Scarlet Waters: The Iconoclastic Memoirs of Holiday Shapero Book One

first began writing Scarlet Waters in 1989. Every time I got a ways into it, I ripped it to shreds. I even completed it twice, but I burned it. In 2013 after Zahid’s death (my lover, my brother, my husband) I returned to Scarlet Waters once again. One night I ran into J Kirk (a modern day Jack Kerouac) at the Hydro Bar in Calistoga. We spoke of Zahid’s death and then he asked me what I was doing. “Writing. Want to hear some?” At two AM I was still reading and we were drinking Old Tom’s Gin. He asked “why didn’t you ever tell me you were a writer?” “I’m not a writer. I’m a story teller.” “You’re a writer and this is some of the best I’ve ever heard. I’ll help you. Whatever you need. Please don’t destroy this book again. This is literature.”