Central Park, New York City. Its most celebrated line, and the one which Will cites at the end of the novel, warned against dogmatism and certainty, stating that the spirit of liberty is one which “is not too sure that it is right.” This sentiment resonates with me, and it informs much of the struggle experienced by Will in the novel.

  Among my favorite authors are Stephen King and Scott Turow. The best moments in Stephen King novels capture the suspense inherent in ordinary people grappling with extraordinary phenomena. The best moments in Scott Turow novels explore how the legal system has an impact on interpersonal relationships. I like to think that The Reluctant Healer is infused with these elements.

  Q: Can you tell us something about your writing schedule? You’re an attorney with daily work demands. How do you fit writing into your routine? Can you talk a bit about your writing process? How do you get in the mood to write? Do you have any writing rituals?

  A: I have questionable work habits in general and writing habits in particular. I wrote this novel in fits and starts over the period of a few years, much of it in the final three months of drafting. Sometimes, I would write frantically, because something had occurred to me and I’d found myself— for reasons unknown—in a driven frame of mind. Other times, I would stare at a blank page, find nothing to say, and migrate over to the wonders of Google and online chess.

  I found inspiration in an excerpt from The Sportswriter by Richard Ford, where the protagonist discusses how he gets ideas to write. He says, “You hardly ever just sit down and write it cold, staring at an empty yellow sheet expecting yourself to summon up every good idea you’ll have at the ready . . . Instead, what you try to do is honor your random instincts, catch yourself off guard, and write a sentence or an unexpected descriptive line . . . Once those notes are on record, you put them away and let them draw up an agenda of their own that you can discover later . . .

  I tried to combine this approach with another one, which is: Just keep typing. Sometimes, I would have a random thought, but I just couldn’t find the words to capture it vividly. So I would follow a technique of just typing, and typing, and typing, until something occurred to me. Somewhere in process, I found that after a few paragraphs of absolute nonsense, I would stumble upon a description that surprised me and that I could work with and develop.

  Q: If someone came to you for advice on how to get started as a writer, what would you tell them?

  A: My advice here is given from the perspective of someone who, at the ripe age of 61, completed his first book. My advice is: Make sure to get out of your own way. Just write, without an eye toward critics or criticism. Spend greater effort on locating your own voice rather than achieving what others might view as an acceptable style. Enjoy the process. Negative reactions will sting, but keep those unhelpful thoughts to the side while you’re actually writing. Be selective with those from whom you seek feedback. One thing you’ll learn quickly is that the intensely subjective nature of writing can lead to wildly different opinions concerning the same work.

  Q: Do you have another book in the works? Anything you can reveal yet?

  A: I am working on a sequel to The Reluctant Healer, which will track the continuation of Will and Erica’s journey. While their destination is not clear, I have firm ideas about their path. We last saw Will and Erica heading toward the Jungle Kingdoms of the Ancient Maya in Mexico and Guatemala. I suspect that they will travel further south to sacred regions in Central and South America, encountering unexpected challenges.

  About the Author

  Andrew Himmel has practiced law in New York City for over thirty years and is a founding partner of Himmel & Bernstein, LLP, located in the Flatiron District. He lives in Manhattan with his wife, the universal energy healer Michele LaGamba-Himmel. Their daughter, Nicole, is a writer, who also lives in Manhattan.